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.

17. The Thestral and the Rising Sun

The Dornish War

Dalton Blackreyne already had a reputation for being a brilliant commander, but it was the First Dornish War that cemented his place as the greatest military commander of his age. This would not just be a war between the two most independent kingdoms, it was a battle of arguably the two greatest minds of the time, and would result in the most elaborate military operation in the history of the world.

It was no secret that Aegon wished to make Westeros whole by conquering Dorne so he spent many years preparing for an invasion. This led to a very heated argument with Dalton who was highly opposed to a war with Dorne. the siblings of both men could hear the two rage against each other for hours.

"The Conquest is not complete until Dorne comes into the fold," Aegon declared.

"You have the Stormlands, you have the Vale, the Reach, the bloody Westerlands and I gave you the North and Troyad. What more do you want?!"

"We must have it all," Aegon replied. "An independent Dorne represents a dangerous foe. You know how hostile they are towards the Stormlanders and the Reachmen."

"A war with Dorne is completely unnessessary and serves no purpose at all."

"It serves to fully unite Westeros Dalton," Aegon snapped.

"I am not sending my people to die in your petty wars, just because you're not satisfied with what you have. My house has had close relations with House Yronwood when the Ghiscari were nothing but sheep fuckers and snake eaters. I will not destroy that friendship with a unprovoked attack."

Aegon stared the man down, "we are to war with Dorne and that's final."

Dalton's eyes narrowed, "if that is your wish fine but you will have to do it without me."

Aegon came up to Dalton's face, "I made you my master of war," Aegon declared, "you will do as I say."

Dalton let out a bitter laugh, "I don't have to do anything." With that Dalton walked out leaving a stunned Aegon in his wake.

Aegon's invasion began in a conventional manner with Aegon and Orys marching a great host through the Princes Pass and the Boneway while Rhaenys and Visenya took the dornish seats on their march to the dornish capitol. Sadly the results were the same as when Rhaenys came a few years earlier, the dornish seats were mostly abandoned and those that remained were comprised of the old the young and the weak. In other words those unable to fight so the Targaryens gained little glory from these meager rewards.

House Toland made a fool out of Aegon by sending their mad fool to act as a champion. Aegon slew the fool with ease but by the time he realised the deception the Tolands had fled.

Armies that marched through the Prince's Pass and the Boneway were harassed every step of the way by the dornish skirmishers. Taking advantage of the high ground, the Dornish rained rocks, arrows and spears down on the approaching hosts. Lords and their men were murdered in the night.

Nevertheless Aegon was able to secure most of the Dornish seats. When they finally reached Sunspear they gathered what remained of the Dornish court and crowned themselves the victors. They left Lord Rosby in charge of the Castle while Lord Harlan Tyrell was given the task of putting down the insurgents. Dalton received reports about the campaign and was high at the craftiness of the Dornish. When the 'victory' at Sunspear reached him, he laughed so hard he could barely stand.

But Aegon's 'victory' was short lived. No sooner had he returned to Kings Landing that Dorne launched a massive revolt. The attack came with such speed and surprise that Aegon almost never learned of the attack until a fortnight later. The garrisons were massacred, lords were captured Knights were tortured by dornish lords. The Dornishmen made sport out of the tortures seeing who could last the longest or inflict the most pain.

In the Retaking of Sunspear, Lord Jon Rosby was thrown off the Spear Tower by Meria herself. Harlan Tyrell marched to try and retake Sunspear but his host disappeared in the sands and was never seen again.

Orys Baratheon tried to launch a counter offensive but was ambushed just north of Yronwood. The Dornish showered Orys' host with ricks and spears. By the end of it, Orys Baratheon was captured along with a thousand others. The capture of Orys Baratheon was one of the biggest disasters of the war.

Lord Wyl kept Orys and the other lords imprisoned for a year before sending a ransom to Aegon. Aegon would pay each man's weight in gold to getting them back. But when they were returned. Aegon found that his Half-brother and the other lords were missing their sword hands. Lord Wyl's message was clear. These men would never raised their hands against Dorne again. Orys was a changed man after the loss of his hand and became embittered for the rest of his life.

After the botched Ransom, Aegon struck back by unleashing his dragons, castles and settlements were burned again and again killing thousands. Aegon went further and placed bounties on all of the Dornish nobles, Dorne responded in kind with bounties of her own. While it seemed like a sound move, the bounties the Martells placed on the Targaryens would prove to be a grave mistake, one that would turn the tide of the Dornish War.

One day as the Targaryens and Blackreynes were riding along surveying the progress of the ever growing Kings Landing, they came under attack by a swarm of assassins on the rooftops. Aegon was injured while Dalton and Visenya drew their blades and along with their personal guards cut down their attackers. Together Visenya and Dalton held off the assailants long enough for reinforcements to arrive and drive them off.

In the skirmish, Rhaenys was thrown from her horse and stabbed in the abdomen. Had Dalton not come to her a moment later she would have been killed. Enraged Dalton and Visenya cut their way to the Red Keep where apothecaries were able to save her. Though Rhaenys survived the encounter but it didn't matter the damage was done. Despite his previous reservations about the war, the Martells had now made it personal. The next day Dalton resumed his position as master of war and together he plotted Aegon for revenge on Dorne.

