Mathias Clegane | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Story Role | ||||
POV Role | None | |||
Appears In | Lucernian Series | |||
Naming Conventions | ||||
Title | Official Titles
| |||
Nickname | Mathew | |||
Vital statistics | ||||
Born | Placeholder | |||
Religion | Dragonoph | |||
Status | Alive | |||
Allegiance | Family Loyalties
Personal Loyalties | |||
Racial Statistics | ||||
Maternal | {{{Maternal race}}} | |||
Paternal | {{{Paternal race}}} | |||
Family | ||||
Parents | ||||
Father | Rupert Clegane | |||
Mother | Marnia Clegane | |||
Siblings | ||||
Siblings | Full Siblings | |||
Internal Family | ||||
Spouse | Betrothed
First Wife | |||
Children | True Born
With Joanna Clegane
|
Mathias Clegane or Mathew 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. Mathias 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. Mathias Clegane would be betrothed to Hostella Hale and the two were happy with this betrothal but it ended when she died in a downing accident and this led to a bitter rivalry between Mathias and Edward Cullen who was blamed for the accident. 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 Mathias, Sarha, and Toden Clegane of which Sarha and Toden are still young by the time of Westros, but Mathias 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. Mathias 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 Mathias 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. Mathias 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.
Return of Edward Cullen
Main Article : Edward Cullen's Return to Lucerne
The Return of Edward Cullen His return was always going to change things. There was never a compass while he was away, and it is terrible the way we tried to push him away. Its time we moved past our hurt, and let him truly return. Its time to heal. | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edward, and Hilary having come to their conclusion of leaving Hogwarts and returning to Lucerne no matter the cost. Believing that they had the violence and death that was the Triwizard Tournament of 5122 as enough evidence to make their families understand why they were leaving, they would decide to write a letter home telling their family of their plans. Edward made the mistake of not understanding that the situation back home had changed dramatically following the Griffon Roost Plot. His father had not yet even returned to Lucerne leaving Edward’s sister Blake Cullen in command of the Lucernian apartment for House Cullen. This would be a major problem as following the death of Rosalie Hale it was Blake that had changed for the worse and this change had made her very hateful towards Edward Cullen who she blamed for not being there to save her. Blake would as a part of this plan make the decision to go to Aelfwyn Turnidlon of whom she had fallen under the sway of following the supposed death of Rosalie Hale during the Griffon Roost Plot. Aelfwynn Turnidlon is preparing to leave for a mission for the Circle in meeting with the Senegal nation near Loudlon when she gets a knock at her door and finds Rosalie Hale on the other side. Rosalie shows her the letter that Edward has written and realizing that Edward’s return could make him choose to settle down and thus lessen her chances at being with him once she has risen within the Circle its Aelfwynn that agrees to help Rosalie change the letter. Together the two change the letter that Edward had written and instead of Edward being honest about all the terrible things that happened at the Tri-Wizard Tournament instead they make him sound like the hero of the tournament and making the decision to stay at Hogwarts. Changing this letter is directed somewhat at William but the main target of the two is turning the other members of the Shadow Council against Edward, thus leaving him isolated and unable to influence William upon his return. Turning the Shadow CouncilSee Also : Letters of Edward Cullen
As Blake comes with the changed letter its William that escapes his own bedroom which he had shared with Leven the night before in a lie he forces his cousin Marcel to back him on and then he goes to the Lucerne Lake where he sits by the water thinking of Rosalie Hale at first but as he falls into daydreaming, he dreams of his time with Ar-Brentey Hemsworth. Feeling tears falling down his cheek at the memory of his lost lovers he wipes them from his cheek and gets up travelling back to the Sky Tower where he finds Faye Skane one of the girls that he has been sleeping with as of late waiting for him at the gates into the Sky Tower and decides that since she is clearer on his emotional capabilities that he will invite her up. Taking Faye upstairs the two discuss her life back in Nostheim and William becomes disappointed in himself for not knowing more about her, and their conversation only stops when they begin kissing and sleep together. After sleeping together Faye sadly must leave and William walks her out the two talking and William is happy to learn more about her, they make plans to go to Nostheim in the summer something that excites them both. It was William who would be sitting in the gardens following the departure of Faye Skane when he is interrupted from his reading by the arrival of Blake Cullen who has arrived and brings news from her father that Edward Cullen is returning to the capital.
