Orival Crane

The Third Battle of Minus Ithil

Main 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.

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

``My prince the King has entered the camp and will be here momentarily.`` ``That is good. Thank you Ser Percy.``Despite my fears Hayden Percy was one of, if not the most loyal man I knew and he deserved to be treated with respect.

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

Main Article : Second Battle of Tree Hill

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

The Night Comes

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

The Massacre

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

Aftermath

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

Removing the Old King

See Also : William Lovie III's Takeover of Lucerne

As William Lovie III. moved back towards Lucerne following the victory at Tree HIll it would be Janos Flynt that was in a position that was only a step beneath his brother Tavin Flynt of whom was running the city watch as the commander. On the days following the liberation of Tree Hill news begin to filter into the city that William Lovie III. was on his way to Lucerne and was planning on removing his father from power. While during this time Bill Lovie made no effort to control the city watch so that they would defend the city, his young son Sean Lovie did attempt to stop his entry. The liberation of Tree Hill was the moment that Sean Lovie understood that William would return to Lucerne and attempt to remove his father, and most likely kill him as by this point there was no scenario where William couldn't have known the truth of what happened at Tree Hill. This wasn't something Sean could allow so he begin ordering the guards of the city to prepare the defenses of the city in order to make sure that william had no way of entering the city. He mainly was giving these orders to Tavin Flynt of whom had always retained the belief that he was loyal to House Lovie first and then the Kingdom thus he made the choice to stand beside Sean Lovie, and Bill Lovie. This decision was met with rumblings throughout the city watch as most wanted William to be victorious but his control over the top echelons was powerful, and most believed he had the support of his brother Janos Flynt of whom was the most influential member of the city watch. Following the arrival of the raven by declaring the victory of William Lovie III. it would be Bill Lovie that would recall his niece Michelle Trachtenberg to the Sky Towers and would take out all of his anger on the poor depressed young girl, and following his attack of Michelle he would exile her to Whitehaven Castle and reveal this to no one outside of his closest confidents.

Wedding of Bella, and William

Main Article : Wedding of Bella Swan and William Lovie III.

While William was unknowingly to Alice engaging in a sexual relationship with Brooke Scott in Tree Hill it would be Alice that was pushing forward with plans for the wedding of William Lovie III. and her best friend Bella Swan. William would departs Tree Hill planning to go to Forks and reveal the truth to Bella but after he arrived at Forks he was met first by his sister, and Alice would be so excited that despite not wanting to marry Bella anymore he is unable to disappoint his sister of whom loves Bella deeply, and he goes through with the wedding despite everything in him wanting Brooke more. Trying to delay the wedding William is at first successful and the army of Lucerne prepares to leave for the capital but this is delayed when Bella reveals that she is pregnant basically forcing William to marry her in order to keep from having a bastard. Thus due to the pregnancy Alice is able to delay the departure of William in order to have the wedding before he arrives in Lucerne, and thus join House Swan and House Lovie together before he leaves for Lucerne. During the wedding itself Alice watches him lie during the Vow to protect and love her for the rest of his days and following this while everyone else is screaming in excitement Alice is in a fog of which is noticed by Edward Cullen of whom holds her hand and walks with her out of the ceremony as they follow William and Bella who now married are heading towards the wedding feast. Following the ceremony she walks out and sees Lanna Lannister talking with Jasper Hale of whom is gently rubbing her arm, and following this she looks for Dylan Steinmare of whom she finds and takes him away from the party and kisses him. As they become more heated she pulls away leaving him behind, and returning to the party where she takes her seat beside William of whom holds her hand as several prominent members of the Kingdom of Lucerne say nice things about the married couple.

