Lyonel & Mariah (Antony & Cleopatra)

Lyonel Connington (Mark Antony) – Stormlander general and one of the three main leaders of the Stormlander army
Ormund Durrandon (Augustus Caesar) – Storm King and one of the three main leaders of the Stormlander army
Beron Estermont (Lepidus) – Stormlander general and one of the three main leaders of the Stormlander army
Mariah (Cleopatra) – Princess of Dorne
Arstan Swann (Sextus Pompey) – rebellious lord against Storm's End

Connington's party

Beric (Demetrius)
Ronald (Philo)
Arlan (Domitius Enobarbus)
Orys (Ventidius)
Barron (Silius)
Erich (Eros)
Qarlton (Canidius)
Durran (Scarus)
Monfryd (Dercetus)
Septon (Schoolmaster) – Antony's ambassador to Ormund

Durrandon's party

Argella (Octavia) – Ormund's sister
Maldon (Maecenas)
Argilac (Agrippa)
Harman (Taurus)
Jena (Dolabella)
Manfred (Thidias)
Dickon (Gallus)
Randyll (Proculeius)

Swann's party

Edwyn (Menecrates)
Rickon (Menas)
Roland (Varrius)

Mariah's party

Meria (Charmian) – maid of honor
Aliandra (Iras) – maid of honor
Allyria (Alexas)
Mors (Mardian) – a eunuch
Nymor (Diomedes) – treasurer
Simmon (Seleucus) – attendant

Other

Soothsayer
Clown
Boy
Sentry
Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants

Plot

Lord Lyonel Connington – one of the leaders of the Stormlander army, along with Storm King Ormund Durrandon and Lord Beron Estermont – has neglected his soldierly duties after being beguiled by Dorne's Princess, Mariah. He ignores Storm's End domestic problems, including the fact that his third wife Janna rebelled against Ormund and then died.

Ormund calls Lyonel back to Storm's End from Sunspear to help him fight against Arstan Swann, Edwyn, and Rickon, three notorious pirates of the Sea of Dorne. At Sunspear, Mariah begs Lyonel not to go, and though he repeatedly affirms his deep passionate love for her, he eventually leaves.

Back in Storm's End, a general brings forward the idea that Lyonel should marry Ormund's younger sister, Argella, in order to cement the friendly bond between the two men. Lyonel's lieutenant Arlan, though, knows that Argella can never satisfy him after Mariah. In a famous passage, he describes Mariah's charms: "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety: other women cloy / The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry / Where most she satisfies."

A soothsayer warns Lyonel that he is sure to lose if he ever tries to fight Ormund.

In Dorne, Mariah learns of Lyonel's marriage to Argella and takes furious revenge upon the messenger that brings her the news. She grows content only when her courtiers assure her that Argella is homely: short, low-browed, round-faced and with bad hair.

At a confrontation, the three leaders parley with Arstan Swann, and offer him a truce. He can retain Stonehelm, but he must help them "rid the sea of pirates" and send them tributes. After some hesitation Swann agrees. They engage in a drunken celebration on Swann's galley, though the austere Ormund leaves early and sober from the party. Rickon suggests to Swann that he kill the three leaders and make himself ruler of the Stormlands, but he refuses, finding it dishonourable. Later, Ormund and Beron break their truce with Swann and war against him. This is unapproved by Lyonel, and he is furious.

Lyonel returns to Sunspear and crowns Mariah and himself as rulers of Dorne and the southern third of the Stormlands. He accuses Ormund of not giving him his fair share of Swann's lands, and is angry that Beron, has been imprisoned by Ormund. Ormund agrees to the former demand, but otherwise is very displeased with what Lyonel has done.

Lyonel prepares to battle Ormund. Arlan urges Lyonel to fight on land, where he has the advantage, instead of by sea, where the navy of Ormund is lighter, more mobile and better manned. Lyonel refuses, since Ormund has dared him to fight at sea. Mariah pledges her fleet to aid Lyonel. However, during the sea battle off the southern coast of the Stormlands, Mariah flees with her sixty ships, and Lyonel follows her, leaving his forces to ruin. Ashamed of what he has done for the love of Mariah, Lyonel reproaches her for making him a coward, but also sets this true and deep love above all else, saying "Give me a kiss; even this repays me."

Ormund sends a messenger to ask Mariah to give up Lyonel and come over to his side. She hesitates, and flirts with the messenger, when Lyonel walks in and angrily denounces her behavior. He sends the messenger to be whipped. Eventually, he forgives Mariah and pledges to fight another battle for her, this time on land.

On the eve of the battle, Lyonel's soldiers hear strange portents, which they interpret as the Warrior abandoning his protection of Lyonel. Furthermore, Arlan, Lyonel's long-serving lieutenant, deserts him and goes over to Ormund's side. Rather than confiscating Arlan's goods, which Arlan did not take with him when he fled, Lyonel orders them to be sent to Arlan. Arlan is so overwhelmed by Lyonel's generosity, and so ashamed of his own disloyalty, that he dies from a broken heart.

Lyonel loses the battle as his troops desert en masse and he denounces Mariah: "This foul Dornishwoman hath betrayed me." He resolves to kill her for the treachery. Mariah decides that the only way to win back Lyonel's love is to send him word that she killed herself, dying with his name on her lips. She locks herself in her monument, and awaits Lyonel's return.

Her plan fails: rather than rushing back in remorse to see the "dead" Mariah, Lyonel decides that his own life is no longer worth living. He begs one of his aides, Erich, to run him through with a sword, but Erich cannot bear to do it and kills himself. Lyonel admires Erich's courage and attempts to do the same, but only succeeds in wounding himself. In great pain, he learns that Mariah is indeed alive. He is hoisted up to her in her monument and dies in her arms.

Ormund goes to Mariah trying to persuade her to surrender. She angrily refuses since she can imagine nothing worse than being led in chains through the streets of Storm's End, proclaimed a villain for the ages. She imagines that "the quick comedians / Extemporally will stage us, and present / Our Sunspearian revels: Lyonel / Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see / Some squeaking fool Mariah boy my greatness / I' th' posture of a whore."

Mariah is betrayed and taken into custody by the Stormlanders. She gives Ormund what she claims is a complete account of her wealth but is betrayed by her treasurer, who claims she is holding treasure back. Ormund reassures her that he is not interested in her wealth, but Jena warns her that he intends to parade her at his triumph.

Mariah kills herself using the poison of an asp. She dies calmly and ecstatically, imagining how she will meet Lyonel again in the afterlife. Her serving maids, Meria and Aliandra, die also, with Meria dying from heartbreak and Aliandra killing herself with another asp. Ormund discovers the dead bodies and experiences conflicting emotions. Lyonel's and Mariah's deaths leave him free to rule unquestioned, but he also feels some kind of sympathy for them: "She shall be buried by her Lyonel. / No grave upon the earth shall clip in it / A pair so famous..." He orders a public military funeral.