Dalton's first act was to launch a surprise attack. To do this, he worked to keep his involvement a secret until the opportune moment. In the meantime Aegon ordered all his remaining troops to abandon the castles and move to the Dornish marshes. Naturally the Dornish moved back in thinking Aegon was withdrawing and celebrated their victory over the dragon.

Once Aegon had withdrawn, the Blackreynes, Targaryens and the rest of the small council made the last moment preparations. In the War Room of the Black Tower, they overlooked a large detailed model of dorne

"That yellow toad has made a fool, out of me long enough," Aegon growled.

Dalton chuckled. "that's because you've been waging this war the wrong way," he replied. The Targaryens looked at him and continued. "The thing about your people is that you only know how to fight in one single way and it always involves dragons. The Ghiscari, the Rhoynar, the Andals it's all the same. Burn the enemy host in a pitched battle or burn the enemy castle or settlement. But this world is made up of different people and sometimes different people require different tactics."

"Then how do you intend to handle this?" Aegon asked.

Dalton drew out a rod and waved it across the Model, "tell me, what type of geography is Dorne?" Aegon and Rhaenys was silent but Visenya spoke, "it's a desert."

Dalton nodded, "precisely, between the burning temperatures and lack of crops, much like the North the terrain makes for an effective natural defense against invaders. This is Dorne's greatest asset since they have the home-field advantage which is always important. But what is their greatest strength can also become their greatest weakness." The Targaryens looked at each other confused wondering how that worked.

Noting their uncertainty, Dalton traced an invisible line across the map, the best way to fight the dornish is not to fight them at all, Food is scarce and water is more precious than gold. The Dornish and stubborn and fierce, but they can easily be manipulated by the burning of their crops, the destruction of their wells, harassment of their supply lines and cutting off all trade. In short, to defeat Dorne we will KICK HER IN THE STOMACH."

Daemon Velaryon spat scornfully, "this is a strategy for cowards, not soldiers," most of the small council nodded in agreement. "Would you have us resort to the methods of these lesser humans?"

Dalton smirked, "those lesser humans have killed thousands of your men as I recall. Tell me Lord Velaryon, how many dornish have you killed." This caused the Valyrian lord to sulk. Dalton turned to the rest of them, "I would have us do what ever is necessary to defeat Meria once and for all."

Aegon studied the map closely before speaking, "are you sure you can beat her?"

Dalton nodded, "I know the dornish well, I've studied them. That is a common mistake you have made Aegon, rushing into battle against enemies you don't fully understand."

"And how exactly do I do that?" Aegon asked.

"To understand a people you must study their culture, the best way to do that it to study their history or-" Dalton went to a nearby wall and pulled out a tapestry, "-their designs." He rolled out the tapestry revealing the sigil of house Martell, "You would be surprised what you can learn about a family just from looking at their banner."

"And what does their banner tell you?" Visenya wondered.

"The main colors of red and orange, symbolize the spirit and passion of the dornish, while the minor use of gold shows their potential intelligence. The Spear shows a warrior's will and the Sun proves they value in Independence and instinct. Between a strong spirit, killer instinct, and determination to defend their values, under a cunning mind it makes for a dangerous opponent."

"I fail to see how this helps us," Aegon scoffed.

"Because for every strength there is a weakness," Dalton replied. "Red symbolizes Hot Tempers, and short term focus which means they lack patience. The spear represents single mindedness, remember while the end of a spear is dangerous and it's length keeps a foe at bay, but it can only go after one enemy at a time, and once you side step it and close in the spear becomes useless. Such a strong sense of independence often leads to self importance and Hubris."

The council was silent at this and Dalton continued, "these are the weaknesses I intent to exploit. Rest assured we will defeat them, as long as you all followed my orders to the letter."

Dalton looked around the room as if daring anyone to challenge him. The council looked at each other and nodded reluctantly. "Very well Lord Blackreyne," Aegon consented. "I'm giving you full command of the war in Dorne, you shall have whatever means you require at your disposal." Aegon then stepped up to Dalton, "do not disappoint me and make no mistake this war with Dorne is to Unify westeros, not to ad another victory to your belt."

Dalton bowed and smiled, "I'm a Blackreyne Aegon, I do not desire glory only results for my king and kin."

Dalton waited until the Dornish had rebuilt their castles before starting his attack. First he sent large cargo ships within sight of the dornish castles escorted by two warships. Seeing Blackreyne ships along the coast was not an uncommon sight, Dorne often traded with the Sentinal Isles for supplies so they thought nothing of it to see such ships coming to make a trade. But on the night the tradesmen had done their part, the warships released their deadly cargo for within each of these ships were 900 warriors ready to strike.

On a flotilla of longships, the Arnorians crept up the coast and through the rivers. They slipped up to the castles and scaled the walls with grappling claws. Once inside they opened the gates and allowed the rest of their forces through. Caught off guard, the arnorians swarmed in killing any soldier in sight. But they were not trying to take the castle, their target was the Dornish nobles and their families. Dragged from their beds the noble families were escorted to the longships. Though Dalton was unable to capture all of them and a few families were able to escape including the Daynes, Fowlers, Ullers and Wyls.

Their household and remaining guards met a different fate. The household servants had their tongues ripped out while the guards lost a whole leg. Once this was done the Arnorians left the castle intact with the now crippled household inside. They then returned to their ships with their precious cargo.

