THE CITADEL

The ultimate package.

MASTERLIST

A

Followers and supporters of Aegon the Uncrowned

Members of Alyssa Velaryon’s court

B

House Targaryen battles

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Contlict

Dance of the Dragons

Date

130 AC

Place

King’s Landing

Result

Victory for the blacks

Combatants

I. House Targaryen / Blacks

House Velaryon

II. House Targaryen / Greens

House Hightower

House Wylde

Commanders

I. Blacks

Prince Daemon Targaryen

Lord Corlys Velaryon

Ser Luthor Largent

II. Greens

Queen Alicent Hightower

Ser Otto Hightower

Ser Gwayne Hightower

Lord Jasper Wylde

The fall of King’s Landing occurred in 130 AC during the Dance of the Dragons.

Prelude

Prince Aemond Targaryen and Ser Criston Cole gathered their green forces to march on Harrenhal, which left King’s Landing largely defenseless. This created an opportunity that the blacks seized.

Prince Daemon Targaryen on Caraxes and Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen on Syrax flew over the capital and circled their dragons above Aegon’s High Hill. The fleet of the Sea Snake, Lord Corlys Velaryon, then arrived to the east of Blackwater Bay.

Battle

The sight of Daemon on Caraxes and Rhaenyra on Syrax over King’s Landing sent the city into a panic. The Queen Dowager, Alicent Hightower, tried to send riders to bring back Aemond and ravens to leal lords, but her efforts were quickly stopped. Unknown to Alicent was that the gold cloaks, the City Watch of King’s Landing, had turned. The gold cloaks were loyal to Daemon who had once been their leader. When he went to dispatch ravens, Grand Maester Orwyle was beaten and bound by gold cloaks as he arrived in his chambers. The seven commanders of the city gates who had been chosen for their loyalty to King Aegon II Targaryen were either imprisoned or killed the moment Caraxes was spotted over the Red Keep. Ser Gwayne Hightower, the second in command of the City Watch, was captured when he tried to sound the alarm. He was brought before Ser Luthor Largent, the commander of the gold cloaks. Gwayne denounced him as a turncloak to which Luthor replied: “Daemon gave us these cloaks and they’re gold no matter how you turn them”.

Luthor then murdered Gwayne and had the city gates opened to the army pouring in from the Sea Snake’s ships. Thirteen House Hightower knights and a hundred men-at-arms managed to hold the River Gate for eight hours from both attacks without and within the city. The other six gates, fell swiftly and the blacks’ army entered the city unmolested through those gates. The city fell in less than a day. Seeing hope was lost, Queen Alicent ordered her forces to surrender.

Aftermath

King Aegon II Targaryen escaped the fall of King’s Landing. He was smuggled out by the master of whisperers, Lord Larys Strong, via secret passages. Aegon was protected by two of his Kingsguard knights, Ser Willis Fell and Ser Rickard Thorne, and was accompanied by his children, Princess Jaehaera and Prince Maelor.

Lord Otto Hightower and Lord Jasper Wylde were executed for treason. Lord Rosby and Stokeworth tried to switch their allegiances back to Rhaenyra, but she refused, judging them to be “faithless friends” and ordered their executions. Queen Alicent Hightower and Princess Helaena Targaryen were held as captives. Ser Tyland Lannister was tortured for information on where he had hidden the crown’s treasure. Grand Maester Orwyle was confined in the black cells.

Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen seized the Iron Throne, though Septon Eustace, who favored Aegon II, wrote that she cut herself upon the throne, as if the throne had rejected her. At first the population of the city had welcomed Rhaenyra’s ascent to the Iron Throne as Aegon II and Prince Aemond Targaryen had not been much loved. In time, with more executions happening daily and more taxes being raised to fund the wars, the population began to loathe Rhaenyra, calling her “King Maegor with teats”.

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Contlict

Targaryen campaign in Slaver’s Bay

Date

300 AC

Place

Khyzai Pass

Combatants

I. Kingdom of Meereen / House Targaryen

Stormcrows

II. Yunkai

Long Lances

Fighting on the Khyzai Pass occurs during the Targaryen campaign in Slaver’s Bay.

Prelude

Daenerys Targaryen forces the Wise Masters of Yunkai to surrender their slaves, but after she leaves for Meereen the Wise Masters resume slaving and begin raising new forces against her. The Yunkai’i send the Long Lances, a sellsword company, to hold the Khyzai Pass between Meereen and Lhazar.

Daenerys, the new Queen of Meereen, sends Daario Naharis and his sellsword Stormcrows to negotiate with the Lhazareen to ensure land trade through Khyzai Pass.

Battle

Daario’s Stormcrows attack the Long Lances in the night, killing a few of Yunkai’s sellswords. The Stormcrows lose nine men, but Daario convinces twelve of the Long Lances to join Daenerys’s cause. Daario kills one Long Lances who says that Meereen will suffer the same fate as starving Astapor.

Aftermath

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Conflict

Faith Militant uprising

Date

45 AC

Place

Kingswood

Result

Victory for the Iron Throne

Capture of Jeyne Poore

Combatants

I. Iron Throne / House Targaryen

II. Faith Militant

Poor Fellows

Commanders

I. Iron Throne

King Maegor I Targaryen

II. Faith

Jeyne Poore

The hunt of the Poor Fellows was a campaign during the Faith Militant uprising.

