And The Sky Was Set Ablaze

by Aldon Blackreyne

Westeros and Essos have played a big part in the game of power. But what of Sothoros? What if the houses from the Southern continent decided to make their mark on history. After the Long Night , but before the Andal invasion. A new power arrives in Westeros. They are House Blackreyne, and they have a weapons with wings of their own. MAJOR AU.

4. Landfall

Landfall

The Blackreynes decision to settle on the Iron Islands was not last moment act made by Boromir. Careful consideration was put into their choice. Initially, they had planned to settle on the Stepstones. They had a great fortress on the island of Bloodstone, so it seemed like the best choice. But the growing power of Ghis and the presence of true dragons forced them to choose an alternative. As a seafaring people, the iron islands suited them best, and as the smallest of the kingdoms, it was also less likely to anger the First Men Kings. The fact that the Ironborn worship a different god and adopted a pirate lifestyle also helped manners

The Sky steeds were immune to the plague but the Blackreynes did not want to draw attention from the peoples of the world. Blackreynes had close bonds with their thestrals and considered them companions. Thestrals had been created to fight the Wyverns, and later the Pegasus'. They would not be used as weapons of war, least of all against a race who had nothing to counter them. So it was decided that the thestrals would remain on the Hydra isles with only a small handful living in Bloodstone. Boromir's younger brother Garalir would oversee their care.

The Blackreynes landed on the island of Great Wyk. The ironborn were not keen on having unwanted settlers in their kingdom and attacked the settlers. Unfortunately, this pirating race did not find easy prey in the Arnorians. As a warrior cult, the Arnorians were masters of fighting. in a single day, the Ironborn were driven out of Great Wyk and the Blackreynes claimed it for themselves.

The ironborn kings where caught off guard by these newcomers who were not only skilled warriors and sailors, but were also more advanced in every way. Numerous attempt by the Ironborn were made to retake Great Wyk, each attempt ended in failure. After securing Great Wyk, the Blackreynes turned their attention to the neighboring isles. First, they invaded Harlaw, then Orkmont, then Pyke. The ironborn fought fiercely but it could not stop the onslaught. One by one the islands fell to House Blackreyne and the inhabitants were eradicated. Once the Iron Islands were secured, Lord Boromir selected six of his most capable leaders to serve as a lord for each island and named himself Warlord of the Isles.

News of the events on the Iron Isles spread like wildfire across Westeros. The numerous lords were not quite sure what to make of this turn of events. On one hand, they were glad to be rid of that nation of raping pirates. But the big question remained on everyone's mind. What were the intentions of these colonists? Some wanted to confront them, others wanted to leave them alone. A small number suggested sending spies to find out anything. Eventually, it was decided that they would be left to their own devices, but they prepared for war should the colonists prove belligerent.

For forty years, House Blackreyne remained on the silent on their islands. In those forty years, the Blackreynes reshaped the archipelago to suit their convenience. Before long the Iron Islands was transformed into a highly organized, and efficiently run society.

The islands with more resources were understandably more developed. Great Wyk, Harlaw, and Orkmont each had mining town as well as a port city. Pyke had a port city, but no mining town. The one common thing that all the isles had was numerous fishing villages along the shores. Unlike the settlements of the first men, which were made of wood. All Arnorian settlements were built in stone and protected walls and watchtowers. Having natural masons, this was an easy task. These settlements were fairly large, the fishing villages could house 4,000 people easily, a mining town could hold 40,000 and the port-cities could settle 400,000 citizens. Their castles were also different, Unlike the ringforts and motte-and-bailey castles of the first men, the Blackreynes castles were simple yet strong with crafty designs and were built in the most strategically defensible position. A fort commanded each settlement led by the Master. The Masters answered to the Lord of the Isle.

On the island of Great Wyk, House Blackreyne would build their first seat of power in Westeros, the fortress of Roon. Roon was built in a similar fashion to Pyke Castle. On a jut of rock that thrust into the Sunset Sea. Between the rock and the island is a wide ravine only spanned by a narrow stone bridge. As in the fashion of all Arnorian castles, it only consisted of Large drum keep surrounded by a thick curtain wall.