Dalton personally led the surprise attack on Sunspear, bypassing the Shadow City and it's three curtain walls by sending his Valkerans in to open the threefold Gates. The Martells were caught at dinner and rounded up while their guards and servants were properly dealt with. Meria, her son Nymor and granddaughter Deria were forced on their knees by Stranger's Sons as Dalton Blackreyne entered the dining hall.

Meria looked at him expressionlessly, Nymor was terrified while Deria glared defiantly. Dalton smiled before speaking. "Princess Meria, Prince Nymore and Young Princess Deria, it would seem destiny had led us to meet in the theater of war. You are now outmatched and there will be no escaping the coming storm, you little game will come to an end."

"We will never surrender to you Blackreyne," Deria declared defiantly.

Dalton chuckled, "you misunderstand Young princess, I will not be accepting surrenders for quite some time. Not until I have taught your people a good sharp lesson. Your people will know loss, they will know horror, they will know failure, and they will know true defeat."

"Burns us and be done with it," Meria replied, "but we will never bend, bow of break."

Dalton chuckled again, "burn you? Hardly, I'm no dragon nor will I do anything of the sort. I do not intend to burn you, and you will not be broken, bowed or bent but you will be beaten."

He nodded to the Stranger's Sons who released the Martells, Meria looked at Dalton confused he simply smiled. "A cell makes for a poor view and the dead can't learn anything, don't worry, you'll understand soon enough." Dalton backed away giving her a mocking bow, "enjoy your dinner night Meria Martell, tomorrow we shall have our war."

As he left Ciron turned to him, "we're letting them go? I fear I don't understand brother."

Dallton shook his head, "It's too early to be caging princes and princesses, besides if we imprison them who is left in charge?"

Ciron thought for a moment, "I haven't a clue."

Dalton nodded, "neither to I, better to deal with the princess we know rather than the lords we don't." Ciron was doubtful but didn't judge his brother. As of that moment Aegon's Invasion was over and the Dalton Campaign had begun.

When Meria learned that Dalton had entered the war she grew fearful. The Princess of Dorne was not easily fazed, not even by Dragons and least of all by men. But if there was one person she did fear and that was Dalton Blackreyne.

It may have been two decades but she remembered well the last time Dorne warred against Troyad. The Martells and Blackreynes had never had good terms with each other, it was no secret that the Blackreynes openly supported the Martells greatest rivals the Yronwoods and they all knew the Blackreynes sought to make them the rulers of Dorne. However, due to the distance between them, both houses look at each other with a degree of tolerance.

Before the Great Slaver War, Dorne held control of the entrance to the Narrow Sea and extracted large taxes on ships from Lannisport, Gulltown and Roon. This made House Martell quite wealthy. That all stopped when the Blackreynes populated the Stepstones with the freed slaves of Essos and renamed it the Sentinel Isles. Through the Sentinal Isles, Dorne's control over the vital chokepoint was destroyed and given over to Troyad who's taxes were half that of Dorne's. Thus traders bypassed the dornish entirely for the cheaper safer route.

With a major source of income gone, Meria made the mistake of attacking the Sentinal Isles. After Dev's death rule passed to his brother Harron, Harron once a hard yet able man had fallen into a depression after losing his sons to a sickness that had spread to the isles. Between their absentee ruler, the plague and the Sentinel Isles unfinished defences Meria believed it was the perfect time to strike. She hoped to force a settlement with the Blackreynes and at the very least regain some control over the trade routes.

Due to the surprise of the attack she was met with success taking out an arnorian fleet and several patrols before taking the islands of Ramstone and Tombstone. But there was one factor she had not counted on, the twelve year old heir Dalton. At the Battle of Tombstone, Dev's eldest son took up the sword Fury and clashed with leader of the invaders Joffrey Dayne. Joffrey had more experience but Dalton was determined and fought back as hard as he could. Despite receiving a dozen wounds, Dalton managed to hold Joffrey's advance long enough for the army to retreat. Joffrey nearly succeeding in ending him had their not been intervention from the Stranger's Sons.

Another factor Meria had not counted on was the people's utter loyalty to the Blackreynes. When her men tried to take control of the islands the residents rose up against her. with overwhelming force they swarmed her armies and routed them from the islands. It was something she should have foreseen. Arnorians were already known for their loyalty but these people were utterly devoted to their overlords. They practically worshiped the ground the Blackreynes walked on holding them next to gods. One had to remember that these were slaves once and the Blackreynes not only gave them their freedom they gave the former slaves new lives, better lives. It was something they would never forget. The idea of a foreigner trying to overthrow them for profit was an unforgivable crime one that would be repaid in blood.

Once he was back in Bloodstone, the Young Prince reformed the army and orchestrated a counter attack which resulted in Dalton slaying Meria's younger brother who was 50 and two younger sons. After the death of her sons, Meria sued for peace with Dalton, a peace that remained shakey at best due to Dalton's own younger brother Tyron fighting alongside King Argilac against her.

The next three years of the First Dornish War became known as the Dalton Campaign but to the dornish it was known as Dorne's worst nightmare. Meria had been prepared for Aegon but she was not prepared for Dalton Blackreyne. Over the many decades of her reign trained her army rigorously so she was ready for a fight. But she wasn't ready for what the Blackreynes were about to unleash on Dorne

Dalton's accounts of his campaign in Dorne was meticulously detailed and gave an unbiased account of the events. Giving praise when it was deserved and condemnation when nessecary. Because of this Maesters chose to using his journals as a basis from which to record the events of the Dornish war.

