Bronze Lords: A Complete History of the Royces of Runestone – Chapter 28: Calamity
…
The atrocity in the Eyrie's high hall was such an abominable act, so utterly contrary to all norms of noble society, that the Vale became embroiled in chaos as quickly as word of the deed could spread.
House Royce was taken completely off-guard, plunged from peace to the centre of a new war with astounding speed. What's more, it was the martyrdom of their own longstanding and extremely able lord that had prompted this. The remaining family were woefully unprepared, and leadership was uncertain.
The new rightful Lord of Runestone was Andar Royce, Lord Yohn's eldest son. Had he been in Runestone, leadership would have fell immediately to him. In an unfortunate twist of circumstances, he was held prisoner by King Joffrey in the capital. He had been unlucky enough to be present there at the time of Robert Baratheon's death.
The second son, Ser Robar, had joined would-be monarch Renly Baratheon's absurd rainbow cloaked guardsmen in a quixotic attempt to carve his own way in the world. Another son, Ser Waymar, was a man of the Night's Watch only recently deceased on a ranging beyond the wall. The results of this was that the highest ranking immediate family member was Lady Ysilla, a girl of four and ten. The only other members of the close family which bore the Royce name were cousins of even more tender ages.
This could easily have had a debilitating effect, but even weakened House Royce was buttressed by the outrage from Lord Yohn's murder and his network of alliances across the southern Vale. Battle lines formed even without immediate leadership. The Redforts, Templetons and Hunters called their banners in solidarity without precondition. House Waynwood joined their strength when the allied lords agreed to depose Lysa and Robin Arryn in favour of Harrold Hardyng, the long-time heir and Waynwood ward.
There were, however, signs which made clear this would not be as easy a task they might have hoped. Lysa Arryn's growing desperation was allowing power at the Eyrie to rapidly fall into the hands of Ser Lyn Corbray, an utterly ruthless man who wasted no time in shoring up his own position. He rapidly and brutally suppressed dissent in the Eyrie and its attendant lands, and rallied the forces of his own brother Lord Lyonel Corbray and House Belmore in the northern Vale to defend against the predominately southern rebels.
He sent out scores of thoroughly dishonest missives to cast doubt on the circumstances of Lord Yohn's death, accusing him of a plot to seize power and portraying himself as the stalwart defender of the legitimate Arryn ruler. Ser Lyn also secured the vitally important allegiance of House Grafton. Lord Gerold held a powerful grudge against his neighbours dating from Robert's Rebellion, so this was a natural alliance for him. For the rebels, it precluded any possibility of an immediate move to the Eyrie and necessitated a difficult siege of Gulltown.
…
The Northern Conquest – Chapter 9: The Reach
…
The assassination of Renly Baratheon was an event of extraordinary importance, as well as extraordinary mystery. It completely upended the course of the war, eliminating a strong contender for the throne in a single stroke, poisoned the reputation of another, and cleared an unlikely path to the throne for yet another.
Accounts of Renly's death which spread in the immediate aftermath of the event were confused, even hysterical. Nevertheless, nearly all possessed a common strain of sorcery, and most pointed towards Stannis as the likely culprit. The consistency in the accounts of an assassination by some dark sorcerous act are too troubling to dismiss outright.
Renly's Tyrell wife and goodfamily, reputable men like Lord Randyll Tarly and Ser Donnel Swann, as well as his Kingsguard Ser Robar Royce all gave sworn testimony to the effect that a dark and unnatural apparition had appeared and felled their monarch. Exactly what happened can never be known for certain, but the willingness of so many prominent individuals to put their names to such an explosive and bizarre account gave the whole affair an element of fascination it has never lost.
In any case, its most immediate consequence was complete chaos. The alliance of the Reach and Stormlands was in no sense an easy and natural affiliation. It was held together entirely by Renly's personality, his marriage and a century of careful Tyrell politicking. His death led to skirmishing in the army camps as violent disputes erupted.
The great majority of the Stormlords moved to back Stannis. Despite swirling rumours and uncertainty regarding the circumstances of his brother's death, he seemed the legitimate Baratheon heir and had a proven military reputation dating from the siege of Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion. This was not unanimous, however. The marcher lords of House Swann had already been of uncertain loyalty, and their heir Ser Donnel's presence during Renly's death prompted him to eschew Stannis. Houses Penrose and Tarth would also, in different ways, dissent against Stannis' rule in the months to come.
The situation in the Reach was in some ways even more chaotic. Their universal allegiance to Renly had only been possible as the payoff from generations of careful accumulation of marriage alliances, financial clout and military strength by House Tyrell, historically the weakest of the Lords Paramount. To back Renly had been a tremendous risk, and his death jeopardised all of this work, rapidly emboldening a number of potential rivals.
House Florent wasted no time in defecting to Stannis, whose wife and heir were kin of theirs. Both of the branches of House Fossoway, House Crane, House Varner and House Willum all declared for Stannis. This represented nothing less than a mortal challenge to the authority and even the existence of House Tyrell.
This was the picture into which Robb Stark now stepped. He had been encamped with 6,000 battle trained and hardened Northern horsemen at the Stoney Sept for nearly two months, guarding the southern approaches to the Riverlands and standing ready to interdict any enemy movements between King's Landing and the West. When word of Renly's death reached them, they were fully mobilised. As word of the subsequent chaos embroiling the south reached them, they rode out and crossed the Blackwater near Tumbler's Falls. Only a few days later, they crossed into the Reach.
The sheer audacity of this move would stun the whole country as word spread, and even now it can be difficult to separate fact from legend regarding the Young Wolf's time in the Reach. What is known for certain is that the fast-moving cavalry force faced no opposition as they crossed into the Reach, and that they paused to scout the surrounding areas while making no attempt to raid or seize the nearby lands or castles. Humorous tales told of total incomprehension between Northern warriors and Reacher peasants likely have a grain of truth to them.
The arrival of the Northmen threw the Tyrells into a panic. They had already begun to disperse their remaining men to shore up their position in the Reach and cow their boldest vassals. About 20,000 men were at Bitterbridge under the command of Ser Garlan Tyrell. He scrambled to ready for battle as rumours of a massive Northern horde reached him.
Ultimately, however, history would take another dramatic turn at the behest of the Young Wolf. No battle would prove necessary, as ravens flew from the Northern camp to all the holdfasts of the Reach.
…
Growing Strong: The Rise of House Tyrell – Chapter 14: New Beginnings
…
To Mace Tyrell, the Most Esteemed Lord Paramount of the Reach
I wish to offer you my sincere commiserations as to the recent death of your goodson Renly Baratheon, and the widowhood of your dearly beloved daughter Margaery. My own lord father often wrote to me of Renly's decency and abundance of good spirit. The tales that now spread of his death and the manner of it cannot help but deeply disturb me.
As you may know, I have for some time been encamped with my army at the Stoney Sept, with the intention of guarding the lands of my loyal subjects and preventing further Lannister depredations against them. As word reached me of the tragedies that have befallen your house, I felt a powerful moral imperative to offer my assistance. It is sickening to me, as a fellow leader of great kingdoms, that you should be plagued as you are now by disloyal vassals in what ought to be a time of solemn mourning.
I wish to assure you, my lord, that my intentions towards you are entirely honourable and transparent. It being the furthest thing from my mind to molest or abuse your good and loyal subjects, I seek only to forge a new and long-lasting relationship between our houses that will protect both of our interests in this time of great strife.
I beseech you to consider my words most carefully,
Robb Stark, King in the North, King of the Trident
…