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.

6. Arnor vs Andalos

The Andal/Arnorian Wars

In the years leading up to the Doom Of Valyria, the houses of Blackreyne and Whitehall thrived. The Blackreyne's Kingdom now renamed Troyad became wealthy prospered like never before under their reign. Proper settlements were built in accordance to Arnorian standards (being walled and made of stone). Bridges were built to span the multiple rivers that dominated the region. Troyad became a refuge for First Men that refuse to live under andal rule. Women of lords who wanted better opportunities also fled to Arnor.

Under the Blackreyne rule, the lords in Troyad found their power drastically reduced, most notably in their military manpower. In order to avoid confusion sons of lords were now given the title of Master. The commoners found themselves with improved living conditions. As oppose to farmers living isolated from other farmers. They were moved into a Farming communes surrounded by vast farmland. The same was done for the fishermen who now lived in fishing villages. As with all Blackreyne settlements, these were built entirely in stone with high walls watchtowers, trench and spike. Troyad Lords were given rule over either a fishing villaige or farming commune. The Lords were expected to protect, manage and maintain the settlements they now governed. The Lords were also expected to have a firm but fair hand, whip those who do wrong and never abuse their power. Mistreatment of the smallfolk was not tolerated as the Blackreynes claim, 'The strong make plenty the weak make little and the dead make nothing.'

The wildlings manage to settle in the Iron isles well enough. The islands of Pyke, Blacktyde, Saltcliff and Old Wyk, were populated solely by Wildlings, though. The Blackreynes still retained their hold on Great Wyk, Harlaw and Orkmont, due to their resources. The mines had long since been drained and the mined metals were melted into bricks ansd stored. The now empty mines acted as vaults for their plunder.

But things were hardly peaceful. Troyad was in the center of Westeros, which meant that it was caught in the middle of nearly every conflict that occurred. Being warlike people, the culture of the Blackreynes seemed to go against everything the feudalistic Andals stood for. The idea of previliged commoners, Women equal to men and their warrior society dumbfounded the Andals. Blackreynes never took septons, septas believing them to be untrustworthy. Maesters were never accepted either since the Blackreynes preferred to train their own teachers. Many of these teachers were dwarves, in fact every dwarf child was taken to be trained as a teacher. Blackreynes were never ones to waste a life.

The Andals were still bitter about their disasterous defeats at the hand of the Blackreynes as well as the loss of many of their heroes. The Gardners, Lannisters, and Arryns all wanted to carve a piece of Troyad for their own. The Durrendons are able to work peacefully with the Blackreynes, but the Blackreyne's friendship with the Yronwoods make this peace strained at best. The only true allied kingdom the Blackreynes ever had were the Starks and the North.

Andal warriors under the guise of brigands attacked rivermen where ever they found them. With the innumerable raids conducted by the Andals the people of Troyad begged their Blackreyne overlords to protect them. The Blackreynes replied, "we shall not protect what you hold dear. You will, and we will show you how." Thus began the induction of the rivermen into Arnorian society. The rivermen were mostly fishermen and farmers. So these men were taught the art of the trident and sickle respectively. At first the Andals laughed at the idea of farmers and fishermen being fighters. The laughing stopped when they attempted their usual raids on the villaiges and farms. The Andals realized that with the proper training and the right technique A farmer with a sickle or scythe proved to be a formidable fighter. Fishermen would ensnare an enemy on his net then finish him with a trident.

Through a union Houses of Braken and Blackwood. A Bastard named Benedict Rivers caught the attention of the Blackreynes twith his stern but wise manner. Being a Bastard Benedict had gone to train with his overlords becoming one of the deadliest swords in the riverlands. Benedict would eventually gain the support of his parents houses and embarked on a campaign against the andal raiders. evendefeating a number of lords and a Faith militant force. In recognition for his services, he was named Benedict of House Justinian. When he wed Cella Blackreyne, he was given Oldstones. Under Lord Benedict's rule, House Justinian rose quickly becoming one the most powerful vassals of the Blackreynes.