Dalton's journal stated that Dorne had a standing army of 30,000 men comprised of two types of soldiers, spearmen and horse archers. Dalton further detailed that Dorne had a secret Sorority of the women in particular were trained as assassins, spies and infiltrators. they were called the Scorpios. These were the same assassins behind the attack in Kings Landing that drew Dalton into the war and killed Harlan Tyrell in the deserts of Dorne. Dalton also stated that an additional 20,000 could be raised but only as a result of heavy conscription of it's people which included a large number of women.

After this initial attack, Dalton sent his massive fleet to blockade the entire dornish coastline. 400 galleys and a thousand longships surrounded dorne, cutting off vital trade and conducting raids on the dornish coast. This blockade would later be known as the Noose. Next he called in scores of stonemasons and builders to the Princes Pass and the Boneway, then he started on a huge construction project.

It started with a trench 30 feet wide and 30 feet deep coated in filth crusted wooden stakes. Next was earthen ramparts topped with a spiked stockade and watchtowers. Then the final touch a sloped stone wall 60 feet high, 30 feet thick at the top and 60 at the base. Catapults and scorpions lined the walls with guard towers every 60 meters.

The only way through this barrier was a single gateway with a wooden bridge spanning the trench. The gateway is just wide enough for a single cart and protected by 2 forts which flanked the pass on either side through a tunnel of murder holes, arrow slits, and several portcullises. A single gatehouse acted as the command tower for the wall. To protect from a northern incursion, another spiked trench and palisade was built behind the forts.

Both fortifications were wedged in between the red mountains and guard towers were constructed at their peaks. The fortifications on the boneway were constructed just north of the Wyl river this made the river a natural barrier. While the ones in the Prince's Pass were built just south of Nightsong. Not only did they serve as a barrier they also served to mark the border between Dorne and the rest of Westeros.

When Meria realized what Dalton was doing she immediately sent skirmishing parties to put a stop to the work. Lightly armoured spearmen and horse archers came in the dead of night harassing the workers and disrupting their progress as much as possible. At the start Meria's skirmishers where met with success and were able to slow construction for a time, but the Martells only succeeded in prolonging the inevitable. Legions of archers defending the workers drove back the skirmishers and Dalton had planted caltrops in the fields making the harassments more and more difficult. As the fortification slowly took form the success of the skirmishers lessened until they barely made any progress at all.

They were known as the Shackles. They were given the names Prince Shackle and the Bone Shackle based on their respective locations. It took a whole year for them to complete the shackles. Once they were complete Dorne was completely cut off and rendered the traps and ambush points set up in the passages worthless since the main paths into Dorne were blocked off. Dalton assigned a force of reachmen to garrison the Prince Shackle under Lord Tarly while a force of Stormlanders garrisoned Bone Shackle under Lord Swann.

The Shackles coupled with the Noose ensured that Dorne was cut off from the world. After the completion of the Shackles Dalton was ready to begin the next phase of his invasion. Unlike Aegon, Dalton did not come with a great host nor did he come by land. Instead his invasion came solely by sea.

The Blackreynes attacked with staggering perfection and efficiency. From their longships the Arnorian forces engaged in a series of lighting raids by sailing up every river in Dorne. They took every vessel that floated and attacked every settlement in sight. The Orphans who plied the rivers were also captured and instead of being taken to Grey Gallows, they were taken to Troyad far from Dorne. Unlike Aegon who frequently used his dragons to raze these places Dalton used his thestrals solely for scouting and reconnaissance.

First Dalton had Ciron target the towns such as Planky Town, the Water Gardens, Godsgrace, Vaith and the Shadow City. When they came in they found only women and children, but it didn't matter for Ciron had his orders. After driving the people out of the Town, Ciron and his men took everything that wasn't nailed down. The crops, the livestock, tools and furniture, down to the last crumb and useless item was taken. As a final touch Ciron buried their prized wells. After stripping the towns Ciron left the now desolate Town relatively intact. Once this was done Ciron returned to the Blockade leaving the people with only their lives, the clothes on their back and an empty home.

Aegon and Rhaenys were disturbed by this course of action and tried to get Dalton to relent. Rhaenys believed they needed to win the hearts and minds of the people. But her husband replied in a cold manner. "It does not fall on us to care for a people that have risen their men, women, children, arms and horses against us. They have sown devastation upon us, now they shall reap the consequenses.

Next were the castles, With the ruling nobles incarcerated they were met with little resistance, so they were able to take these places with ease. Starfall, Wyl, Vulture's Roost, Blackmont, Hellholt, Saltshore, Lemonwood, Godsgrace, Vaith, Ghost Hill, and The Tor all fell in rapid succession. The inhabitants surrendered as they had done with Aegon but as Dalton had promised he did not accept. But instead of kicking them out as was done with the towns. Dalton had them all corralled in the Sentinel Island of Grey Gallows where they would be kept under the watchfull eyes of Arnorian guards. This was to ensure security since Dalton didn't want them to be spilling the secrets of their castles to anyone. Instead of taking one of these castles for himself, Dalton chose the ill-reputed island of Ghaston Grey as his headquarters.

Soon there were only four castles left, Yronwood, Skyreach, Sandstone and Sunspear. Sandstone was the first to fall finding it through the guidance of thestrals. But unlike the other castles, they did not settle here. Being landlocked and in the middle of the desert. Dalton did not see it as strategically important. Instead, they stripped it, razed it and returned to their ships.