History

Late in 45 AC, the forces of King Maegor I Targaryen hunted down scores of Poor Fellows that had taken refuge in the kingswood. Many were sent to the Wall to join the Night’s Watch while those who refused to take the black were hanged.

The Poor Fellows were being led by Poxy Jeyne Poore, a woman considered a witch by the three septons of Maegor’s retinue. She constantly eluded the king until she was eventually betrayed by three of her followers. The betrayers were pardoned and granted them knighthoods.

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Conflict

Dance of the Dragons

Date

130 AC

Place

The banks of the Honeywine

Result

Victory for the greens

Combatants

I. House Targaryen / Blacks

House Beesbury

House Caswell

House Costayne

House Rowan

House Tarly

II. House Targaryen / Greens

House Hightower

House Peake

House Roxton

Commanders

I. Blacks

Lord Thaddeus Rowan

Tom Flowers

Ser Alan Beesbury

Lord Alan Tarly

Lord Owen Costayne

II. Greens

Lord Ormund Hightower

Prince Daeron Targaryen

The Battle of the Honeywine was one of many battles fought during the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war between the greens of King Aegon II Targaryen and the blacks of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen for control of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms after the death of their father, King Viserys I Targaryen.

Prelude

Given that Aegon II Targaryen’s main supporters were House Hightower, the family of his mother Alicent, the greens assumed the lords and lands of the Reach would side with them. Instead, many of the major lords from the north and east of the Reach declared for Rhaenyra Targaryen and her blacks, including Houses Caswell, Rowan, and Tarly. Several of the Hightowers’ own vassals declared for Rhaenyra, such as Houses Beesbury and Costayne. With the Reach divided between blacks and greens and Lord Lyonel Tyrell of Highgarden only a baby, his regent mother declared House Tyrell neutral in the civil war. Instead of quickly marching armies from the Reach to join with the other green armies in the north to overwhelm the blacks, the Hightowers and their allies had to slowly fight through the Reach itself.

Following the early black victories on the riverlands at Harrenhal and Stone Hedge, Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, sent messages to his nephew, Lord Ormund Hightower, to deploy the large Hightower army to put down these rebellions in the Reach. Ormund assembled a great host and marched out of Oldtown, only to be quickly set upon by black forces. While they were far outnumbered by the Hightower army, the black forces faced them from multiple directions, and used harassment tactics to slow their advance. Lord Alan Tarly and Ser Alan Beesbury (the “Two Alans”) joined forces to raid Ormund’s camps day and night, kill his scouts, and set fires in his line of march. Farther south, Lord Owen Costayne came up from Three Towers to harass the Hightowers’ baggage train in their rear. These hit-and-run attacks from multiple directions lasted for several months, but the Hightowers failed to pin down the rebels.

By late 129 AC, worse news reaches Ormund that a large host equal in size to his own was descending from north of the Mander, led by Thaddeus Rowan, Lord of Goldengrove. (The host apparently consisted of the combined strength of the Rowans, Caswells, and other blacks in the northern Reach). Faced with enemies in front and behind, rather than advance Ormund decided to half and camp in a defensive position along the Honeywine. He remained there for several weeks, while sending messages to King’s Landing urging King Aegon II and his brother Prince Aemond Targaryen to send one of their dragons to aid them. Aegon II had been badly injured at the Battle of Rook’s Rest, and the hot-heated Aemond decided that the greatest threat was from his uncle Prince Daemon Targaryen at Harrenhal, so he ignored Ormund’s calls for aid and took Vhagar with his remaining army north into the riverlands.

The Hightower army left Oldtown soon after the war began in the riverlands, around mid 129 AC, while Ormund halted his advance soon after the Battle of Rook’s Rest in late 129 AC. Rowan’s army reached the Honeywine roughly three weeks into the new year 130 AC (“a fortnight” after the Battle of the Gullet, which took place on the fifth day of 130 AC).

Battle

In the third week of the year 130 AC, Ormund Hightower’s army was caught between two armies while backed against the banks of the Honeywine. From the northeast, Lord Thaddeus Rowan and Tom Flowers, the Bastard of Bitterbridge, came in with a large host of mounted knights. Ser Alan Beesbury, Lord Alan Tarly, and Lord Owen Costayne joined their smaller forces together and attacked the Hightowers from behind, cutting off their retreat south to Oldtown.

Attacked from the front and the rear, Lord Hightowers’s lines were starting to crumble, and defeat seemed all but a foregone conclusion. Just then, a massive shadow appeared in the sky above them, Prince Daeron Targaryen on his dragon, Tessarion. It was then that the battle turned to the favor of Aegon II’s forces, and the rout was underway with heavy losses in the retreat.

Tom Flowers was killed in the battle, and Lord Owen Costayne was mortally wounded by Jon Roxton wielding the Valyrian steel sword Orphan-Maker. Both Alan Tarly and Alan Beesbury were taken captive. The only black commander who managed to escape was Thaddeus Rowan, who retreated north with the remains of his host.

Aftermath

The battle was a significant blow to the blacks, ending their offensive operations in the Reach. In addition to their armies being destroyed, most of the major black commanders in the Reach were either killed or captured in the battle. Thaddeus Rowan was the only exception, though he also apparently bent the knee several months later.

Following only a fortnight after the devastating Battle of the Gullet, Lord Bar Emmon suggested that the time had come for a negotiated peace. Instead, the recent tragedies pushed Rhaenyra Targaryen to make a risky strike on King’s Landing itself, as Daemon’s strategic plan had lured Aemond and most of the city’s defenders into the riverlands.