Entering the City

Entering the Sky Tower

The prince would continue making his way through the city of Lucerne William would gather thousands of supporters to his army marching like a massive horde towards the Sky Towers where the hundred strong garrison would prepare for their coming. As William Lovie attempted to enter the Sky Towers Sean Lovie gave the House Lovie forces the command to stop him at all costs but by this point no one was listening to him, and the order wasn't accepted by the head of the House Lovie Sky Tower guards in Barrett Ahren. Sean discovered that they too were unwilling to stop the prince from coming, and begged his father to tell him how they were going to get out of this but his father just sat at his desk waiting for William to enter the room. As they waited the two would have a final visitor in the form of Bill Thalmer of whom arrived with two stones and gave the stones to James before taking out a third and disappearing into nothing, and at this Sean attempted to discover what they were but before he could they heard the sounds of the elevator as William arrived on the floor. When William entered the room he did so flanked by Hedrik, Franklin, Edward, Jasper, and Emmett and they found his father sitting at his desk writing on papers, while Sean stood in the corner of the room looking very uncomfortable. William would accuse Bill Lovie of treason and make him very much aware that he was now the King in everything but name, to which Bill Lovie stood up and responded with the following.

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

My brother held for a moment holding the door, and as he stood their transfixed on the door handle I put my hand to his arm. Feeling my hand on his he looked back and smiled back at me before pulling the door open to reveal the contents of the room I had never been allowed to enter in my entire life. My father sat behind a massive desk, while the pathetic image of my brother Sean leaning in the corner of the room looking like a small child. Sean looked like the same pathetic boy he had been on the last day I had seen him, and it pained me to remember now all he had done. On a scale of evil he was up there with the worst monsters, and yet somehow when you looked at him now he looked so small. William entered the room flanked to his left by Jasper, and Hedrik, while on his right Edward, and Emmett moved forward. I stood transfixed staring into the room until finally Franklin gently grabbed my arm and led me into the room to stand behind William. If he noticed that I had entered he didn`t make any signs of caring he just stared at William. Sean on the other hand saw me and a twisted smirk moved across his face to the point that I moved closer to William looking for the protection that he offered me. ``My victorious son returns with his brave Lords. I rejoice at your great victory at Tree Hill son.`` My father was anything if not a brilliant manipulate of men, but even that seemed foolish. My brother`s victory left him in a position of little hope, and yet when you looked at his face he did look genuinely proud to see his son. ``The time for your lies is long past its end. I have learned the truth about what you have done father, and the time has come to pay for crimes.`` ``So you come as a guardian of the realm then.`` He rose from the desk and moved in front of it to sit gently on the front. Seeing him closer he wore the armor of his father James, and even his madness you could see the royal look he carried. ``I`ve come for justice for the thousands of people you have either killed or terrorized. I come to avenge the wrongs you have done to this Kingdom. I come make you pay for everything you`ve ever done.`` ``And yet your point is sullied by bringing that bastard girl.`` ``You will never speak of her again do you hear me.`` William stepped forward and I grabbed at his cloak to keep him close while Jasper and the others also stepped forward to protect their prince. I actually couldn`t believe it still hurt me to hear the disdain in his voice towards me, but it still hurt my heart to be so unloved by my father. A tear fell down my cheek and I grabbed again at his cloak and he turned as if realizing I was crying. Gently wiping his hand on my face he smiled at me conveying the love he held for me, and how much he was capable of I felt safer. ``That will be your undoing my son.`` The words from my father turned William back towards him, and as pathetic as it was I moved closer behind him nearly hugging his back. ``What do you blather on about now.`` ``Your love for that girl is going to be the one thing your enemies will use to their advantage. Don`t you understand that I sent her away because she was weakening you.`` He spoke as if it was the most honorable act he could have ever done, and yet the sheer scope of what he had was beyond grasping. ``Use whatever excuses you want but this ends here. Your time here is at an end murderer.`` The moment William said murderer it was as if Bill had been struck with the most painful strike in the history of mankind. Falling back onto his desk he looked back with a horrified look on his face. "I’ve seen horrors. Horrors that you’ve seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that, but you have no right to judge me...It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face, and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies…" It was the sad ramblings of a man with nothing left, but as the tears flowed from my father`s face I felt a tinge of empathy for the sadness that must have driven this once great man to fall so far as to hate his children, and turn the Kingdom into a hellish place. ``The time for your talking is over. Jasper, Hedrik please take my father into custody and Sean it is...`` Before he could finish my father broke out into hysterical crying and fell to his knees before William. Moving that close to William Jasper grabbed a hold of him almost immediately and shielded William. "There they were in a pile, a pile of arms, and I remember, I...I...I cried, I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized like I was shot, like I was shot with a diamond, a diamond arrow right through my forehead. And I thought, ‘My God, the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than me because they could stand it. These were not monsters. These were orcs — trained warriors. These orcs who fought with their hearts who have families, who have children, who are filled with lust for battle – that they had the strength, the strength to do that. If I had ten divisions of those Orcs, then our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill – without feeling, without passion, without judgment – without judgment. Because it’s judgment that defeats us." After that madness filled rant Bill recoiled from Jaspers grasp and ran behind the desk. ``There`s nowhere to go...its over father.``You could tell this was breaking William as he watched the man that had been his father for his entire life fall apart. This wasn`t like it was for me or Sean as father had never loved or cared for us in any real way, this was true pain. For his entire life his father had loved and cared for him, and now was the final moment of his time with him, and I felt his pain wash over me. ``The day may come son, when this is at an end. I see my end in the stars son, but know that while it is my blood that lays the final blow, it will not be you. You will be far far away when I finally get the judgement that you wish of me.``He stopped for a moment and looked briefly at Sean, and then William before stopping at me. ``I`m sorry that my plan failed in the end. I`m sorry that every time I looked at you I couldn`t find any feeling but resentment. He always loved you in a way that he never did me, and I...I just...I just hated you for it. I see now that you were never my daughter in the end. I see now that you William were the only child I was ever meant to love...and I failed even that.`` ``Its time father. Take him away...``As he finished Bill took a blue stone out of his pocket, and with another look at his children he clasped the blue stone and disappeared into nothing. Too shocked to say anything we were knocked out of our shock by Sean stepping forward holding a green stone. Sean stared at William laughing and as William lunged forward at him Sean too clasped the stone, and disappeared into nothing.