After Sandstone came Yronwood, when that too fell the path was clear Skyreach which fell soon after. Upon witnessing the fate of many of her fellow dornishmen Meria was determined to escape that fate and fled Sunspear with her family leaving the gates of her home open to Ciron who made Sunspear his base.

Most of the castles were given a garrison of 300 men, 100 legionaries and 200 archers and commanded by a castellan. But the more vital Strongholds Like Sunspear, Yronwood, Starfall and Fowler had double that number. The soldiers Dalton used in Dorne came not from Troyad but from the Sentinel Isles. Though they received the same training as the ones in Troyad their equipment differed slightly due to the hotter climate. Though still using the same weapons, instead of the usual breastplate, greaves, vambraces and helms, the Soldiers of the Sentinel isles wore riveted chainmail which was a good heatsink stitched in between two thin layers of linen dyed tan. This covered much of the body save for a few places. Along with the usual studded gloves and boots they also had a kettle helm with a wide brim to protect them from the sun.

When each of these castles were taken the castellans made sure to fortify it as much as possible, digging trench and spike, setting up a balanced patrol and strengthening the gate and doors. All nonessential parts of the Castle were sealed off giving them less ground to patrol. They also had a pack of 10 guard dogs as a precaution. Knowing that the dornish had Tunnels dug under all their castles, so when they found such tunnels, they blocked the entrances with concrete. They used masons to inspect the castles for any structural irregularities which were often the telltale sign of hidden passages and rooms. Once the castles were secure, supplies from the ships were brought in under heavy escort. The supplies included wood, grog, flour, wheat, barley, oats, beans and honey. Though the castles had their own stockpiles, but the Blackreynes set these ablaze on the off chance that the dornish tainted it with some form of poison.

From their ships and castle bases, the Arnorians ravaged the countryside destroying the wells and Canals as well as sowing the fields with fire and salt. Dorne was mostly a desert and what fertile land it did have was based near rivers which fed them through canals. They also sent out patrols to search for stragglers and harass foragers who came to the river for water.

Dalton personally led skirmishers into the red mountains north of the Wyl River and used it to systematically root out any insurgents that may cause trouble in the future. He also searched for any goat paths, tunnels and other hidden routes he could find and had them blocked off by collapsing the flanking cliffs. This would hopefully trap the dornishmen hidden in the mountains within and limits their raids.

The surviving dornish houses had gathered in the one castle that was neither occupied or destroyed. Kingsgrave, the seat of House Manwoody located in the Red Mountains. From here they would plan their war against Dalton. The Battle of Wills had begun.

Year by year, the siege of Dorne would continue. With their homes made desolate, the dornish were driven into the Red Mountains, where the dornish armies were hiding. The hidden caves there found themselves flooded with half a million refugees from the siege. The caves had wells and a great deal of provisions stashed away and from the start Meria had her people ration what they had. But with so many mouths to feed it she knew it would not last forever. It was Dalton's way of telling her "They're your people, you take care of them. The Dornish are not my headache."

Since the construction of the Shackles Meria planned raids against Blackreyne supply runs. They still had a number of secret Passages in the Red Mountains that Dalton had yet to find so they used them to bypass the Shackles and raid the Reach and the Stormlands for food. But with the Prince's Pass and the Boneway blocked, the parties were no bigger than 1,000 lest they were spotted and risked the Passages being discovered by Dalton.

Meanwhile the arnorians enjoyed a steady flow of provisions. With only a few hundred mouths to feed, the fully stocked castles were able to last 2 years before they needed to be resupplied. The men on the blockade faired just as well since all they needed to do was fish for more food or sail into the river to pick up freshwater.

As time passed other Dornish began trying to retake their castles, one of the first attacks was against Hellholt. Under the cover of night, Lord Uller gathered an army of 2,000 men and used secret passages to get into the castle. But when they began their attack the Ullers were unprepared for two things.

One was the dogs, who quickly picked up on the commotion and started barking thus alerting the garrison. The second was the garrison itself. Lord Uller thought he would be surprising the Arnorians while they were asleep but instead he was confronted by not a few guards but a fully awake, fully prepared garrison equipped and ready to fight.

To counter nighttime attacks, Dalton had his men developed a unique watch system called the Nocturnal Switchback. One fourth of the garrison would keep watch during the day while the rest slept, then as nighttime fell the other fully rested 3/4ths would take over. Arnorian soldiers learned to sleep in their armour so when the alarm sounded it didn't take them long to ready themselves.

The arnorians fought well and forced the Ullers into retreat. this was the same luck the other Dornishmen left, many times they assaulted their castles and each time they were driven back. Since Dalton had the household kicked out, they had nobody inside to help them.

Head to head against Arnorians the Dornishmen stood no chance. While their own phalanxes could hold their own against an Arnorian Phalanx, they lacked the arnorians flexibility and fared poorly in close quarters fighting. Their copper disks over leather and flowing silk was a poor defense against Blackreyne blades and arrows.

The Dornish lords were growing agitated by these setbacks and discussed with Meria what they should do. Joffrey Dayne wanted to attack the Shackles, But Meria knew that such an endeavour would require a great deal more men than Dorne had. Instead she decided to take a gamble and personally lead an all-out assault on her home of Sunspear, which was currently held by Dalton's brother Ciron, Sunspear held the largest garrison and had a great deal of provisions stored up. Such a victory could prove to benefit them in the future.