Blake tells William that she received a letter from her brother and lies during this telling William that she has received several letters in the past month which hurts William who hasn’t been getting the letters Edward’s been writing to him. The two read the letter that Blake has altered, and reading it has the desired effect of causing resentment from William towards Edward. In this resentment a bitter William moves in an kisses Blake of which is something she very much wants, and they begin to get more intimate until she takes him by the hand and leads him deeper into the garden. Hidden behind the larger plants the two have sex. They continue until Jasper, Emmett, Leven, Tanya, and Dylan arrive and despite Blake trying to keep him to herself he takes Blake to his friends. William and Blake show the group the letter, and of the group Jasper, and Tanya have very negative reactions to hearing what the letter said with Tanya storming away followed by Leven and Blake. Emmett, Jasper, and Dylan are discussing the letter when a group of men at arms led by Draco arrive. Seeing Draco nod at him to follow him, its William that says goodbye to his friends but they make plans to meet up later. Betrothal to Amber Heard II.
Following Draco, he is taken into the tower, and he remains quiet as he thinks on the letter he has just read. The lift stop son the 13th floor whereas he gets off Draco remains, and he sees the meeting hall if quite full of people. The seats at the table are all filled, and he even sees his father sitting at the king’s chair something he hasn’t seen in some time. Entering the room his aunt Catherine gets up from her chair and leads him to an open spot beside her, whereas he walks up to the chair its Catherine that gently rubs his back. Sitting at his chair he looks across from himself and sees a young girl who he doesn’t recognize and thinking to himself of her beauty a slap beneath the table by his aunt brings his attention back to his father who begins to speak. His father welcomes him to the meeting and introduces William to the guest of honor in the form of Amber Heard II. who he says is here to become his betrothed before he begins whispering to himself and Keith gets up from his chair and takes James into a back room leaving Catherine to take the chair reserved for his mother Lisa and take over the meeting. Catherine takes of and calms things down after the departure lying about James not feeling well, and this goes over well with the attendees. As William looks around, he sees the amber girl has her head down clearly uncomfortable with the attention this meeting is bringing her and seeing that brings a smile to his face reminding him of the way Rosalie used to hate attention. Looking around he sees many of his fathers’ top advisors in the room but is surprised to see Wuldrik, and Aelfwynn both in the room and sends a smile towards Aelfwynn who returns it quickly. Also sitting on the Heard side of the meeting hall is his friends Byron and Arria’s father in Landsgrave Byron Arryn of whom he has met a few times but doesn’t really know that well. The meeting goes along with Catherine speaking for a time about the importance of the Kingdom of Lucerne’s relationship with House Arryn, and their cadet house in House Heard.
Catherine eventually directs her attention at William and leaves him on the spot to speak to the betrothal which he has only just learned about. Realizing she is placing him in this position as a test he keeps himself under control and speaks to all the things he knows about House Arryn and House Heard and discusses his happiness at the opportunity to get to know Amber before sitting back down. Food is brought out and the room begins eating, but William is now fully invested in impressing his aunt and thus while eating his eye remains on Amber. Watching her closely he waits until she is done eating and then getting up from his table he goes to the other table and asks Lord Heard for a chance to show Amber the gardens, and Benjamin Heard quickly gives him permission. William takes Amber by the hand and leads her to the lift while the rest of the room watches he leads her to the lift. Getting on the lift he sees Draco smile at him and as the door shuts, he watches Catherine smile as well from her seat. Amber and William talk as they travel from the lift to the gardens, and William reveals his love for the gardens with Amber and William bonding over their love of the quiet solitude of the gardens. The two speak for an hour before Catherine, and amber’s mother Amber the elder arrive and tell her its time she goes home. Amber and William share a smile goodbye as she leaves with her mother leaving William and Catherine alone. Catherine and William talk for a time, and he tells Catherine that he will try his best to make the most of this opportunity and Catherine thanks him for doing his best despite how sad she knows he is over all he’s lost. William leaves the garden and going to the gate to have a guard accompany him to Blake’s house he stops as he sees a flower that Amber had talked of during their time together and realizes he wants to try and be better. Turning around he makes his way back to the tower where he plans to go to the library and read instead of going to Blake. Coming Home