Daeron Targaryen was hailed as a hero that day, and knighted by Lord Ormund Hightower with the Valyrian steel longsword, Vigilance. Daeron was first called “Daeron the Daring” after the battle, though Daeron modestly said Tessarion was the true hero of the battle.

The battle did succeed in slowing the advance of the large Hightower army, indirectly preventing the greens in the Reach from aiding the greens to the north. The westerlands’ armies were annihilated on the Battle by the Lakeshore, while the green armies from the crownlands were destroyed in the Butcher’s Ball.

With young Tessarion now joining the Hightower army, none of the remaining blacks in the Reach could stand against them. Lord Ormund and Prince Daeron enforced the submission of the Rowans of Goldengrove, the Oakhearts of Old Oak, and the lords of the Shield Islands. The Hightower army spent the next months slowly advancing up the Roseroad, smashing any black forces that attempted to harass them. Daeron on Tessarion proved invaluable in scouting ahead of the main host from the air, to give them advance warning of enemy traps and ambushes.

Eventually they besieged Longtable, then sacked Bitterbridge, where they crossed the Mander again and proceeded east towards King’s Landing, leading to the First Battle of Tumbleton.

Numbers

Lord Hightower left Oldtown with 1,000 knights, 1,000 archers, 3,000 men-at-arms, and “untold thousands” of sellswords, freeriders, camp followers, and feudal levies. According to Grand Maester Munkun, the Hightower host numbered nearly 20,000 later on at the First Battle of Tumbleton, with almost a tenth of that number being composed of mounted knights. It is unclear, how well this reflects the size of the original Hightower host: they took significant losses before Tessarion joined them, but it is also stated that the Hightower army added forces from lords who bent the knee along the way.

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Conflict

Aegon’s Conquest

Date

2 BC

Place

Harrenhal

Result

Targaryen victory

Combatants

I. House Targaryen

House Tully

House Blackwood

House Mallister

House Vance of Atranta

House Vance of Wayfarer’s Rest

House Bracken

House Piper

House Frey

House Strong

II. Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers / House Hoare

Ironborn

Commanders

I. House Targaryen

King Aegon Targaryen

Lord Edmyn Tully

II. House Hoare

King Harren Hoare

The burning of Harrenhal occurred during Aegon’s Conquest. Aegon the Conqueror used his dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, to melt the towers of Harrenhal, which killed King Harren the Black and ended the black line.

Prelude

House Hoare had ruled the Iron Islands and the riverlands as the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers for three generations. King Harren Hoare, also known as Harren the Black, had devoted most of his reign, nearly forty years, to the construction of Harrenhal, which would be the largest castle in Westeros, on the northern shore of the Gods Eye. Thousands had died while building the castle, and the riverlands had been depleted in terms of materials. On the day the new castle was finally completed, Aegon Targaryen landed at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, to start his Conquest.

Supported by many great ironborn lords and warriors, Black Harren raised his banners. His men fought Aegon’s host in the Battle of the Reeds, which was a Targaryen victory, albeit with heavy losses, and the Wailing Willows, in which House Hoare was victorious. In the meantime, after years of plundering and beggaring the riverlands, Harren the Black had to the face the consequences of those actions. Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun, the most powerful of the riverlords following Harren’s harsh treatment of House Bracken and House Blackwood, refused to support Harren and instead joined the Targaryens. Following the Tully’s example, numerous other riverlords, including the Blackwoods, Mallisters, Vances, Brackens, Pipers, Freys, and Strongs, rebelled against Harren’s ironmen and marched to surround Harrenhal. Outnumbered, Harren closed the gates of well-stocked Harrenhal in response.

Burning of Harrenhal

Harrenhal’s walls were too high and too thick, and well-stocked enough to withstand a siege. During a parley outside the castle, Aegon offered to confirm Harren as Lord of the Iron Islands, provided he would yield. Harren refused, trusting in the strength of his castle, confident that the stone would not burn. Aegon warned him that the line of House Hoare would come to an end that night, at which Harren returned to his castle. To his men, he promised riches and the daughters of the riverlords to anyone who could slay Aegon’s dragon, Balerion, in the upcoming battle.

When the sun had gone down, Aegon flew Balerion high above Harrenhal, before plunging down upon Harrenhal, burning the castle beneath him. All that was flammable, both supplies and ironmen, caught fire within the castle, while Harrenhal’s stone towers cracked and melted. The rivermen outside observed that the towers glowed and melted like candles. Harren and his sons died in the largest of the towers of Harrenhal, which would later give the tower its name: Kingspyre Tower. With their deaths, House Hoare was extinguished.

Aftermath

Once Harrenhal cooled, the ruined swords of the ironmen were taken to the Aegonfort, where they eventually became part of the Iron Throne. Only a few of Harren’s supporters survived the burning or the uprising of the rivermen to make it back to the Iron Islands.

The day following the burning of Harrenhal, Lord Edmyn Tully swore fealty to Aegon, who accepted and named him Lord Paramount of the Trident, as he had been the first riverlord to support him. Aegon next accepted oaths of fealty from the other riverlords. Aegon also granted partially-ruined Harrenhal to Quenton Qoherys, who had been his master-at-arms on Dragonstone.