The Retaking of Sunspear was the largest and bloodiest battle of the Dalton Campaign. About 10,000 Dornishmen attacked Sunspear against a garrison of Arnorians under Ciron. Though initially only having 600 men, Ciron called in reinforcements from the Sentinel Isles which doubled his fighting force. He was certain that this would be more than sufficient to hold the dornish back.

The Attack began as the sun fully set. While distracting the defenders with a frontal assault on the Gates, Meria had a second smaller force creep into the secret passages and entered the Shadow City allowing her to attack the defenders on the walls. Once he realized that the outermost walls were compromised Ciron ordered his remaining men to abandon those positions and defend the third innermost wall.

Knowing the inner ward would be heavily guarded, Meria pressed the frontal assault as a diversion while 2,000 of her best men scaled the seaside wall. The frontal force made sure to make as much noise as possible to drown out the barking of the dogs. Once they were up and over the wall the surprised the defenders by attacking from the rear.

Once the Arnorians were surprised from behind 10 men slipped up past them and opened the gates to the main force and they swarmed in hitting the defenders from either side. Outflanked Ciron ordered his men to fall back to the Sandship. But Meria knew her castle better than anyone alive and set up a maze of ambushes and traps picking off the arnorians bit by bit. Knowing they were beaten Ciron prepared to fight to the death. He was tempted to call for aid but he knew that his brother would not reach him in time. So his last act would be to sent a final raven to Dalton, the scroll said simply, 'take care of him for me.'

In Ciron's Last stand, he felled a hundred dornishmen before facing Joffrey Dayne. The other dornishmen formed a circle as the two dueled. Though Ciron was a seasoned warrior it was clear that Joffrey was superior to him and eventually Joffrey shattered Ciron's swordstaff and dornish used blowpipes to hit Ciron with poisoned darts, Ciron collapsed to the ground and slipped into unconsciousness. The capture of Ciron and the retaking of Sunspear seemed to be their greatest triumph but it came at a price. Though all the arnorian defenders had been slain the dornish lost 6,000 men retaking the castle.

Ciron survived the battle and by the time he awoke, he was bound to an overhead beam staring into the face of Meria Martell. Upon seeing Meria, Ciron burst out laughing, "I must admit I've woken to nicer sights. It seems King Argilac did not lie after all."

The response he got was a whip lashing across his face, Ciron's head snapped to the side with a grunt before turning his head back to Meria. "Just like their princess undisciplined and well past it's prime."

"I would stop talking if I were you," Meria advised him.

Ciron smirked, "or what? You gonna kill me?" He received several kicks to his stomach, but he grunted and shook it off.

Meria grabbed him by the chin and made him look at her, "you will pay for all the suffering you brother has caused us."

Ciron laughed, "do your worst you withered hippopotamus. Dornish aren't the only people who do not break."

Meria's eyes narrowed and turned to her captain, "he's all yours Lord Uller consider it a gift."

The Uthor Uller bowed, "my pleasure Princess." He then brought in several men who cut him loose and dragged him away. Meria looked after him saddened by the sight, she had looked into that Ciron's eyes and saw a man who was ready to die. Dalton knew this and Meria privately suspected that it also factored into why Ciron didn't call for aid.

The Fate of Ciron Blackreyne remained a mystery, Meria never wrote to Dalton about his brother whether to ransom him or to taunt him. It is popularly speculated that the Ullers spent futile hours torturing the Blackreyne, But Ciron didn't give them the satisfaction. He exhausted a dozen torturers without uttering a cry. All they got out of him was hysterical laughter. A later Maester wrote that Ciron died cackling as his torturers grew old and grey in their frustrating attempt to break him. So Ciron finally joined his other in death, thus ending the Blackreyne twins.

Ciron's death was seen as a victory for some dornish but Meria knew that this would not stop the war. Due to the heavy losses they suffered in the battle Meria determined to only retake the Castles she deemed important enough. The retaking of Sunspear marked a pattern in these battles, from Skyreach to Starfall.

Knowing they couldn't take Arnorians head on the Dornish used a different weapon that was plentiful in their land, Venom. Drawn from scorpions and snakes and populated the desert. The Dornish laced their weapons with whatever they could.

But when they first used this they quickly realized that regular venom proved to be less effective on Arnorians than previously thought. As part of their intense training Arnorian soldiers consumed daily food laced with such venom, not enough to kill them but enough to feel the effects. As a result their immune systems were highly tolerant of standard venom. To counter this the Dornish mixed the venom with other herbs and ingredients to make them exotic and thus a poison the Arnorians had no defense against.

With their poison-laced weapons Dornish were able to inflict casualties on the Arnorians. But the enemy had a tendency to go into a frenzy when they realized what was happening to them and many were determined to take one last dornishman before dying.

The Dornish were able to take back Skyreach, Starfall, Wyle and Hellholt. Several attempts were made to retake Yronwood but these attacks were successfully repelled. But while they successfully retook their castles they paid a heavy price for them. Further more the storerooms yielded a disappointing result. The stockpile had enough food for four months, but it was meant for 300 people when rationed. It was demoralizing for the dornish to bleed so much for a meager reward.

Their numerous phyrric victories had caused the deaths of 3,000 Arnorians which the Blackreynes could replace compared to 15,000 dornishmen which the Martells could not replace. This meant that Dorne had lost half it's army fighting Dalton and if things continued as they were then Dorne would loose what remained of it's army by the end of next year.