Bill went on a series of rants and William rejected this logic, and prepared to arrest Bill and place him in jail, when all of a sudden Bill broke out into historical crying. After litterly crying for nearly a minute Bill finally begin blabbering about different things of which none appeared to make sense until finally Bill begin discussing the Battle of Lyons. Bill told William of how there were piles upon piles of bodies, and he knew that the Orcs were greater then he was. With that speech done Bill took out of his pocket a blue stone, and told William that the day he might bring justice against him would come at some point but it wasn't today as today he was going to leave to the safety that the stone provided. In a single moment Bill disappeared and teleported to the location the stone sent the user. With Bill gone it was just William and Sean and the two stood transfixed at each other, and then as suddenly as a man shot with an arrow dies, Sean went to his pocket and pulled out a green stone and then disappeared into nothing.

Coronation of William Lovie III.

Nortburg Tournament of 5125

Main Article : Nortburg Tournament of 5125

Following the crowning of William Lovie III. as the new King of Lucerne he met with his council within the Lucernian capital and they went bout devising there next steps of action. Following some of the more extensive plans he met with the Shadow Council, and Jacob Vorn IV. of whom now stood as the King's Archbishop and the group would decide they needed to know more about the regions around them and also repair damage and they would do this by planning a tournament at Nortburg and invite foreign dignitaries to the tournament alongside the most influential of nobles of Lucerne. Also invited to the Tournament would be the Trachtenberg family of whom were the blood cousins of William Lovie incluing his uncle Frank Trachtenberg, and two cousins Michelle Trachtenberg, and Kristen Trachtenberg all of whom William wanted to repair relationships with most specifically with Michelle who he came to understand had been treated quite terribly by his father. The Trachtenberg side of the family had become distant due to several instances, most notably the imprisonment of Bill Lovie's cousin Katia Lovie the Matriarch of House Trachtenberg in the city of Berne.