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Conflict

Dance of the Dragons

Date

129 AC

Place

Harrenhal

Result

Occupation of Harrenhal by the blacks

Combatants

I. House Targaryen / Blacks

House Targaryen

II. House Targaryen / Greens

House Strong

Commanders

I. Blacks

Prince Daemon Targaryen

II. Greens

Ser Simon Strong

The assault on Harrenhal was led by Daemon Targaryen, who conquered Harrenhal for his wife, Rhaenyra Targaryen. It marked the opening of hostilities in the Dance of the Dragons.

Prelude

The rival claims of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and King Aegon II Targaryen led to civil war in the Seven Kingdoms. Rhaenyra’s blacks had more dragons than Aegon’s greens, but most of their strength was focused around Dragonstone instead of mainland Westeros. With House Tully effectively neutral because of disagreement between Lord Grover Tully and his grandson, Ser Elmo, Rhaenyra’s husband, Prince Daemon Targaryen, suggested Harrenhal as a rallying point for potential supporters in the riverlands. Larys Strong, Lord of Harrenhal, was a green supporter of Aegon.

While Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon left Dragonstone to seek allies and Corlys Velaryon closed Blackwater Bay, Rhaenyra allowed her husband to command the assault on Harrenhal.

Conquest

Because Lord Larys Clubfoot served as Aegon II’s master of whisperers in King’s Landing, his great-uncle the elderly Ser Simon Strong served as Larys’s castellan at Harrenhal. Prince Daemon flew on his dragon, Caraxes, to the top of Harrenhal’s Kingspyre Tower, where Harren the Black had died. Recalling the burning of Harrenhal by Aegon I Targaryen and Balerion the Black Dread, which had extinguished House Hoare, Simon decided to strike his banners and surrender the great ruined castle to Daemon. Simon and his grandsons were among a dozen hostages taken by Daemon, and the blacks requisitioned the wealth of House Strong.

Aftermath

The loss of Harrenhal shocked Aegon II and encouraged the blacks, who soon after won at the Burning Mill and Stone Hedge. House Blackwood and other river lords gathered at Harrenhal, which was where Daemon approved of Blood and Cheese to avenge the death of Rhaenyra’s son, Lucerys.

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Contlict

Aegon’s Conquest

Date

2 BC

Place

Waters off Gulltown

Result

Targaryen invasion of the Vale halted

Both fleets destroyed

Combatants

I. House Targaryen

House Velaryon

II. Kingdom of Mountain and Vale / House Arryn

Braavosi allies

A battle in the waters off Gulltown was a major naval battle during Aegon’s Conquest. It resulted in the failure of the invasion of the Vale of Arryn and the destruction of both Arryn and Targaryen fleets.

Prelude

Aegon Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, made known his intentions of conquering Westeros and unifying the Seven Kingdoms under his rule. Sharra Arryn, Queen Regent for her son, Ronnel Arryn, the King of Mountain and Vale, sent a portrait of herself to Aegon and offered her hand in marriage with the condition Aegon would make Ronnel his heir, but Aegon refused.

Battle

After being crowned at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, King Aegon sent his fleet commanded by Daemon Velaryon to take Gulltown, the city of the Vale of Arryn. Daemon was accompanied by Aegon’s sister, Visenya Targaryen.

The Arryns hastily assembled a fleet to meet the Targaryens. Their fleet was augmented by a dozen Braavosi warships.

The Targaryen and Arryn fleets met in the waters off Gulltown. The Arryns were able to destroy the Targaryen fleet and Daemon was killed. Visenya’s dragon, Vhagar, burned the Arryn fleet in response. The battle was a tactical draw since both fleets were destroyed, but a strategic defeat for the Targaryens since they were unable to take Gulltown.

Aftermath

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Contlict

Dance of the Dragons

Date

5th day of the 1st moon of 130 AC

Place

Gullet

Result

Sack of Driftmark

Triarchy’s involvement with the war ends

Combatants

1. House Targaryen / Blacks

House Velaryon

2. House Targaryen / Greens

Triarchy

Commanders

1. Blacks

Prince Jacaerys Velaryon

Lord Corlys Velaryon

2. Greens

Admiral Sharako Lohar

The Battle of the Gullet, also called the Battle in the Gullet, was a battle that took place in the Gullet in 130 AC during the Dance of the Dragons. It remains among the bloodiest sea battles in all of history.

Prelude

House Velaryon blockaded the Gullet and controlled access to Blackwater Bay at the start of the civil war. After the assault on Harrenhal by Prince Daemon Targaryen and further blows to the greens, Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King to Aegon II Targaryen, hatched a plan to break the Velaryon fleet’s blockade. Otto reached out across the Narrow Sea to enemies of Prince Daemon, the Triarchy, hoping to persuade them to move against the Sea Snake, Lord Corlys Velaryon. Otto’s plan took time and Aegon II eventually ran out of patience with his grandfather’s prevarications, replacing him as Hand with Ser Criston Cole.

The schemes of Otto eventually bore fruit, as the High Council of the Triarchy accepted his offer of alliance in Tyrosh. Ninety warships, commanded by Admiral Sharako Lohar of Lys, swept from the Stepstones under the banners of the Three Daughters, bending their oars for the Gullet.

Meanwhile on Dragonstone, it was decided by Prince Jacaerys Velaryon that his half-brothers, Princes Aegon and Viserys Targaryen, would be fostered with the Prince of Pentos until their mother, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, had secured the Iron Throne. The princes departed on a Pentoshi cog, the Gay Abandon, towards the end of 129 AC. The Sea Snake sent seven of his warships with them as escort.