Once their position had been firmly established, the Blackreynes were ready to introduce themselves to the rest of Westeros. They sent messenger ravens to all the kings in Westeros requesting a meeting in the Isle of Faces. Many were wary, believing that it may be a trap, but in the end, curiosity won out. The gathered kings were.

The King of Winter- Stark

The Red King- Bolton

The Barrow King of the Barrowlands

The Marsh King of the Neck

The Bronze King- Royce

The Mountain King of the Vale

The King of the Three Sisters- Sunderland

The King of the Fingers - Shell

The King of the True Men - Shett

The King of the Trident- Fisher

The King of the Rock- Lannister

The King of Fair Isle- Farmen

The Storm King- Durrandon

The King of the Reach- Gardener

The King of the High Tower- Hightower

The King of the Arbor- Redwyne

The High King of Dorne- Yronwood

The King of the Torrentine - Dayne

The King of Stone and Sky- Fowler

The King of the Brimstone- Dryland

The numerous kings of Westeros gathered in the Isle of faces along with members of the children of the forest. The first men did not know how the newcomers would react to their presence so everyone was on guard. Boromir and his bannermen arrived shortly after dressed in lamellar armour. Boromir and his lords gave the kings a bow of respect. But upon seeing the Children of the Forest, they got down on one knee and named them Ancients. Boromir explained the significance of the children in their own land.

Between the Arnorians and The Eridonians, the one common thing in their beliefs is the existence of a race of people known as the Ancients. The Ancients are those that came before man. According to Sothori legend, the ancients wielded the hidden arts of earth and water (the world). This made them second only to gods and was treated as such. Then one day they just disappeared. Boromir declared that he had no desire for war and only asked to be left in peace. Eager to avoid war the other kings agreed. The new pact was formed on the same isle as the first one.

Over the years House Blackreyne, slowly but surely gained influence in Westeros. They formed strong bonds with the Starks of Winterfell, the Royces of Runestone, the Mudds of Oldstones, and the Yronwoods of Yronwood, while others such as Lannister and Gardener, were somewhat strained. Deren, Boromir's eldest bastard settled in the Westerlands and discovered the mines of Castamere Hill. With help from his father, Deren built a castle around the mine and founded his own sigil. A Red Lion with a forked tail on a silver field House Reyne was born.

Wealth was not an issue for the Blackreynes. Their fortress on Bloodstone was actually a fortified vault where the Blackreynes stored their treasure hoard from Arnor. Their ties with House Reyne added to their wealth. But the Blackreynes were not ones to rely on their treasure hoard, Arnorians like to earn wealth as opposed to being given it. Source of income mostly came in the form of fishing. Arnorian knowledge of harvesting seafood, allowed them to acquire large amounts of seafood to be sold at the market. Iron, lead, and tin were abundant on the isles. For the ironborn these metals were difficult to obtain. But the arnorians had skilled miners and they had improved methods that helped them obtain these resources much easier.

Orlan Blackreyne would marry Margaery Redwyne, the daughter of the Last king of the Arbor. When the king was lost at sea House Blackreyne was able to claim the Arbor as well as the surrounding islands. This caused fuming in House Gardner who wanted to claim the Golden Island for themselves. The Arbor would be the first of many of House Blackreynes conquests. Through carefully placed marriages, the Blackreynes took the Shield Islands, Fair Isle, and Bear Island. These Islands were quickly colonized, soon cultures of both peoples intermingled. The natives learned how to build fortified settlements, fish and build fine ships. The Arnorians, in turn, learned the art of winemaking. Eventually, the natives adopted the Arnorians warrior ways and laws.

When the Blackreynes looked north, they learned of the wildlings. These people left in the cold merciless far north and trapped by a wall did not sit well with the Blackreynes, so they sent an emissary to each of the wildling tribes with an offer to come live on the iron islands. Many were eager to escape the north and readily accepted. But others refuse to surrender their ways despite the fact that the Blackreyne's assurance that they would not be forced into anything. Roughly 200,000 people north of the wall boarded ships and settled on the Iron island fishing villages. The rest of the wildlings, about 100,000 stayed in the lands beyond the wall.