True Sons of Lucerne

A large force under a white flag and led by Kieth Schwartz, and Alistair Bedregen arrives at the tournament ground carrying also the flag of the True Sons of Lucerne. The arrival of these True Sons would cause William himself accompanied by the Shadow Council and Charlie Swan to confront them and while at first wanting to bar them from the tournament as they were basically traitors the arrival of Hanna Arryn, and Aria Arryn would lead to William speaking privately with Hanna and Aria. Speaking to the two alongside Leven Martell, and Charlie Swan he would discover that the situation in Berne was growing completely out of control and that was why they had agreed to all the demands of Sean Lovie and had come here. Seeing that his friends were in grave danger he would agree to play along with the plans of the True Sons and allowed Danzal to take part in the tournament. Following this meeting with Hanna and Aria he would meet with Kieth Schwartz who was like an uncle to him during his childhood and the two would talk over everything that had happened with Kieth admitting to everything and for the first time giving William a true glimpse at what Bill had been going through and why he had chosen to do all the things that he had done. Another of the members of the group to come under the flag was Harrold Hardyng of whom as a dire hard member of the rebellion against Sean Lovie would sneak himself into the force with the help of Alistair and when he arrived he met with Teri-Jacob Vorn IV. and together in secret the two worked out steps for Harrold to take to help with the eventual retaking of Berne.

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

"Tell me about Amber." "She is safe but misses you dearly." "I know you may not feel the same way, but I want you to know how truly amazing it is to see you again Will." His face rose with a smile as he looked at me and it brought me back to thinking about the man who had helped teach me how to swim when I was a boy. He was a constant throughout my youth taking on my fathers role for those months when he could barely leave the tower. "You know I cannot same the same. And you know why." "I want you to know that I am sorry. I want you to know that he is sorry." "Do not speak of him here or this conversation will end." "That hatred that you feel. That's what drove him William." "I know my friends would never let me do the things you let him do." "Your friends love you. As your fathers love him." "Love doesn't mean you let those you love go mad with no attempt to stop them." "You look at it now and believe that if you started talking about killing your own daughter that what Jasper would stop you. Leven would stop you." "They would. As you fucking should have!" I knew I was being too loud. The tournament was not even close to starting so the numbers here were low, but this was all so fresh. I could not be seen as being my father. "They would do as we did. They would speak to you like I spoke to your father. I told him of the madness of what he was thinking. I told him that he had lost himself in that damn book. I did everything your friends would do. The only further step I could have taken was the one thing I could not do." "They would." "Look me in the eyes William and tell me that you truly believe that one of those people hovering outside this tent would ever raise a sword against you."

Following the conversation between Kieth, and William Kieth would leave the tournament as he was a soldier of Bill Lovie and not Sean Lovie and did not care if the plan of Sean succeded or not, and thus he would return to Orleans where he would report to Bill Lovie about the conversation that he and William had. With the departure of Sean Lovie the remaining elements of the True Sons of Lucerne were mainly William loyalists and in this way he would meet again with Hanna but this time she introduced them to House Krinner and House Dorin of whom led by Harrold Krinner, Trailen Dorin and accompanied by prominent heirs in Danzal Krinner, and Trailen Dorin II. they would be shown to be loyalists who were more then ready to assist when the time came to destroy the forces of Sean Lovie.