Gay Abandon encounter the Triarchy’s fleet, which had sailed up to the Gullet. The Gay Abandon was taken captive and her escorts sunk or captured. Possessed only of a dragon egg, Viserys had no way of escaping from the cog and was made captive by a Tyroshi captain. Aegon escaped the Gay Abandon on his young dragon, Stormcloud. Sailors attempted to bring them down and Stormcloud was wounded by arrows and scorpion bolts. Nevertheless, they flew to Dragonstone, where Aegon delivered the news of the threat from the east. Stormcloud died at Dragonstone from his wounds.

Battle

Battle began on the fifth day of the new year, 130 AC. Sharako Lohar divided the Triarchy’s ships into two squadrons entering the Gullet to the north and south of Dragonstone. They attacked at sunrise from the east, surprising House Velaryon’s fleet.

Flying on Vermax to meet the fleet of the Triarchy, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon swept down upon a line of Lysene galleys. The sailors had experience fighting Prince Daemon Targaryen and his dragon, Caraxes, during the war for the Stepstones, so their captains directed their spears and arrows against Jacaerys. One ship caught on fire and then another. When Jacaerys was joined by Ulf the White on Silverwing, Nettles on Sheepstealer, Addam Velaryon on Seasmoke, and Hugh Hammer on Vermithor, the line of warships from the Free Cities shattered as one galley after another turned away.

Vermax flew too low, and crashed down into the sea, possibly wounded from a crossbowmen bolt to the eye or pulled down by a grapnel. Survivors said he struggled in the rigging by a burning galley and sank with it. Jacaerys leapt free, but was then killed by Myrish crossbowmen.

North and south of Dragonstone, the battle continued into nighttime. The southern squadron bypassed Dragonstone, believing that it was too strong to assault, and instead attacked Driftmark, setting afire the harbor of Spicetown with fire ships. The town was sacked, with its inhabitants butchered and left as carrion. High Tide and the treasures of Lord Corlys Velaryon were burned by Myrish and Tyroshi soldiers, with the Sea Snake’s servants cut down as they fled.

Aftermath

Thousands died from the battle, and Spicetown was never rebuilt. The Velaryon fleet lost almost a third of its strength. Prince Jacaerys Velaryon and his dragon Vermax were killed, and Prince Viserys Targaryen was taken captive, but presumed dead by both sides. Prince Aegon the Younger never forgave himself for abandoning his little brother.

According to Mushroom, Hugh the Hammer and Ulf the White celebrated their participation. Nettles and Addam Velaryon were heavily affected, with the latter seeking out the Sea Snake, though what they spoke to each other remains unknown. Many people on Dragonstone came to resent Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen for kin they had lost during the battle.

Only twenty-eight of the ninety ships commanded by Sharako Lohar returned home, and only three of those were not crewed by Lyseni. The Gullet was considered a disaster by the Triarchy. The Myrish and Tyroshi widows accused Sharako of sending their fleets to destruction while holding back his own Lysene ships, thus beginning a quarrel that would eventually lead to the Daughters’ War. A disgraced Sharako discretely sold the captive Viserys to Magister Bambarro Bazanne of Lys.

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Contlict

Faith Militant uprising

Date

42 AC

Place

Great Fork of the Blackwater

Result

Victory for the Iron Throne

Combatants

1. Iron Throne / House Targaryen

Kingsguard

House Hogg

House Mooton

2. Faith of the Seven / Faith Militant

Poor Fellows

Warrior’s Sons

House Falwell

House Lorch

House Terrick

House Wayn

House Lychester

Commanders

1. Iron Throne

King Maegor I Targaryen

Big Jon Hogg

2. Faith

Ser Horys Hill

Lord Rupert Falwell

Strength

1. Iron Throne

20,000 soldiers

Balerion

2. Faith

20,000 men:

~ 13,000 Poor Fellows

200 Warrior’s Sons

~ 6,800 men from the riverlands and westerlands

A battle at the Green Fork of the Blackwater Rush was one of many battles fought between King Maegor I Targaryen and the Faith Militant during the Faith Militant uprising.

Prelude

Thirteen thousand Poor Fellows and two hundred Warrior’s Sons, led by Ser Horys Hill, joined nearly seven thousand household knights and feudal levies of a dozen rebel lords from the riverlands and westerlands, led by Lord Rupert Falwell, alongside Rupert and Fighting Fool rode Ser Lyonel Lorch, Ser Alyn Terrick, Lord Tristifer Wayn, Lord Jon Lychester, and many other puissant knights.

Maegor had a similar number of men, although he had near twice as many armored horse. The king also had numerous longbowmen and his dragon, Balerion.

Battle

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Contlict

Aegon the Uncrowned’s Rebellion

Date

43 AC

Place

Gods Eye, the riverlands

Result

Prince Aegon is slain

Combatants

1. Iron Throne / House Targaryen / King Maegor I Targaryen

House Caswell

House Harroway

House Merryweather

House Peake

House Tully

2. House Targaryen / Prince Aegon Targaryen

House Charlton

House Connington

House Corbray

House Dustin

House Farman

House Frey

House Paege

House Parren

House Piper

House Roote

House Smallwood

House Tarbeck

House Vance

House Westerling

Commanders

King Maegor I Targaryen

Prince Aegon Targaryen

The Battle Beneath the Gods Eye took place near the Gods Eye in the latter part of 43 AC, a fight for the Iron Throne between King Maegor I Targaryen and his nephew Aegon the Uncrowned, the Prince of Dragonstone.