People under Blackreyne rule were able to go about their daily lives as normal, the only difference was they were under the rule of a house not of the first men. The Blackreynes didn't subjugate their new subject to arnorian ways or customs. They did, however, enforce their punishments for criminals among the people. The brutality these laws ensured that crime was kept in check. The Blackreynes kept their militant nature a secret, the last thing they wanted was for their neighbors to think of them as warmongering brutes.

The native kings watched the progression of the Blackreynes with wary eyes. Their rule over the Islands of the west coast gave them an iron grip over the western shores. With the newly occupied islands The Blackreynes had made it a point to expand their fleet. One hundred ships guarded Bear Island, and Fair Isle each. The Shield Islands had 200, and the Arbor has 400. despite this show of force, the Blackreynes insisted it was for defense only. Indeed it seemed the Blackreynes were extremely protective of their holdings.

For a thousand years, House Blackreyne coexisted with the First Men relatively well. They taught the first men how to work bronze which allowed them to make better armour, and shields. They also trained many of the first men in their own style of fighting. Often they would aid their allied houses in dealing with rivals. The Blackreynes fought alongside the Starks against the Bolton Blood Kings, the Royces against their rivals in the Vale, the Yronwoods against the Daynes and Fowlers, and the Mudds would bring the feuding Brackens and Blackwoods to heel. The aid the Blackreynes provided enabled these four houses to become the most powerful Kings in their regions. The Starks and the Mudds would later rule all of the North and Riverlands respectively. over the Years the Blackreynes would marry into the families of Westeros but they kept their ties strongest with the Starks, Royces, Yronwoods and Mudds.

Their relationship with the Children of the Forest was never strained. Though the Arnorians never adopted the old gods, they respected it and each lord had a heart tree planted in their groves. With aid from the children's magic, these trees were able to bloom on the desolate Iron Islands. Children were frequent guests in the Blackreyne halls.

The Andal Invasion

The time of peace ended when the Andals arrived. The Blackreynes looked at these fair-haired men and immediately sensed trouble. The Blackreynes knew enough about the nature of settlers that these men were here to conquer. They recognized that the religious nature would bring them into conflict with the Children as well as the First Men. The Andals piety reminded the Arnorians of their old enemy. The Blackreynes met with the Children and explained the situation. They told the children that they needed to flee before the Andals caught them and slaughtered them. Many of the Children agreed and fled to the Islands in the west while others fled to the North. But a fair number of them chose to stay to guard the weirwood groves such as the Isle of Faces and High Heart.

The Blackreynes, met with all the ruling houses, Stark, Royce, Mudd, Durrandon, Lannister, Gardener, and Yronwood. They warned that they needed to stand together of risk subjugation to these pagan worshipers. The destruction of their weirwoods trees and the end of the pact with the Children. While the Starks, Mudds, and Royces agreed to this alliance, the others decided to deal with the Andals in their own time when they truly were threatened.

The Blackreynes fears came true, the Andals murdered the Children where ever they found them, burnt down their sacred groves and cut down any of the First Men that dared to challenge their supremacy.

The Andal's massacre of the Ancients left the Arnorians burning with rage. They didn't care what gods backed these men, The Children of the Forest would be avenged. Unlike the First men, the House Blackreyne was ready for them. From the day the first Andals left their homeland, the Arnorians prepared for war. The Andals came with iron armour and weapons of steel. But the Arnorians had steel blades as well. When the Andals first fought the first men the Blackreynes unveiled the warlike nature to Westeros.

In The Vale, the Andals were already overrunning the region, several first men houses were extinguished and most of their kings had been overthrown. Seeing the severity of the situation, The Bronze Kings of House Royce were the only ones to remain unconquered, holding them off for a hundred years. Seeing how dire the situation was, Robar Royce gathered what was left of the First men in the Vale and waged a final campaign against the Andals.

Realizing that their position in Westeros was threatened, The Andal warlords banded together under a young knight known as Artys Arryn. Artys Arryn's army met Robar Royce's in the Battle of the Seven Stars. Six times the Andals charged and six times the Andals were driven back. On the seventh charge, the Andals broke through. Robar Royce rallied his men and charged towards what was believed to be Artys. In the duel that followed Robar slew the knight but it turned out to be a decoy. Artys had led a charge to the rear of Robar's men. In the end, Robar was slain and the First men resistance in the vale died with him. The battle of the Seven Stars secured the Andals place in the Vale, Thorty First Men Lords were slain and fourteen houses became extinct.