The conflict between the Houses Blackreyne, and it's andal rivals became known as the Andal Arnorian wars. It comprised of three conflicts The Western war, the Sist.r War and the Teague Uprising. These conflicts would last for over three thousand years and extent to nearly every part of Westeros. The first conflict, the Western War was against the Gardeners and Lannisters.

The Western War

In the Westerlands, King Tyrion II Lannister marched his troops through the Golden Tooth to conquer Troyad. He met early success gaining a number of victories. In the first half of the war, it seemed that Tyrion would succeed. King Derethor Blackreyne responded with an massive counter attack. Instead of marching on the Westerlands formidable mountains. He sailed against the Westerlands vulnerable coast. Once they made landfall the Blackreynes targeted the wealthy gold mines in the Westerlands. Their prizes included the Golden Tooth, the Pendric Hills and Nunn's Deep. Numerous minor mines like the Crag were also captured and drained of their rersources. Heavily guarded caravans came from these places and sent to either Troyad or the Iron Islands depending on the location.

Though the Reynes of Castamere were a cadet branch of the Blackreynes. Derethor knew that Castamere had to be 'captured' to prevent their relatives from being alienated by their neighbors. Derethor made a grand show of 'sacking' Castamere when in truth the Reynes negotiated with them. The Blackreynes would empty Castamere and take the gold to Great Wyk. In addition to the mines the Blackreynes also sacked the settlements along the coast. One by one they fell, Banefort, Kayce, Feastfires, Tarbeck hall, and Crakehall. Finally, two years after the beginning of the Golden War, Derethor sacked Lannisport. It should be noted that when the Blackreynes sacked something they were very thorough about it. All gold and weapons were taken naturally. But no woman or child is harmed, and no buildings were burned as fire woud hinder their ability to enter and depart the city quickly.

In the Reach, the incompetant King Garth X Gardener decided to take the wealthy Arbor in order to posess it's famed wines. With a fleet of 200 warships and an invasion force of 50,000 men Garth succeeded in taking the Island. This victory would turn into a massive blunder. The taking of their prized Island in the south enraged the Blackreynes and they prapared to teach the Gardeners a lesson.

House Blackreyne gathered the western fleet for his attack on the Reach. The fleet was divided into two parts, the first one consisting of solely of longships would raise havoc in the rivers. The Second part, made up of the larger galleys razed the coastline. All along the Mander, Honeywine, Cockleswhent and Blue Byrne rivers. The first fleet sacked every settlement. The Goldengrove, Tumbleton, Bitterbridge, Grassy Vale, Ashford, Longtable, Cider Hall, Honeyholt and Brightwater Keep became victims of Blackreyne raids. As the first fleet terrorized the Mander, the Second fleet was busy striking down the settlements in the Coast. The Blackreynes sacked Old Oak, Bandallon, Blackcrown, Three Towers and Sunflower Hall.

Finally both fleets converged on their primary targets, Highgarden and Oldtown. Oldtown managed to repell the Blackreynes three times brfore the fatal fourth attack. The Hightower was able to repell every attack before the frustrated Blackreynes decided to just lay siege to the massive. Highgarden however was a different manner, The seat of House Gardener fell in a matter of minutes.

So the war continued for two thousand years. Though the Arbor and the Gold mines were well defended by Blackreyne swords. Places like Fair Isle, the Shield Islands and the numerous settlements in the Troyad, Reach and Westerlands would shift hands more times than could be counted. Heroes on both sides fought and died. Learning from their mistakes during the invasion, The andals only fought small skirmishes with the Blackreynes never committing a full force to any battlefield. They would attack tiny raiding partied with huge numbers earning them many successes albiet small ones. It is noted that while House Blackreyne was the common enemy, none of the andal kingdoms were ever able to stand together for long. House Durrendon eventually joined the war on the Blackreyne's side.