Prelude

King Maegor I Targaryen, the half-brother of the late King Aenys I Targaryen, claimed the Iron Throne in 42 AC. At the time Aenys’s eldest son, Prince Aegon Targaryen, was besieged at Crakehall Castle by thousands of Poor Fellows, leaving Aegon unable to act. After Maegor had won his trial of seven against the Warrior’s Sons at King’s Landing, Aegon’s mother, Dowager Queen Alyssa Velaryon, proclaimed Aegon king on Driftmark, to no avail. When the Poor Fellows besieging Crakehall finally marched to King’s Landing, Prince Aegon and his sister-wife, Princess Rhaena, were able to depart. They fled to Casterly Rock, where they were given protection by Lord Lyman Lannister. Lady Jocasta, Lyman’s wife, discerned that Rhaena was with child. The princess gave birth to her twin daughters, Aerea and Rhaella, that year.

Aegon remained adamant about his claim to the throne, but was unable to find many lords who were willing to risk Maegor’s worth by supporting Aegon’s claim. Not even Lord Lannister was willing to give his support to Aegon, although he did refuse Maegor’s demands that Aegon and Rhaena be expelled from Casterly Rock. Additionally, it was said that Aegon’s own mother had abandoned his cause, as she had been present at King’s Landing for Maegor’s third marriage. Many of the young nobles that had accompanied Aegon and Rhaena on their progress abandoned them to bend the knee to Maegor, the prince gaining the name “Aegon the Uncrowned”. Lord Jon Piper and his sister Melony, a former favorite of Rhaena, arrived at Lannisport with their brothers to swear the loyalty of House Piper.

While Maegor was at Oldtown, Aegon and Rhaena used their uncle’s absence at King’s Landing to covertly enter the capital, aided by members of Maegor’s court that had grown weary of the king’s cruelty. In the city, Rhaena retrieved her dragon Dreamfyre, while Aegon claimed his father’s dragon, Quicksilver. The prince returned to the westerlands on dragonback to gather an army, though Lord Lyman was still reluctant to offer his full support. Instead, Aegon and Rhaena gathered their support at Pinkmaiden Castle, seat of House Piper. Aegon gained support from lords of the westerlands and riverlands, including Lords Tarbeck, Piper, Roote, Vance, Frey, Paege, Parren, Farman, and Westerling. Additionally, Lord Corbray, Daenys, Snow, and the fourth son of Lord Connington joined Aegon’s side. An additional five hundred men from Lannisport, led by Ser Tyler Hill, Lyman’s bastard son.

Though Aegon’s ranks included seasoned commanders and noble knights (such as Lord Myles Smallwood and Lord Qarl Corbray) no great houses came to his side. When Aegon eventually marched in 43 AC, King Maegor was informed by his mistress of whisperers, Tyanna of the Tower, that Dowager Queen Alyssa Velaryon had been in secret correspondence with the Starks, Arryns, Lannisters, and Baratheons. The great lords wished to be certain of Aegon’s ability to win before they pledged their support.

Battle

In 43 AC, Aegon asserted his claim to the throne and denounced King Maegor I Targaryen as a tyrant and usurper. He marched through the riverlands leading an army of fifteen thousand strong from atop his dragon Quicksilver. Lord Lucas Harroway and Lord Tully supported Maegor with their levies, and Ser Davos Darklyn of the Kingsguard marched from King’s Landing with five thousand men. From the Reach came Lords Peake, Merryweather, and Caswell and their levies. Although each of these armies were smaller than Aegon’s force, they were coming from all sides. Only seventeen years old, Aegon was yet an inexperienced commander. He refused to attack and defeat each of Maegor’s forces separately before they could join their powers, as Lord Qarl Corbray advised, as he was loathe to divide his army. Instead, he continued his march on the capital.

Just south of the Gods Eye, Prince Aegon found Davos’s force blocking his path sitting on high ground behind a wall of spears, as the forces of the Reach were advancing from the south, and the forces from Lords Tully and Harroway were advancing from the north. Aegon ordered a change against the hill where the Kingslanders had gathered, hoping to shatter them before the other hosts could flank him. Aegon mounted Quicksilver, intend to lead the attack himself. King Maegor I appeared from the south upon the back of Balerion, who was much larger and stronger than Quicksilver. Balerion the Black Dread fell upon the younger dragon from above, ripping a wing from her body. Quicksilver fell to her death, with Prince Aegon upon her back.

Once Aegon fell, the rebels saw their cause lost and ran. They were slaughtered by the loyalists surrounding them as they attempted to escape, and by the end two thousand of Aegon’s men had died, including Lord Alyn Tarbeck, Denys Snow, Melony Piper and three of her brothers, Lord Ronnel Vance, Ser Willam Whistler, and Lord Farman and his heir. Among Maegor’s forces, the losses were fewer. In total a hundred men died, and the only notable loss among them was Ser Davos Darklyn, who had been slain by Lord Corbray with Lady Forlorn.