After the fall of House Royce to the Arryns, was a wake-up call for the first men they realized that the Andals were a greater threat than once believed. After the defeat of Robar Royce, many of the first men in the Vale fled to the riverlands. The Blackreynes took command of those remnants and used them in guerrilla warfare hitting caravans and harassing supply lines, and ambushing small Andal armies sent against them. The Arnorian Warlord Caedus Blackreyne taunted Artys Arryn for many moons. Calling him a filthy pagan coward and a hen. "You flew from Robar Royce." He declared. "Will you fly away from me?" Finally, the Andal hero to stand it no longer. He would not allow his pride and integrity to be questioned by a primitive heathen.

King Artys Arryn met Caedus Blackreyne at the site of the bloody gate would be built. The Andals had gathered 77,777 men and 7 septons for the battle. Caedus Blackreynes joined with the Mudds and commanded 40,000 first men.

Maesters would have you believe that since the Andals had Iron they would be superior to the first men. In truth, bronze was a worthy opponent to Iron. Both had their strengths and weaknesses. Bronze was stronger than simple iron, less brittle, never rusted, was easier to cast and had a lower melting point.

Iron was stronger when carbonized, easier to acquire and was easier to forge. Bronze was also The bronze breastplates of the first men were often covered by layers of leather and linen adding to its strength.

The Battle of the Moon, was the Andals first engagement against House Blackreyne. They would learn what kind of people the Blackreynes were. Half of the Blackreyne army consisted of 20,000 Arnorian archers, rangers they were called. The Rangers used a Recurve bow. which was lighter and just as powerful as the longbow of the Andals. Their main arrow of choice was the steel tipped bodkin point.

The first men took up a defensive position as the Andals charged. Using the Arnorian's training. The first men formed a phalanx determined to hold firm against the Andal attack. As the Andals charged, the rangers unleashed a downpour of arrows. When the Andals were close enough, the phalanx lowered and the rangers loosed their arrows into the faces of the Andals unfortunate front line. Seven times they charged and seven times the Andals were beaten back. Wave after wave of Andal knights fell to the Blackreynes rangers.

After the failure of the seventh charge, the first men whent on the offensive. Slowly but surely they pushed the Andals back. Caedus Blackreyne cut through 77 of the Andals finest knights including Luceon Templeton and Jaime Cobray. King Artys realized with horror that he was going after the septons. The helpless clergymen tried to flee, but it was no use. The Andals looked in horror as Caedus cut 6 of the septons in half with his sword. The seventh suffered a worse fate as Caedus impaled him on a pike and lifted him into the air.

The slaughter of the septons greatly demoralized the Andals army. The more foolish ones hoped that their gods would strike the heathen down. Caedus beat his chest at the air as if daring the seven to do just that. But such a thing never occurred. Artys drew Lady Forlorn determined to end this man once and for all. Lady Forlorn was made of Valyrian steel but so was Caedus' own sword Fury. The two rulers clashed, and for a time it seemed to be a stalemate. Artys was a skilled fighter but he was no match for Caedus. With one final swing, Caedus beheaded the winged knight.

The sight of their fallen hero, the Andals turned tail and ran for their lives. The First men cheered, but the arnorians were far from finished. Caedus and his men pursued the fleeing Andals and slaughtered them to the man.

The Battle of the Moon was the first of countless catastrophic defeats the Andal invaders suffered at the hands of House Blackreyne. King Erreg the kinslayer razed High Heart Hill, burning the wierwoods and slaughtering the children who stayed to defend it. In retribution, twelve-year-old Jerricoe Blackreyne mutilated him, massacred his men and displayed his impaled corpse on the Blackwater shoreline.

Jerricoe Blackreyne later went on to slay Vorian Vypren at the blue fork. After defeating King Tristifer IV Mudd of the Riverlands, Armistead Vance and the armies of the six other warlords who took part in his defeat were picked off one by one. Until finally Jerricoe and Armistead dueled at the God's Eye. Armistead was killed and impaled.