It finally came to an end when Titus Blackreyne later known as Titus the Trickster. turned the kingdoms of the Reach and Rock against each other. Once the Reach was surrounded, the Gardeners entered negotiations with the Blackreynes for a truce. A truce the Blackreynes readily accepted. All the original holdings were returned to their lords and the Blackreynes withdrew from both the Reach and the Westerlands. The Western War finally came to a close.

The Sisters War

Peace in Troyad would only last a few centuries before House Blackreyne would be plunged into another war during the Rape of the Sisters. The group of Islands known as the Three Sisters was regarded as the eastern equivilant of the Iron Islands before the Blackreynes. A haven and base for pirates and smugglers. The Starks had grown tired of the sistermen constantly harassed their eastern shore and the City of White Harbor which provided the North with much needed income. So they led an invasion of the islands in what became known as the Rape of the Three Sisters. The invasion was a success and the North added the Three Sisters to their kingdom. In their desperation The Sistermen sent an emmissary to King Mathos II Arryn with a plea for aid. If the Arryns drove back the Northmen, they would submit to Arryn Rule. King Mathos II accepted and sent a force of a hundred ships to the three sisters. The Sister's War had begun.

The War of the Sisters marked a momenteous event in Blackreyne history. House Blackreyne had a fair share of ruling Queens, but this would be the first time a Queen would lead them to war. Her name was Nyra Blackreyne. She was considered a harsh beauty with knee length dark brown hair and pale blue eyes. Despite her beauty, Nyra was clever deceitful and seductive considered more dangerous than any Blackreyne male. Nyra intended to do the impossible, she was going to break the Eyrie.

Queen Nyra launched a counterattack on the Vale. Before Nyra the Blackreynes tried to take the Bloody Gate Twelve times and twelve times they had failed. Nyra realized that she would not win the war this way so she adopted a new strategy. Once again she marched an army on the Bloody Gate. But instead of attacking Nyra set up a line of circumvellation. This investment included double trenches and high earthen ramparts topped with archer plateforms and watchtowers. To the Arryns it seemed that the Blackreynes were trying to trap keep them in the mountains.

This 'siege' on the Bloody Gate was a diversion. While the Arryns were focused on holding the Bloody Gate, Nyra had sent a second army around Westeros to the Vale's vulnerable eastern coast. Once the fleet reached the Vale it divided into three parts. The first army sailed to the Gulltown looting the city aand siezing every ship they could get their hands on. The Second army sailed to the sisters where they began a repetition of what happened to the ironborn thousands of years ago. These attacks drew the Arryn forces away from the third army. The third army was the largest and it's target was the Vale of Arryn Valley. When they landed their path was blocked by a series of hills dominated by Longbow Hall. The landing force easily defeated the small garrison and drove it back into the castle. After Longbow Hall they started cutting a bloody path across the valley.

The Mountain Clans were still fond of the memory of what the Blackreynes did to the Arryns and were more than happy to assist in any way they could. They showed Nyra secret goat paths through the Mountains of the Moon enabling her to bypass the Bloody Gate. Disguised as Vale knights Nyra's Stranger's Sons were able to enter the castle providing detailed information about Nyra's incursion in the valley. In the dead of night, they killed the guards on duty and opened the gates for Nyra's army enabling them to enter the Gates of the Moon.

The Blackreynes worked to keep the Gates of the Moon in their possession, They doubled the size of the castle and improved on it's already impressive defences. Among these defences where ones built to drive back an attack from the Eyrie. Additional fortifications wer built on the cliffs that flanked the fortress. A large storehouse was built filled with grain and other foods enabling it to withstand a long siege. In less than a year, The Gates of the Moon became the strongest fortress in the Vale.

After the Fall of the Gates, the Blackreynes laid siege to the Eyrie. The kin of Osgood and Oswin Arryn were now trapped in the Giant's Lance. Once word had reached them about the fall of the Gates they ceased their attack on the North and marched to liberate their home.