Aftermath

The battle beneath the Gods Eye in the later half of 43 AC was followed by a half a year of trials and executions. Dowager Queen Visenya Targaryen managed to persuade King Maegor to spare some of the rebellious lords. Maegor demanded lands and titles from the rebels, and took hostages as well to ensure the loyalty of those he had spared.

Princess Rhaena had avoided capture, having remained at Pinkmaiden Castle with her daughters and dragon. Upon hearing of the outcome of the battle, Rhaena gathered her daughters and fled on dragonback from the riverlands, fearing her uncle’s wroth. While first arriving at Lannisport, she would later flee to Faircastle on Fair Isle, the seat of Lord Marq Farman. His father and brother having perished in the battle, Farman offered Rhaena sanctuary beneath his roof. Meanwhile, with the death of Lord Tarbeck, Maegor married his wife, Lady Jeyne Westerling.

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Conflict

Dance of the Dragons

Date

22nd day of the 5th moon of 130 AC

Place

Above the skies of the Gods Eye

Result

Death of all combatants

Combatants

Blacks

Greens

Commanders

Prince Daemon Targaryen

Prince Aemond Targaryen

The Battle Above the Gods Eye was an aerial duel that took place in the skies above Harrenhal and the Gods Eye between two of the most powerful dragons, Vhagar and Caraxes, and their riders, Prince Aemond Targaryen and Prince Daemon Targaryen, during the civil war called the Dance of the Dragons.

Prelude

After leaving Maidenpool, Daemon challenged Aemond, waiting for thirteen days at Harrenhal until Aemond stopped burning the riverlands to come face him.

Aemond arrived on the fourteenth day, accompanied by his pregnant lover, Alys Rivers. Aemond and Daemon talked briefly before mounting their dragons. Aemond passionately kissed Alys goodbye.

Battle

The duel was said to be a sight to see. The sun was setting as the two dragons took to the sky. The dragons’ shrieks and roars could be heard from a dozen miles away. So bright was the dragonfire that smallfolk feared the sky was aflame. Caraxes slammed into Vhagar, locking his jaws on Vhagar’s neck. Both dragons were grappling as they descended from the sky. Caraxes’s jaw continued to tighten around Vhagar’s neck even as Vhagar’s teeth tore Caraxes’s wing and her claws opened his belly. Prince Daemon is said to have leapt from his saddle on Caraxes on to Vhagar. Daemon drove his blade, Dark Sister, through his nephew’s empty eye socket just as both dragons collided with the Gods Eye lake below, sending up a gout of water so high it was as tall as the Kingspyre Tower at Harrenhal. Neither man could have survived.

Aftermath

The loss of both Aemond and Daemon and their powerful dragons was a severe blow to both the greens and the blacks. Each side lost a capable warrior and commander, as well as a powerful dragon.

Vhagar’s corpse was found years later, with Prince Aemond’s armored corpse still chained to her saddle with Dark Sister through his eye. Vhagar’s skull was brought to King’s Landing and displayed on the walls of the throne room. Dark Sister was restored to House Targaryen.

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Conflict

Aegon’s Conquest

Date

~ 2 BC

Place

Northern Reach, south of the Blackwater Rush and near the Goldroad

Result

Targaryen victory

Extinction of House Gardener

Submission of House Lannister

Combatants

1. House Targaryen

House Mooton

2. Kingdom of the Rock / House Lannister

3. Kingdom of the Reach / House Gardener

Order of the Green Hand

House Florent

House Oakheart

House Peake

House Redwyne

House Rowan

Commanders

Aegon I Targaryen

Lord Jon Mooton

Loren I Lannister

Mern IX Gardener

Edmund Gardener

Lord Oakheart

Strength

11,000 & 3 dragons

55,000

The Field of Fire was a major battle during Aegon I Targaryen’s war of conquest. According to semi-canon sources the field is located in the northern part of the Reach.

Prelude

Aegon Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, landed at what would become King’s Landing and began subjugating the Seven Kingdoms. After the submissions of Harrenhal, Crackclaw Point, and Storm’s End, Aegon and his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys, gathered at Stoney Sept with their dragons. Most of House Targaryen’s soldiers were conscripts from the recently-liberated riverlands. Lord Jon Mooton of Maidenpool, one of the first lords to come over to the Targaryens, was given command of the Targaryens army.

Loren I Lannister, King of the Rock, joined forces with Mern IX Gardener, King of the Reach, at Goldengrove in an attempt to throw the Targaryen invaders back. Between the two kings they had roughly 55,000 men, roughly five times as many as the Targaryens, including 5,000 mounted knights. Marching beside King Mern were the Oakhearts, the Florents, the Rowans, the Peakes, and the Redwynes.

Having brought half as many more men to the battle than Loren, Mern commanded the center and his son Edmund led the vanguard. Loren led the right wing while Lord Oakheart led the left.

Lord Manfred Hightower, the Lord of the Hightower, heeded the advice of the High Septon and did not join his liege lord, King Mern, on the march and instead kept his forces back at Oldtown.

Battle

The two armies met in the plains south of the Blackwater, near the present Goldroad. While the Two Kings hoped to flank Aegon and then smash Aegon’s center with knights, the Targaryens established themselves in a defensive crescent.

The allies’ charge began to break the Targaryen spear lines, but Aegon and his sisters took to the air on their dragons, Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar. The dragons began to set the dry field aflame on all sides, especially upwind of the Gardener and Lannister armies. Lord Mooten’s Targaryen forces were safely upwind, allowing them to finish off allied soldiers who emerged from the flame. King Loren rode through the flame to safety when he realized Aegon would be triumphant.