The Riverlands

Meeting the Elves

Following the Second Battle of Minus Ithil the Elves of High Forest would come to understand that the alliance between Gondor, Lucerne, and High Forest was something that they should work towards and as they followed the Lucernians into the relief of Tree Hill they would also send a large force to Nortburg to celebrate at the tournament. Alongside sending a force led by Taflarion Stormrage, and his wife Helian Stormrage, and their daughter Tonlia Stormrage, alongside her husband Cadwyr Winterdew the High Forest government back in the capital would also make several large movements for advancing the alliance itself when Malfurion Stormrage would contact the forces of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, and the Atmer Empire and told the two forces that they needed to send forces to the tournament as the new king of Lucerne was someone who truly was willing to try and change things for the better. The Sindar Elven Kingdom of Quel'Thalas sends representatives in the form of Alleria Windrunner, and Marinda Oakwhisper to the tournament as well with the purpose of arranging a stronger relationship with the Kingdom of Lucerne's new King. The Atmer Empire would send members of the Atmer Elven great house in the form of the House of Finwe to the tournament and these Elves used Magi portals to enter the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas and then travelled into Lucerne alongside the force led by Alleria. These Atmer Elves would be the first of the High Elves to enter the Kingdom of Lucerne in an almost uncountable time and led by Elendil Finwe III., his daughter Alais Finwe, and sons Talais Finwe, and Anar Finwe IV. of whom have come to discuss an alliance with William and Lucerne. The Elves appear very honorable about their intentions and the talks go well, with Hedrik Clegane III. leading the negotiations with the High Elves, and despite eventually leaving it would be so successful that William would make his intentions known to them by inviting the Elves to found a small settlement in Frosthelm. The Elves like the idea and Elendil sends his sons back to Ulthuan to make the arrangements while he will accompany William for the next while.

End of a Betrothal

The Starke's had come on mass to the Tournament of Nortburg and during this time it was believed that Sansa Starke, and Joffrey Lannister would get a lot of time together to get to know eachother, and while this was true with Joffrey, and Sansa going on a walk together and having a good time, this would alter dramatically later that night.

The Manderlys

As the tournament is only a few days from starting the final invitees arrive in the form of the Manderlys of whoom William meets with several representatives of the Manderlys who control the White Knife and during this conversation he and his father in law Charlie Swan are able to arrange a marriage between Winfred Manderly, and Miley Black. In this arrangement he and Charlie Swan decide that they will send Lucas Scott of whom is deemed by many to be the hero of the Siege of Tree Hill and thus someone they want to remain close too, but also William has become obsessed with Brooke Scott and thinks on her constantly believing that this will give him a chance to see her again.

Arrival of Brooke Scott

Following the end of the tournament William and the group prepare to return to the capital where they will plan out the reconquest of Berne, but this changes with the arrival of Brooke Scott of whom breaks down crying in front of him as he stands with Leven, and Jasper and William quickly takes her away from the two into a back room where before he is able to say anything she reveals her stomach showing she is nearly four months pregnant from the time they last saw each other. Realizing in that moment she appears more pregnant then Bella he ponders the consequences of this but she doesn't demand anything just wishes him to help her with her grandfathers funeral.

When it came to dividing up the responsibilities of the attack on the lands of the Malfoy's it was House Scott that was obviously a part of the planning of the Invasion of Westbridge as they were a Lord House and Lucas Scott was very popular with the young King of Lucerne in William, despite the fact the two were estranged due to an argument between them when Lucas finally learned of Brooke Scott, and the King. While this planning hinged on several different sections the overall plan back in Lucerne was one that needed to all work together in connection in order to leave the path open for the main army of the King to engage Westbridge itself. Several houses would move against the outskirt castles, and towns south of Westbridge, while House Lovie and its vassals alongside others moved against the southern half of the Westbridge entrance. This meant that House Scott was required to take control over the invasion of the town of Breadin to the south east of Westbridge. The town of Braedin was the ancestral home of the large House Curtley, and as such it was heavily defended by the forces of House Curtley who despite their disloyalty to House Malfoy they were not willing to simply give in to outside pressure. This meant that House Scott when they left for the long trek north they prepared to siege the town, and its keep that the Order of the Green Dragon said was so heavily defended. House Scott left Tree Hill alongside their vassal houses and the sworn houses and made the long trek northward towards the village of Pomer. House Oakheart would send large forces under the command of Anakin Oakheart of whom was joined by his son Lucas Oakheart of whom was increasingly hateful towards his father for continuing to not get revenge for the death of Thomas Oakheart by Dan Scott, and Lucas was using this as a chance to build fame outside of his father in order to start his own cadet branch of the family with his sister Leah Oakheart, but was playing his father into believing he was trying to rebuild their relationship. During the times they were riding Lucas rode his horse beside Marvin Scott a man who despite being his cousin he barely had known and he came to find that the two had a lot in common, and they begin to build a true relationship.