The Eyrie was defended by 500 men and 300 more in the three waycastles that defended it. It's granary had enough food and water to withstand a ten year siege, even longer without a garrison. However, nobody knew when winter would come and they could not stay in the Eyrie when it did. Osgood gathered 30,000 men and attcked the Gates of the Moon, Arya Arryn sent out 700 men to attack the rear of the fortress. Nyra Blackreyne led the defense with 6,000 men garrisoned in the castle. Despite being outnumbered the Blackreynes fought well and the defenses did their job.

When Battle of the Gates ended 15,000 Arryns were slain along with Osgood Arryn and the 700 men that Arya had sent to assist. Oswin decided to simply lay siege to the Gates of the Moon. This became known as the Two-Siege campaign. For four years this stalemate dragged on and neither side would buckle. Then Oswin recieved something that made hisheart sink, a White Raven. Summer was over and winter had begun. If this seige continued anylonger his family would freeze in their impregnable fortress. Oswin sent an emissary to Nyra negotiatinf a peace treaty. He would withdraw from the Three Sisters if she lifted the siege. Nyra agreed and the Blackreynes withdrew from the Vale.

The Sister War ended in a stalemate. Neither the Vale nor the North owned the Three Sisters. The Blackreyne invasion of the Three Sisters, left the islands in ashes. The sistermen were so broken that they didn't practice pirating for many centuries. Instead they focused on trying to rebuild the lives that the Blackreynes destroyed. They never forgot and they would never forgive.

The Teague Uprising

House Blackreynes greatest challenge was rose a few hundred years after the Sister War. It began with a powerful, upstart andal family from the hills of andalos. They are deeply religious and extremely ambitious and possess a deep seething hatred for anyone who didn't follow the seven. Many of it's members had been among the Most Devout and even High Septons in the past. Their name was House Teague.

House Teague was the only one of the Great Families of Andalos to escape the rampage of Balthezar Blackreyne's purge of Andalos. Because of this their hatred for House Blackreyne was absolute. The Teagues led other escaped andals to the Rhoyne. They would later go on to form a mercenary company fighting for the great Valyrian House Belaerys. House Belaerys paid the Teagues handsomely for their services. During the Andal/Arnorian wars, The Teagues successfully capture several of House Blackreyne's treasure convoys. They used this treasure to expand their army in Essos. As time passes their company got larger and larger to the point where they had 30,000 sellswords at their command. They also conscripted other enemies of the Blackreynes, including ironborn, sistermen, convicts and pirates.

With their forces in the east ready, Theo Teague traveled to Westeros with an army of septons. Their utter devotion to the Faith of the Seven attracted the attention of the Most Devout many worshippers and soon hundreds attended their cermons all across westeros. Eventually their zealous nature allowed them to quickly rise among the Most Devout, quickly taking over the Council entirely. As their power grew, their zealotry became clairvoyant. Their supporters adopted an aggressive stance and swelled to the hundreds of thousands. A single septon could be seen preaching to a crowd of tens of thousands at any on point. Theo Teague appointed his eunuch brother Humphrey Teague as the new High Septon, a decision that was welcomed with open arms. Many of the followers House Teague gathered became septons and septas, but without a doubt, the dominant power was the Faith Militant.

Most of their manpower came from the Reach, Vale, Stormlands and Westerlands who secretly funded House Teague making the family obscenely rich. But a few came from the North, Dorne and even Troyad. Many lords wanted to go back to a feudalistic society and were eager to join. Among these Houses were the Vances, the Vyprens and the Whitehills. In the Teague Uprising, the Faith Militant reach the apex of their power. With 10,000 Warrior's Sons and 250,000 Poor Fellows. The Faith Militant, knew that their poor fellows in their condition would get slaughtered if the faced the hardened Blackreyne warriors, so for the next ten years the Warrior's Sons were tasked with training the poor fellows how to fight. It was a lackluster job but the Poor Fellows were now capable of putting up a decent fight.