The Dornish Lords had placed bounties on the Blackreynes. Dalton countered by offering food in exchange for the very same coin. If they had the money to place a bounty they had the money to buy food. This led to many desperate peasants turning on their liege lords, and dozens died as a result, among them were Lord Vaith and Lady Toland

As in all wars atrocities tended to be committed on both sides. Dornish had taken great delight in torturing Lords and knights who fought for Aegon, but those joys ended once Dalton took over. Arnorians always fought to the death so the dornish were rarely able to take prisoners, though the ones that were captured proved to be much less fun than Aegon's knights. Years spent harnessing their pain tolerance ensured that arnorian soldiers died from the torture without cracking or even making a sound.

Dalton had captured thousands of dornishmen during his campaign but instead of ransoming them, Dalton gave them a taste of their own venom. The dornishmen were returned but instead of cutting off their sword hands he had one of their legs removed depending on which was their sword hands. Right-handers lost their right legs and left-handers lost their left leg. One dark note was that the arnorians tended to use the bodies of the dead enemy soldiers to feed the dogs or make stew to ensure their stockpiles lasted longer. Though they did the courtesy of returning the bones.

By the fifth year the situation in Dorne was growing desperate, the stored food was used up and across the region Famine plague and blight spread rapidly. The raiding parties could never bring enough food to feed the refugees. Ser Joffrey Dayne, Lord Wyl Widow-lover and Lord Fowler were Dorne's greatest Heroes during the war. Leading raid after raid their terror spread throughout the south. Lord Fowler sacked Nightsong and Fellwood, Lord Wyl razed Old Oak and Fawnton, and Joffrey Dayne torched the fields surrounding Oldtown as well as half the Rainwood. A hundred towns and villages fell victim to Dornish wroth and among the victims of note were Lords Fell, Connington and Mertyn. The Martells even hired Pirates to try and break the blockade, but few had the courage or the greed to take on Blackreyne ships, and those that did met a fiery end.

But like the food, this stream of success didn't last long, Dalton was getting better at anticipating their moves and began laying traps for them. He set up outposts along the dornish marshes and near settlements. Simply made, the outposts consisted of Earthen Ramparts with palisade, trench and spikes surrounding the camp tents with a lookout tower in the center. In each outpost was a contingent of arnorian rangers. When a castle or village was raided, alerts were sent to the nearest outposts. who immediately deployed their rangers to intercept them upon the raider's return to the Red Mountains.

Cavalry battles never happened in Dorne and usually occurred in the Marshes of the reach or the Stormlands. Here Westeros bared witness to the deadliest cavalry engagements of the war a clash between two nations that had mastered the art of horse archery. Like the Arnorians, horse archers made up the majority of Dornish cavalry and both sides used a unique mount. Dorne had the Sand steed, a small nimble horse capable of riding 36 hours without tiring. this made them perfect for Dorne's hit and run tactics. On the other hand, Troyad used the Zorse, a fierce and hardy beast capable of traveling long distances without food or water, and could live off harsh plants. The skill of Dornish Horse Archers rivaled that of the Arnorians, but like the dothraki, the Arnorians possessed better protection that their dornish counterparts they tended to inflict more casualties than the Dornish did. That was their purpose to begin with, not to outright defeat the raider but simply inflict casualties and chip away at their already depleting numbers.

It wasn't long before the Dornish commanders fell victim to these traps. Joffrey Dayne had led another success raid, this time against the town of Cuy. But when he returned he found his path blocked by Dalton and a company of Rangers. Dalton grinned "hello old friend," he jeered.

When Joffrey saw Dalton he laughed harshly, "So you finally found me Blackreyne, What took you so long?"

Dalton smirked, "I was waiting for a falling star, to save it for a rainy day." Dalton drew Twilight, Joffrey did the same with Dawn. Thus the clash of the starswords began. But this was nothing new for the two warriors for Joffrey and Dalton had fought before.

Joffrey knew he could not pound away at Dalton as he did Ciron, if the duel between Aegon Targaryen and Dalton Blackreyne was anything to go by then Dawn was now facing it's dark twin. Equal in strength, weight and sharpness, Dawn and Twilight were a sight to behold gleaming in the sunlight they seemed to let out a glow and then they clashed a flash was seen. They clashed on horseback with Joffrey managing to kill Dalton's horse, only for Dalton to return the curtesy moments later. With their mount's dead they took the fight to solid ground.

When they first clashed Joffrey had won, but things had changed. Dalton was older now, stronger, swifter and battle hardened. The Duel between Dalton Blackreyne and Joffrey Dayne lasted hours with both men matching each other strike for strike, block for block. wound by wound. Joffrey proved to be Dalton's equal and as Dalton would put it in his personal journal, 'my Deadliest opponent.' Dalton finally emerged the victor by cutting off Joffrey's sword-hand. But instead of killing him Dalton spared his life as a sign of respect and even escorted him back to Starfall.