With the city of Hogwarts in chaos following the Tri-wizard tournament its Hilary, and Edward that can get out of the city without being stopped making their way out of Hogwarts. They made their way to Fudsatan where the Kirin Tor contingent had retreated to following the destruction of the Portal Network of Hogwarts. Arriving at Fadustan they found the city was crowded as thousands were fleeing into the city from the area trying to escape the roving bands of Death Eaters recruiting and terrorizing the landscape. The Kirin Tor contingent was outside the city in a small camp where they were working to summon the Magical portal that would take them back to Kirin Tor and entering their camp it was Cerin Menathil that greeted them. Cerin agreed that she would take them with her back to Kirin Tor to assist them in returning home, and with this Hilary and Edward went about helping them summon the portal. As they finished summoning the portal it was the Death Eater Cyprus Nightshade that arrived with a group of soldiers from House Nightshade. Cyprus offered the Kirin Tor great treasure and reward if they assisted the Deatheaters in fighting with them in the now expanding civil war. It was Medivh Flowers that would reject this offer sending Cyprus and his soldiers away, and when Cerin asked him why he rejected the offer it was Medivh that told her that you never made deals with demons. The portal was eventually completed, and the group all went through the portal returning to Kirin Tor. Arriving at Kirin Tor the two were amazed at the scope of the city, and despite wanting to stay in Kirin Tor and see what the fortress had to offer they both knew they needed to go home, and thus said goodbye to Cerin and left for Lucerne. Using their Magi abilities, they would fly towards Lucerne using a Kirin Tor flying wagon travelling from Kirin Tor towards Lucerne. Flying through the day and night the pair would sleep in the wagon as they travelled with wagon travelling automatically to the marker the pair had made north of Brill. Most of the trip the pair is silent as Hilary is deep in reading while Edward is overcome with the trauma of what happened to him in the graveyard. Edward and Hilary stop in Brill first where they meet with Hilary's family of whom have not seen her for many months, and Edward watches as the Swift family is overjoyed to see them. Spending several weeks in Brill its Edward that wants badly to return home but knows that Hilary needs this time with her family and thus doesn’t rush her. During this time its Edward that gets to know Hilary’s sister Taylor Swift of whom has many questions about William, and Edward believing that Taylor is just crushing on the prince tells Taylor things about William which allow Taylor to form an even more close connection with William within the Fade. After two weeks at Brill they leave Hilary’s family in a tearful goodbye and make there way once more by the wagon to the city of Gulltown where Hilary’s father has arranged for them to travel to Lucerne with House Shephard.
Losing Home
Edward wakes up and getting up slowly from his bed he looks around his room and picks up one of the books sitting on his table and begins to read. A servant brings him food, and he eats it in his room not even attempting to leave the room. A knock on the door brings Hilary to his door and seeing his friend he lets her in but feels shame as she sees the way he has been living. From his conversation with Hilary, it becomes clear that it has been two months since his horrible reunion with his friends. They talk of how Tanya left the city shortly after his return with her refusing to even see him before she left, and with the city on lockdown he has been unable to leave and see her. They do talk how despite him and William seeing each other several times it’s clear that even that relationship has been damaged. The only positive thing other than William and Hilary in his life arrives at the door in the form of Hostella Hale who comes inside and kissing him its revealed that when Tanya refused to see him in his depression, he grew close to Hostella and the two are now a couple of sorts. Trip to ArryndaleDeath of Hostella HaleMain Article : Death of Hostella Hale
The only time the two go outside of the house is when they travel to see William at the lake, but with William having left the city to visit the town of Arryndale with his betrothed and the Shadow Council it was Edward and Hostella that visited the lake by themselves. Hostella for her part could not swim but would read on the beach while Edward was swimming and the two had a good time just being with each other. It was this closeness that was noticed by Byron Arryn II. Byron was by this point increasingly distant from the Shadow Council as following the events of the Pendant of Cleansing he had become emotionally changed leaving the other members of the Shadow Council to find him strange to be around. For his part Byron did not understand this feeling as his pariah Magi powers had changed him and thus, he was left confused by