When the Scott's were given command of the taking of Braedin William knew that with all the conflict between himself and the Scott's due to his affair with Brooke he would need someone to watch them, and thus he would recall his cousins from House Tyrell to Lucerne. It was decided that the majority of the forces of House Tyrell would follow the Scotts in the taking of the heavily populated and defended town of Braedin. Alongside assisting in the siege they would be placed in a position of watching Dan Scott in secret and seeing what manner of loyalty he showed during the campaign. Nearly four days into the trek he was greeted by the horse of Loras Tyrell riding up beside him, and the two of them came to ride together the rest of the way talking about random things. When they arrived they didn't join the main camp and instead passed west where they took control over the small village of Pomer where they left portions of House Faust to maintain its control and to make sure no one left the town and warned everyone else.

Scouting the Keep

Lucas Scott, and his cousin Marvin Scott were placed in a leadership role by William Lovie III. for the purposes of this siege and as such they took a small elite group of troops and during the middle of the night they went and surveyed the defenses of Breadin. When they reached the outskirts they were clearly able to see the true extent of the defenses, and realized quite quickly that the town was defended by what appeared to be a large keep that while it didn't surround the entire town it defended what must have been the House Curtley Estate alongside the center of the town. As they returned to camp and all the scouts begin to flood back they attempted to find the most simple way of taking the keep without taking horrendous casualties. Loras Tyrell advised that his scouts reported to him that the northern part of the town appeared to be undergoing some sort of construction and that he believed he could use this too his advantage and attack that section with House Tyrell and his sworn houses. While this was happening the entire castle had been surrounded, and thus Dan Scott would arrange for a parley with the members of House Curtley. Joining Dan in the meeting were the Patriarch's of the other vassals present and many of their heirs, while House Curtley sent their prince in the form of Barister Curtley II. and a few of the defense commanders to meet with them.

As they were leaving for the meeting it was the Tyrell's that revealed to several others the true directive of William Lovie III. through his own writing, but they worked hard to keep that they had revealed this truth so that they could do as William wanted and see if Dan would be loyal. Dan Scott would outline the terms of surrender, and made sure to note that William Lovie had said that they would retain control of Braedin but they would need to swear oaths of loyalty to the Kingdom of Lucerne. Dan Scott though would deviate heavily from the offer made by the King when he lied and said that a demand had also been made to allow a garrison of their castle until the conflict was over, and he did this directly in front of Dylan Tyrell of whom knew the true orders from William but remained silent. The last terms were obviously not acceptable to the prince, and so he regrettably rejected the surrender and prepared to return to the castle. As he was leaving he was told by Loras Tyrell that the Scotts had planned to have him captured and all his men killed. Hearing this just as he was leaving Barrister would return to Braedin with the belief that House Tyrell was on their side more then House Scott, and because of this it would affect the situation with Braedin. When Barrister Curtley II. returned to Braedin he met with the commanders and discussed how House Tyrell had told him that he was in danger and that only they had kept him from being killed.

The leadership of Braedin led by House Curtley became divided under the opinions of though's that wanted to speak to this House Tyrell and get them to accept the surrender of the city, while the other side wanted to basically fight to the death under the leadership of Varin Curtley. Barrister the heir of House Curtley said that he had talked openly with the prince of House Tyrell and that this young man appeared very much to want them to survive. Others would argue that Barrister was being used, and just didn't know that. The argument raged throughout the night, and Barister Curtley the Lord of the city remained passive until finally siding against his heir and deciding to fight hoping relief would come from Westbridge. His son was utterly shocked that his father had turned against him, and fled the room with several of his loyalists for the northern gate. Barrister when he arrived