The defeat of Joffrey Dayne marked the decline of the dornish raids, after that the Blackreynes started striking back. Lord Fowler was cornered by Malgus Blackreyne after a two month long chase and had his head ripped out along with his spine. Wyl Widow-lover had no better luck but was the last to fall. On one of his raids, he stormed Fawnton and interrupted the Wedding between Ser Jon Cafferon and Alys Oakheart. He slew Lord Oakheart and all the male attendants He then made Alys watch as he castrated her husband before slitting his throat. Had he stopped there he would have evaded lived to raid another day. But instead, he chose to stay and rape the bride and the female guests. This decision allowed Daala Blackreyne to finally catch him. Literally caught with their Pants Down the Widow-Lover and his men were easily overpowered. Bound gagged and stripped naked. Lord Wyl was forced to eat his own men who were cooked into stew. Once this was done, Daala then who gave him to Orys Baratheon as a gift.

With the fall of their best commanders, the Dornish raids grinded to a halt and thus ended their main sourse of precious food. To make matters worse Dalton took advantage of the deaths of these lords and led another counter attack retaking Skyreach and Wyl. He was also able to locate Kingsgrave by tracking one of the last raiding parties sent their base. This time he managed to capture their families. The Fowlers, Manwoodys and Wyls were taken to the other dornish captives at Grey Gallows. House Ullers enitre male line was extinguished with Lord Uthor being slain by Dalton himself thus avenging Ciron's death.

Dalton's successes led to his name being associated with fear among most Dornishmen. Mothers told their children that 'Dalton Blackreyne will come for you.' Soon they gave him a moniker that would stick forever 'The Suncrusher.' Meria knew they needed more than a miracle, they needed something unexpected, something beyond Dalton Blackreyne's control. The situation had grown beyond desperate and if something didn't happen she would have to consider what she once thought unthinkable.

But Meria would not live to make that momentous choice. In 13 AC Princess Meria Martell died in her sleep at the age of ninety and five. Dorne mourned the loss of the princess that defended them them against the dragons invasion and led them through the Thestral's siege. Now with Meria dead leadership of Dorne passed to her son Nymor.

Nymor at the age of sixty, but was already a man of failing health when he became ruler of Dorne. Though he tried to remain strong he didn't have his mother's wisdom or her resolve. Weary of war and no longer able to watch his people suffer. He talked with what remained of his council which included Ser Joffrey, Deria, his Maester and Captain of the Guards. The rest were either dead or captured. They debated for weeks until a decision was made. So with a heavy heart Prince Nymor wrote to Dalton in a single raven scroll. it had only three words in it but those three words were worth a hundred.

Bent, Bowed, Broken.

Dorne had surrendered and after nine long years, the Dornish War was finally over. Many dornishmen disapproved Nymor's decision to surrender and wanted to fight on but Nymor remained stoic.

The parties agreed to meet on neutral ground and decided on the Northern Bank of the Wyle River just south of the Bone Shackle. The dornish had set up their own terms for surrender.

1) House Martell would keep it's titles of Prince and Princess as a sign of acceptance of Rhoynish culture.

2) The Shackles, the Torrentine and the Wyl river would serve as a Border between Dorne the Stormlands and the Reach. The trenches would be filled and the palisades torn down but the walls would remain.

3) Dorne would be provided supplies so it's people could rebuild their lives including medicines and food

The terms were acceptable and Dalton and Aegon agreed to the terms but added a twist. Several Dornish houses were given the title of Prince along with the Martells.

House Martell- Prince of the Broken Arm

House Yronwood- Prince of the Stone Way

House Dayne- Prince of the Torrentine

House Fowler- Prince of the Wide Way

House Manwoody- Prince of the Wyl

House Blackmont- Prince of the Brimstone

The Orphans- Princes of the Greenblood

Houses Manwoody and Blackmont had their old castles torn down and rebuild stone for stone at these strategic locations. As such they The Manwoodys and Blackmonts traded place with the Wyls and Ullers respectively. This was meant to weaken the Martells influence over Dorne itself.

The Martells consented and the Peace Treaty was signed. With the last stroke of the feather Dorne officially became part of the Seven Kingdoms. Thus the regions of westeros were finally united as one nation. Dalton released his highborn prisoners as promised alive and unspoiled. Dalton later visited Meria's grave and placed an ornate golden spear on it. "MY compliments to you Meria Martell," Dalton acknowledged, "You were indeed a most worthy opponent."

The Dornish War had come at a terrible price. Over 100,000 Dornish lost their lives including 25,000 of their best warriors. It was a number Dorne would struggle a century to recover from. In a twist of irony most of these deaths were attributed to Aegon and not Dalton. While Dalton certainly succeeded in eliminating more of Dorne's armies, most of the civilian casualties were due to dragonfire with 3,000 elderly dying of starvation. The losses for the invaders were quite different. Aegon lost 50,000 men in his invasion including the counter offensives and 10,000 smallfolk to the dornish raids. Dalton's losses were 5,000 at the most. Because of this Dorne would forever consider Dalton to be THE enemy, for he had succeeded in doing what they believed impossible by bringing Dorne to it's knees. Tensions would run high between Dorne and Troyad for generations.

After the Pact was signed Dalton met with Lord Yronwood and recalled the events of the war over drinks. Little did the Martells or Targaryens know that the Yronwoods and the Orphans had remained the Blackreynes allies throughout the war. Their capture served to get the Yronwoods out of harms way during Dalton's campaign and to eliminate suspicion. of all the dornish houses the Yronwoods suffered the least casualties and managed to retain most of their fighting force of 6,000 would make the Yronwoods the most powerful military force in Dorne and would serve as House Blackreyne's enforcers in the region.

The Dornish War was over but it would not bring true peace. The Targaryens would face many obstacles during their reign and their trials had only just begun.