this isolation but following the return of Edward Cullen he came to blame Edward for this isolation. Watching this constant trip to the water it was Byron that waited until William and the Shadow Council returned to the city and with their return, he put his plan in place of damaging Edward even more in the eyes of his friends. Byron would arrange for the Shadow Council to come to the beach, and they agreed readily wanting some time to rest after their trip to Arryndale and having gotten the Shadow Council to come he went to Edward to complete his plot. Speaking to Edward for the first time since his return from Hogwarts its Byron that manipulates Edward into believing they are friends again, and this leads Edward to not coordinate with William on the beach and thus he goes early in the morning while William and the Shadow Council are going to go mid-day. Edward and Hostella go to the beach together and spending the morning together its Edward that begins to get nervous about where all his friends are, and Byron tells him its fine leading him to go for a swim to calm himself. While Edward is swimming its Byron that leads Hostella to one of the hot springs on the back of the cave and while there he violently attacks her before drowning her in the hot springs. After killing Hostella its Byron that leaves the beach and goes to get William and the Shadow Council from just outside the walls where they were waiting and bringing them inside, he leads them towards the body as Edward is coming out of the water. As Edward swam out of the water he found her lifeless body in the water and his screams alerted the crowd to the situation. Jasper arrived with Dorna, and Dylan and seeing her fallen body being carried away by guards of House Hale who had arrived first he demanded his friend tell him what had happened. Sobbing with tears Edward told him that he was swimming and she must have attempted to come see him and drown trying.
The two would get into a fight which was broken up by the onlookers but Jasper yelled every painful thing he could think of at Edward. Dylan who was also on the shadow council with Edward would become very hateful towards Edward as a result of this event and the two would never really recover from this. Dylan and Laera
As the fight broke up it was Dylan that would remain behind with Fredrik Highmore, and while they were guarding the scene with many other men at arms they were approached by Emma Bell of whom brought several of her friends of which one was Laera Griffin. Emma Bell, and her friends were able to convince Freddie to tell them what had happened, and after this Freddie said they would escort the girls back to their homes, and Dylan followed him, but veered off to take Laera home personally as she was staying with the Scarlet's and their home that she was staying in was in Lucerne Proper. Walking and talking they got along well, and she made sure to let him know that whenever she saw him she expected he would speak to her. This relationship would grow quickly over the next weeks from simple friendship to a sexual relationship of which obviously because of their non-marital status never was fully consummated, but they were both openly talking about a marriage between the two, and they both planned to tell their parents while their parents visited them at the earliest moment. As they waited for this Dylan would be forced to deal with a situation where his supposed twin sister Erica Steinmare was being harassed by a young noble named Dolan Tarbeck, and just as he was about to fight him over it he watched as Liam Greymane II. would step in and knock out Dolan Tarbeck with a single punch, before taking Erica away from the scene and leaving behind a crowd of hollering young nobles. The Words of the Dragon
Emotionally destroyed Edward stays in his room for days and its several days into his self isolation that Lyanna Starke a member of the Cloud Council arrives at his room and the two have a long conversation where Lyanna is able to convince him not to give up on life preaching about the value of life thorugh her eyes as a Dragonoph Priestess. Lyanna Starke who had been on a seven day prayer meeting at the Dragon Temple of Lucerne had returned to find about the death of Hostella and talking with William Lovie III. the two had discussed how basically no one had even checked on Edward with all energy and emotion being given to Jasper and how he was doing and the two realized that Edward needed someone, and with William unwilling to go to Edward due to his own pride they would agree that Lyanna would go. Emotionally destroyed by what has happened Edward had been staying in his room for days and thus its several days into his self isolation that Lyanna Starke arrives at the House Cullen estates. Initially she is blocked by Blake Cullen from entering as Blake has come to take the side of the others and has been purposely keeping people from seeing her brother including Tanya Cullen of whom has come almost every day, but with Lyanna she is unable to stop her due to her friendship with William and thus Lyanna is able to get into Edwards bedroom where she finds him curled in a ball on his bed.