The Siege

With knowledge of how truly defended the town was they prepared for the siege the next day as they knew that was their time frame that they had to complete the siege and take control of the town. Lucas planned to have House Scott, and its Vassals move against the town from the south, while House Tyrell and its sworn houses moved against the northern side of the town. This plan was coupled with the silent constructions of his cousin Marin Scott who had constructed several secretive devices which he believed would allow the troops to enter the fortress unhindered from any fire that might come their way. These moveable siege towers were something he had devised while drawing and this would be the first time he had a chance to use them. As this was going on House Tyrell was already in position in the north, and thus was sitting waiting for what Mace hoped would be a message from House Curtley. While the north was peaceful the southern side which was defended by Varin Curtley was provoking the actions of House Scott. Varin had his men fire shots into the field in front of where the House Scott men were mobilizing, and blew his horns all night long to try and keep the preperations from being made.

The Tyrells Move

As the forces of House Scott moved their forces into position for an attack the following day, the forces of House Tyrell would move another plan into action. Mace Tyrell devised a plan where he would take control of the town through the relationship that he had built with the leadership of House Curtley, and his son Loras had played the game perfectly to the point that during the morning Barrister Curtley II. would sneak out of the northern gate and meet with the leadership of House Tyrell. The plan was for House Tyrell to enter the northern gate peacefully, and do this before House Scott sacked the city Barrister would lead the front echolons of House Tyrell into the gate, and they would move into the cities northern side at nearly the same time that House Scott made their attack on the southern gate.

The Fall of Braedin

As the forces of House Tyrell moved into Braedin the forces of House Scott moved against the southern gate completely unaware that fighting was happening on the southern wall. The forces of House Scott moved slowly across the field using their siege machines that blocked fire, and thought this was the reason for the lack of firepower against them, but instead it was because the southern gate was falling to House Tyrell. As they reached the gatehouse the gate door opened, and Mace Tyrell II. walked towards the machines letting them know that the battle was over. Dan Scott, and Mace Tyrell II. would nearly come to a duel, but Loras, and Lucas were able to calm the situation down, and losses were minimal outside of the defenders who lost significant numbers in the suprise attack by House Tyrell.

Staying and Leaving

It would be Ephraim Black working under the commands of the Order of the Three Sins who would use the Battle of Castle Stragnarax to fufill the orders of his leader in the Lord of Gluttony. Using the battle he would be now able to move forward with their plot to take control of Darkhaven following his succesful killing of Harbard Darkmore during the Battle of Castle Stragnarax, of whom he killed by stabbing him in the shoulder and then holding him down for nearly an hour while the Lord of House Darkmore bled out, and then during the night he would drag him to the walls which made it appear he had died to the Orcs. House Darkmore following the death of Harbert Darkmore would have a succession crisis due to the fact that Harbert had died without any male heirs and his sister had not had any children. Realizing this the lords of Darkmore were preparing to make Amantha Darkmore the lady of House Darkmore when Ephraim Black arrived at Darkmore with the idea of a better male canidate in the form of Colin Black of whom was the son of Melina Darkmore and thus a cousin to the lord of House Darkmore. Shocked about the turn of events Leana petitioned against the change as Amantha was the closest blood relative, and Colin Black had never visited, or knew anything of the land he would inherit. Ephraim arrived in Duskenvale with Cellia Black and begin making plans with the nobles there, and found many willing to listen to him as there were many who didn't want to be ruled by a young girl, and during this time Cellia Black used her considerable beauty to convinse several of the nobles of Duskhaven. Colin Black who was at this point still in Forks would be met by his cousin Rebecca Black of whom told him about the reality of his father's plan and that his father planned to remove the Darkmore girls as they were nothing but a threat to Colin and needed to be removed if Ephraim was to rule through Colin. Colin didn't want to believe what Rebecca said, but would agree to travel to Duskenvale with Rebecca Black of whom together with Colin's friend Eric Weinbrum, and his wife Vanessa Black the group would meet Lyle Crakehall and a small troop of House Crakehall on the road and then made there way to Duskenvale. Thus arriving at Duskenvale with his friend, wife, Lyle Crakehall, and Rebecca Black he would be met by his father of whom was furious that he had come to Duskenvale and was going to command his son to return to Forks when he would be interupted by Rebecca Black and Lyle Crakehall of whom took Colin Black and left him with his cousin Amantha. During this time spent time with his cousin Amantha Darkmore of whom he liked very much he came to learn about the reality of what his father was doing and how much it would ruin Amantha, and hearing this he would leave her to find her father of whom he was able to find through the assistence of Rebecca Black. Finding his father in the tower of Darkmore his plan to talk to his father would change dramatically when he overheard his father discussing how he was going to murder the Darkmore girls once he had control so that they wouldn't trouble him anymore, and how after he married Colin off to some girl he would then murder Colin and finally finish what he truly wanted for someone he called the Lord of Gluttony. Overhearing this Colin knew that Rebecca wasn't lying at all and went to his cousin of whom he found kissing Lyle Crakehall and telling her what he had heard the group would go to Amantha and leaving Eric Weinbrum behind with her to protect her with a few Crakehall men the group would leave for Hillsbrad to meet with the Arch Duke of the region in the form of House Greymane.