All across southern Westeros the Faith Militant raided armories in every region, taking weapons and armour wherever they could find them. The Kings did make 'attempts' to stop their raids but in truth they aided the Faith Militant as discreetly as they could without incurring the Blackreynes wrath. In truth these were supply deals made to look like raids. They even send their most seasoned warriors to help train the Poor Fellows. As these kingdoms were eager to get revenge on the Blackreynes.

The Teagues began their campaign during the reign of Waldorf Blackreyne. Waldorf the First later known as Waldorf the Worst, is considered by far the weakest ruler House Blackreyne ever had. He displayed such great misrule that no Blackreyne or Arnorian would ever take his name ever again becoming forbidden to do so. Like all his relatives, he was a skilled warrior and sailor. But he refused to hone his skills after he became king. He ate and drank his heart away to the point where he weighed 36 stone. Only his muscular limbs saved him from being immobile. He was cocky and arrogant to no level. He believed in arnorian superiority over all else to the point . Waldof's bigotry nearly cost House Blackreyne it's friendship with House Stark. Waldorf heavily taxed the people filling the Blackreyne coffers with mounds of gold. He also tried to forge relations with the Andals even converting to the Faith of the Seven. None of his actions were approved by his family.

The Teague invasion force of 50,000 landed in the southeastern corner of Troyad. This place had three hills and here The Teagues and the Faith decided to build their seat of power named The Starpoint. Starpoint was really three strongholds built on the three hills. They were built in the shape of heptagons with seven huge towers at each corner and high walls. The castles were named Father's Fort, Warrior's Ward, and Smith's Stronghold.

Led by Torrence Teague, the father of Theo and Humphrey, they were soon joined by the Faith Militant. The massive army began cutting a bloody path across Troyad overwhelming the small armies sent against them. Meanwhile the Teague fleet sailed up the blackwater rush smashing the Arnorian longships patrolling it. Waldorf sent a force of 20,000 to stop them. The two armies met at Paxton, a large town situated in the northeastern shore of the God's Eye.

The Arnorian Army led by Waldorf's eldest son Barrigan fought well and manage to hold off the Poor Fellows. But through a brilliant maneuver by Torrence, the Teagues outflanked Barrigan's forces, with ships in that had arrived to the God's Eye. Barrigan and all 20,000 men were slain. Torrence was victorious but at a great cost. 80,000 Poor Fellows had fallen to the Arnorian warriors. It was a momentous day in westeros. For the first time in their history, a full strength Blackreyne army had been defeated.

This maked the first of a string of lossed for House Blackreyne. One by one the major settlements fell. Duskendale, Maidenpool, Riverrun, Seagard all fell to the Teagues. Soon House Teague controled most of Troyad. A second Blackreyne army of 30,000 led by Galivan Blackreyne marched against them. But Torrence manage to surround them at the cape of Eagles. Battle of the Cape was a repetition of the Battle of Paxton. The Arnorians slaughtered to a man while Torrence lost his life and 90,000 men, most of whom were poor fellows.

Meanwhile, the Teague navy smashed numerous Blackreyne fleets to gain control of Fair Isle and the Shield Islands and even into the Iron islands thenselves. The Islands of Blacktyde, Saltcliff and Old Wyk became Teague territory. The most of the wildlings, giants and the children fled to the remaining friendly isles. But many others were not so fortunate and were slaughtered by Teague Forces. The Teague Uprising which later fifty years became known as the Erebus Era. House Blackreyne reached the nadir of it's reign. A time that they would never know before or since. The only territories they still held were Great Wyk, Harlaw, Orkmont, Pyke, the Arbor and Oldstones. This was because those territories were too well fortified to take without an effective plan.