The two have a long conversation where Lyanna is able to convince him not to give up on life preaching about the value of life through her eyes as a Dragonoph Priestess, and while Edward doesn't come to truly believe in the Dragon anymore then he already did he believes her. Feeling better after the conversation he speaks with his sister of whom attacks him verbally but during this conversation she lets slip that Tanya had been coming to the estate every day trying to see him. Edward demands to know where she was now and Blake laughs that she had been sent back to the Denali Holdfast after the last attempt several days ago, and with this Edward storms out and gets on his horse and leaves Lucerne traveling towards the House Denali estates. Starting to Make Things Right
Leaving through the gate of Lucerne he takes only his broom and heads into a small clearing outside the city range and gets on the broom taking off and heading towards the Denali Holdfast located west of Castle Cullen, and making the journey gives him lots of time to think on his feelings towards Tanya. Arriving at the Denali estates he sees Tanya walking the courtyard and they quickly notice him and he lands in front of them, and without a second thought Tanya runs into his arms giving him a hug. The two talk things out with Tanya revealing the truth that Edward had not known until now in the form of the reason everyone was so mad at him when he arrived was that they believed he had chosen to leave due to not wanting to be around them all.
Edward Fights with Mathew
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 William 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 William Lovie entered the courtyard. After a moment of silence William 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 William, 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 WarMain Article : Bandit War of Rosten
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 JogelinnAphasial 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 JourneySee Also : The Journey
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
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 AereneSee Also : Skirmish at Castle Marimus
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 CullenMoving 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 IthilMain Article : The Third Battle of Minus Ithil
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. 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.
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.
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
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.
The Ambush
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.
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
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.
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
|
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 HillMain Article : Second Battle of Tree Hill
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.
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.
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
Clearing the WestClearing the NorthClearing the EastRetaking the Capital
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
As the night neared the Orcs would begin their party and the loud noise would alert the alliance that this was underway, and also awake most of the defenders of Tree Hill of whom were prepared for what many believed was the final attack. The party continued, and the alliance moved itself completely into position against the now scout less Orcish force, and pushed in many places all the way against the wall with the entire Orcish force within the city itself or dead outside. The night came and the army would move on their predetermined signal of which moved everything forward. The infiltration of House Scarlet into the under tunnels of the city begin as Saiden Scarlet led a large force of hundreds into the tunnels in the goal of reaching the estate of House James and once the attack was underway they would spring upon the already ambushed Orcs. From the west the forces of House Greymane, and House Ordos would move themselves through the broken shattered western gate and encountered hundreds of Orcs in differing stages of drunkenness and the fighting wouldn't spark any concerns from the Orcs as it was all believed still to be a part of the party. Seeing the ambush was underway it was at this moment that Morrigan finally ended the charade and came upon Jurden while he was standing in his residence.
Aftermath
The battle would end with the complete destruction of the Orc army and the liberation of Tree Hill. When the armies of Lucerne and Gondor entered the remains of Tree Hill, they found the sad remnants of a once truly mighty city. Food, aid and supplies were rushed to the city, but before the true rebuild could begin Andrew Lovie would take the reigns of the King of Lucerne following a duel with his father. |
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. | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
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.
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.
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 EderizSee Also : Ezio Ederiz
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.
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
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
Discovery of Betrayal
It was at this point that Edric Nighting would arrive in Forks where he had made the decision to turn against his family and reveal the plans of his family. Edric Nighting had several weeks before this begin hearing talk from his father and older brother that they planned to rise against House Scott and murder the Scotts in the city before taking control of Tree Hill itself. He would watch his brother in secret as his brother James Nighting II. followed Brooke Scott watching her movements, and watching her himself he discovered that she was the mistress of William Lovie III. through listening in on a conversation between Brooke and Haley 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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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 KrinnerMain Article : Battle of Krinner
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.
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.
Taking of the PrisonHunting a Beast
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.
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
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.
Death is the End
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.
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
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
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. | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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
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
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.
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 DowdenWhen 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
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
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
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. | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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.
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.
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.
On the Path of a Demon
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 LeavesSee Also : Capture of Jaina Menathil
Taylor's Discovery
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.
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
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.
New Leadership
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.
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.
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.
Battle at the DocksRas 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 TorMain Article : Battle of Dalaran
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.
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 LorderonMain Article : Battle of Lorderon
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.
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.
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.
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.
|
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. | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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. |
---|
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.
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
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
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.
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
|
Family Members
Relationships
Main Article : Relationships of Mathias Clegane
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."
-Mathias Clegane
Mathias 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 Mathias 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."
-Mathias Clegane
Joanna met Mathias 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 Mathias, and the two came to be married only three years after. Their first child Mathias Clegane II. was born 2 years after they got married.