The dragons killed 4,000 men of the combined Lannister and Gardener army, among them King Mern and all of his sons, grandsons, brothers, uncles, cousins, and other kin. The knights of the Order of the Green Hand were wiped out. Lord Armen Peake and his sons perished. Another thousand men perished from sword and spears and arrows while 10,000 men suffered burns. Of the Targaryens less than 100 were lost while Visenya took an arrow to the shoulder. One nephew of King Mern survived the battle, but he died of his burns three days later. When he died, House Gardener died with him.

The battle, the only time in Aegon’s Conquest in which all three Targaryen dragons took to the battlefield at the same time, became known afterward as the Field of Fire.

Aftermath

The swords of the defeated were sent downriver on the Blackwater Rush to the Aegonfort, where they would form part of Aegon the Conqueror’s Iron Throne. Loren I Lannister, King of the Rock, was detained the following day. Loren the Last gave up his claim to kingship and became Warden of the West under the rule of House Targaryen.

Aegon marched for the extinct Gardeners’ seat of Highgarden, whose steward, Harlan Tyrell, surrendered without conflict. Aegon rewarded him by giving House Tyrell dominion over the Reach and raising him to Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Mander, and Warden of the South. The House Oakheart, Florent, Rowan, Peake, and Redwyne bitterly protested the elevation of the Tyrells, insisting that their blood was nobler than that of the “unjumped stewards” and that they had closer relations to House Gardener with the Florents boasting the superior claim by blood. Their protests were unsuccessful, perhaps in part because they had taken arms against the Targaryens on the Field of Fire, as speculated by Maester Yandel.

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Conflict

Dance of the Dragons

Date

129 AC

Place

Duskendale

Result

Victory for the greens

Combatants

1. House Targaryen / Blacks

House Darklyn

2. House Targaryen / Greens

Commanders

Lord Gunthor Darklyn

Ser Criston Cole

The sack of Duskendale took place at Duskendale on the crownlands during the Dance of the Dragons.

Prelude

Following the assault on Harrenhal, the Battle of the Burning Mill, and the taking of Stone Hedge, King Aegon II Targaryen stripped Ser Otto Hightower of his title of Hand of the King and granted it to Ser Criston Cole, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Criston advised moving against the “traitors” that had bent the knee to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. While House Velaryon and House Celtigar were unreachable, the “black” lords whose land were on the mainland had no protection against Aegon’s loyalists.

First they reached Rosby and Stokeworth, whose lords were blacks but had been captured in King’s Landing during the initial coup, and agreed to bend the knee in order to spare their own lives. Having secured their submission, Aegon II’s host passed bloodlessly through both castles and even added their strength to his own. In addition to dragons, Aegon II and Criston Cole marched out of King’s Landing with 100 knights, 500 men-at-arms, and three times as many sellswords: thus about 2,400 in total. The force addition of men from Rosby and Stokeworth would have increased this number the time they reached Duskendale.

Battle

While Duskendale was a walled port town, it was caught completely by surprise and unprepared. It quickly fell to Aegon II’s forces and was sacked, while the ships at the harbor were set afire. Lord Gunthor Darklyn was beheaded for treason. Most of his household knights submitted to Aegon, although a few decided to follow Gunthor to death.

Aftermath

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Conflict

Dance of the Dragons

Date

130 AC

Place

Dragonstone

Result

Victory for the greens

Combatants

House Targaryen / Blacks

House Targaryen / Greens

Commanders

1. Blacks

Ser Robert Quince

Princess Baela Targaryen

2. Greens

King Aegon II Targaryen

Ser Alfred Broome

Ser Marston Waters

The fall of Dragonstone occurred during the Dance of the Dragons.

History

After escaping the fall of King’s Landing, King Aegon II Targaryen hid on Dragonstone, the island stronghold of his rival, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. He convinced several blacks, including Ser Alfred Broome and Ser Marston Waters, to defect to the greens and help him take the island, with the assistance of Tom Tanglebeard and Tom Tangletongue. Marston secured the ravens, preventing Grand Maester Gerardys from sending a warning, while Alfred slew the castellan of Dragonstone, Ser Robert Quince.

During the coup, Aegon fought Lady Baela Targaryen, both mounted on their dragons Sunfyre and Moondancer, respectively. The dragons fought in the pre-dawn sky above the castle, eventually slamming into the yard still fighting. Aegon jumped from the saddle twenty feet from the ground, but Baela crashed to the ground with Moondancer. Marston stopped Alfred from slaying the burned girl as she crawled away from her dragon, and Tom Tangletongue carried her to the maester.

Aegon II shattered his legs in a fall during the fight, but he refused milk of the poppy when Gerardys offered it due to fear of Gerardys might poison him and because of his experience with it during his recovery after Rook’s Rest. Instead, Aegon ordered Gerardys to be fed to Sunfyre; though a part to remain to greet his sister.

Aftermath

Dragonstone was now in the control of King Aegon II Targaryen and the greens. Baela Targaryen, Aegon, and his dragon, Sunfyre, were seriously injured during the aerial duel over the island. The charred body of Robert Quince, Dragonstone’s steward, master-at-arms, captain of the guards, and the upper torso of Grand Maester Gerardys were hanged from the castle battlements near the gate to greet Aegon’s sister when she arrived.