Deciding Fates

Rebecca Black, Lyle Crakehall, Vanessa Black, and Colin Black would arrive in Hillsbrad and were given an audience with the new Lord of House Greymane in the form of Liam Greymane. Laying out the situation with Liam they were very open about what was going on, and while Liam was reluctant to believe the true extent of how nefarious Ephraim was being in Duskhaven he would agree to travel to Duskhaven in several weeks and he would decide the lordship of Duskhaven himself. Rebecca and the group returned to Duskhaven to find that several of the prominent lords of the province had arrived in Duskhaven including Jon Lowport of whom brought with him his wife, son, and daughter, while Edric Fordale arrived as the new lord of House Fordale accompanied by his sister, and wife, and finally Robin Highport arrived with his wife and sister, but Rebecca would quickly find that each of these lords had their own agendas. The arrival of House Darkwood would incense tensions as Kieth Darkwood, and his brother Derek Darkwood would bring significant forces in order to protect their niece Leana Darkmore, and upon their arrival blood was nearly spilled between Derek Darkwood, and Ephraim upon learning his plotting.

With the arrival of the Arch Duke only a week away the meeting in Duskhaven would be increased when Orival Crane arrived with two of his brothers and a sister on the request of his friend Jon Lowport II.

The Arch Duke Arrives

Meeting a Daughter

Following the attempted Coup in Stor Roslin Stor XII. would return to the capital with Lucie Lovie of whom told her everything she could about her life, and everyone was called to a council where they were told that they had the oldest child of the King of Lucerne in their hands. Following this discovery there were many in the council who begin saying they should barter her to the Lucernians, and this charge would be led heavily by Terad Ereham who had been implicated in the Coup attempt but had returned to the fold after its defeat. Roslin argued that if they did that William had shown he would never forgive the slight, and the weak willed Terad wilted under the pressure of Roslin's words and agreed with her idea of simply giving Lucie to the Lucernians asking nothing in return. The failure here of Terad to gain anything would further poison the mind of his son Tristifer Ereham III. to his father and would be the final straw which led to Tristifer turning completely on his father and taking control of House Ereham.

While Lucie Lovie was being sent to Storhold and the letter was on its way to Lucerne the situation in Lucerne would be quite peaceful as the royal family prepared for the birth of another child of the main branch through Bella Swan and William Lovie, but as this was happening the lessening of the corruption of Morrigan would lead to a major reveal. William

Arrival in Westbridge

Running From a Monster

Arrival in Fairmarket

Leven and William await with many of his children as the boat of Lucie Lovie pulls into the Fairmarket dock, and she consoles him as he gets nervous about seeing her. As she arrives before he can say anything of any real substance she is taken into a hug by Ashley Lovie of whom is followed by Thomas, and William also hugging her but Riley stands back beside William and is unwilling to hug this new claim to the throne. William decides on the advise of Lucie that they will return to Lucerne as quickly as possible and Leven and William stay the night together and then after that returning by caravan back to Lucerne. The second half of the chapter is their journey back to Lucerne.

Return to Lucerne