With the fall of House Mudd, the Blackreynes claimed dominion over the Riverlands to prevent further inquiries by Andal warlords. This had been made easy since Jerricoe was married to Talia Mudd. Tristifer IV's only daughter. They seized the Castle of Oldstones and made it their seat of power in Mainland westeros. The Blackreyens tore down the older structures and rebuilt it to suit their needs.

House Blackreyne now ruled all the land between the mountains of the Westerlands and the Vale, north of the blackwater rush and south of the neck. With this new fertile territory, House Blackreyne quickly began establishing their permanent foothold on the region. They established the borders, the rivers swarmed with longships, and the settlements fortified. For the first time ever, a Blackreyne took the title of King. Due to their relationship with the sea and having control of Westeros' largest river body, Jerricoe Blackreyne adopted the title of The Trident King.

Jerricoe's son Balthezar would sail with Theon Stark to Andalos. But while Theon was content with raiding, Balthezar took it one step further. He razed every single Andal settlement taking the treasure and anything of even the slightest value. He put every man to the sword and some of his men took the beautiful women as wives though they would never force them in the marriage bed. Orphans were taken to be trained as Blackreyne soldiers.

This string of events led the Andals to give House Blackreyne titles like The Scourge of the Seven, The Stranger's Sons, the Demons of Death. To those who followed the seven, House Blackreyne was evil incarnate. House Blackreyne jokes that the Andal god Stranger was on their side. and due to the lack of retribution against them coupled with an endless stream in victories led many Andals to think that maybe just maybe it was true. Arnorian Bastards then rallied and formed a new order in the Blackreyne army The Stranger's Sons. On the Bitter River, 200 Stranger's Sons, faced 777 Warrior's sons. In the battle that followed the Stranger's Sons lost 80 men, the Warrior's Sons were wiped out entirely.

The second battle of the Bitter River was an omen that the Andals could no longer ignore. They tried again and again to defeat the Blackreynes, but every battle ended in humiliating defeat. Their armies were not just defeated, they were annihilated. In every battle the Blackreynes fought against the Andals, the Blackreynes were always outnumbered. They had even razed their homeland. Day and night their septons would pray to the seven to strike them down. The Blackrerynes mocked them. "Shout Louder," they would taunt, "maybe your gods are sleeping, perhaps they are visiting a neighbor on the other side of the world." The prayers of the Andals would go unanswered.

Eventually, they halted their attempts to conquer the Riverlands and focused on the other kingdoms. Despite successful resistance, the Stormlands and Westerlands eventually negotiated a truce with the invaders. They used marriages to bind the Andals to them and even converted to the faith of the Seven. The Reach, despite preparing ages for an Andal attack, ended up welcoming them with open arms and also converted to the Andal religion. These truces angered the Blackreynes who considered these submissions as betrayal for they now found themselves surrounded by 3 Andal kingdoms.

When word reached them of the Hightowers submission, the Blackreynes decided to punish them. In a coordinated attack, House Blackreyne led a massive assault on the city of Oldtown just as the Andal warlords were marching in to take control of the city. The Arnorians stormed the harbor and immediately seized the citadel which was their primary target. "The Andals shall never have any of this knowledge, they declared. and they sacked the building taking with them all the knowledge and information that had been accumulated over the many millennia. These documents were copied down and stored in the great vault so that it would never be molested by Andal hands.

The only Region unaffected by the Andal horde was the North. Every attempt by the Andals to invade the North ended in failure. Finally the Andals gave up and allowed the north to live in peace. This led the Blackreynes and Starks to form a near unbreakable bond. Though Andals would colonize Dorne, they would never develop much influence in the region. Now Seven Kings fought over Dorne, including the Daynes, Fowlers, Martells, Drylands, Blackmonts and Manwoodys. But thanks to the Blackreynes they would never overcome the power of the Yronwood Bloodroyals

The end of the Andal invasion marked a new age in Westeros. Gone was the age of the many kings and now Their were six excluding the kings in Dorne. Stark, the Kings of Winter; Arryn; Kings of Mountain and Vale; Lannister, Kings of the Rock; Durrandon, the Storm Kings, Gardener, Kings of the Reach and Blackreyne, The Trident Kings.