The Invasion of the Iron Islands was the final straw for the members of House Blackreyne. The Arnorians turned against their king in droves. Waldorf had to be brought down or they faced certain doom. Roger (the rebel) Blackreyne staged a coup against his father. Having lost his twin older brothers to Waldorfs follies, he was more than happy to do so. The coup was fairly easy since nobody wanted to resist. Roger, found his father in the highest point of Roon. Waldorf refused to go quietly and despite his bulk manage to kill several of Rogers men. Determined to not face judgement by his family Waldorf pulled himself over the battlements and fell to his death.

After the death of Waldorf, Roger was crowned king and he began making preparations to retake what was theirs. He gathered his remiainig strength and slowly began taking back his family's Kingdom. First was occupied Iron Islands, then Fair Isle and the Shield islands. He crushed the Teague feets in the sunset sea before sailing to the narrow sea.

As Roger continued his campaign, Theo Teague, had been preparing to take the last remaining arnorian holding in mainland westeros, Oldstones. Theo Teague was considered on of the most brilliant commanders of his time he had been responsible for felling Riverrun and Seagard and won a hundred battles. Now here layed his greatest challenge, the Fortifications of Oldstones enabled the Justinians to hold back the Teague attacks eleven times. The defense was under the command of Lucifer Justinian a stern and capable man. Theo had then layed siege to Oldstones and was on the verge of victory. But when news reached him about Roger Blackreyne, Theo chose to accelerate his siege of Oldstones. He gathered his entire force and attacked the castle one last time. Little did he know that a few days ago reinforcements had arrived to aid Lucifer. The Battle of Oldstones saw 10,000 Justinian defenders holding back 70,000 Faith militant. The assault lasted for 12 hours. with great losses, the curtain wall was finally breached. he remaining defenders barred themselves in the Great Holdfast. Within the Holdfast the Justinians manage to hold back the Teague attack until Roger Blackreyne arrived with his army and caught the Teagues from behind. Theo Teague and his entire army was annihilated. When Roger entered the Holdfast, he found only 600 defenders remained.

The defeat at Oldstones coupled with the death of Theo Teague marked the end of House Teague's reign. Without the brilliance of Torrence and Theo, The Teagues hold on Troyad rapidly deteriorated. Roger then quickly defeated the Teague sellswords led by Humphrey Teague. The defeat of Oldstones had also crushed the power of the Faith Militant, Oldstones had cost the Faith most of their Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows and their allied kingdoms refuse to lend any aid now that the Blackreynes were once again on the full warpath. The remnants of the Teagues and the Militant made their last stand at Starpoint. All that remained was Torrence's youngest son Damon and his grandsons, Tyler son of Theo, Hollis son of Humphrey and Damon's own son Humphrey II. Roger showed no mercy and razed each castle and everyone in them.

After the annihilation of the Teagues, Roger Blackreyne retook the rest of Troyad. He would reestablished his families hold over his kingdom, Through his rule, House Blackreyne regained it's former glory. He used the gold in his families coffers to rebuild what was destroyed. But it also had consequences, the Faith became forbidden in Troyad and anyone who worshipped them was banished. all the lords that had dared to side with the Teagues had their male lines exterminated. Though the Vances, Vyprens and the Whitehills manage to flee before Roger could catch them. The women were given to the loyalist houses as wives and the loyalist houses would inherit their lands. For this Roger was given a new title, Roger the Redeemer.

Among these loyalists were twin brothers named Ferris and Farrun. During the Battle of Starpoint, the twin brothers had charged into the deepest fighting to slay Damon Teague, his son, and nephews. This earned them the nickname the Fray Brothers a title that they took as a family name House Frey. In gratitude for their service House Blackreyne granted them a single request. The Frey Brothers asked permission to build a massive fortified bridge at the farthest end of the Green Fork. They claimed that the bridge would provide Troyad with sizable income. Roger Blackreyne agreed on the condition that they surrendered half of the income the bridge provided. The brothers accepted the terms and with thousands of builders and a huge amound of gold provided by their king a bridge was build protected by two formidable castles. The Twins.

Note: House Justinian is House Justman, since I think the name Justman is just plain lazy and childish.