Authors Note: For those who haven't read the books, Crakehall is the largest castle in the Southern Westerlands. It is held by House Crakehall, a nobel house in the West, loyal to House Lannister. The only thing between it and Casterly Rock is the now ruined Tarbeck Hall.
Crakehall Castle.
Ser Lyle Crakehall.
Gods curse these bloody Reachmen and their thrice dammed huge numbers!
Ser Lyle Crakehall, also known as the Strongboar, loosed another fire-arrow at Lord Randyll Tarly's ram below, which continue to batter the southern gate of Crakehall.
The Tyrells had begun their assault just an hour ago, and already the defenders of the castle were struggling to prevent the gates from shattering.
They had come from the south, tens of thousands of them, wearing the banner of ' King' Renly of the House Baratheon. Lyle remembered him as a pretty man who was good at charming people and terrible at fighting, having learned from a tourney long ago. Somehow, he had allied with the House Tyrell, what with all of their hundreds of thousands of soldiers and now was trying to take the Westerlands.
Gods but Westros was well and truly fucked.
Lyle cursed as the Reachmen continued to batter his gates with their ram. Just behind them were soldiers manning 4 scorpion siege weapons, their deadly bolts striking stone, wood and man alike.
Lyle and his archers continued to rain arrows upon the Reachmen on the ground. The problem was that they had only 250 men in their garrison- 200 infantry, 50 knights. From what they had heard, King Renly had established an army of 100,000 men. He had split that force, apparently, but that translated into way over 20,000 Reach-men assaulting Ser Lyle's walls right this second.
'' Heave!'' Yelled a Tyrell officer, and the men carrying the battering ram grunted as their payload struck the southern gate again, further splintering it.
'' Will someone shut that peach eating cunt down there?'' Lyle roared, but his men were detracted fighting Tyrell archers and spearmen. The real trouble when you are up against the Tyrells is that they have so many fucking men to throw at you.
Gods, I have to take care of him myself.
He snatched a spear, took aim and launched his spear at his target.
'' Hea- Gluetch!'' Lyle's spear impaled the Tyrell officer in the middle, cutting him off from his command. He fell to the ground, clutching his fatal wound. The men around him paused, as they realized what happened to their commander.
'' They will be back at our gates again! Where is that fucking pitch I asked for?'' Lyle shrieked at his men.
5 Red-Cloaks rushed off to do as Strongboar commanded, and minutes later, returned, with two large pots of boiling pitch.
'' Heave!"' Wham!
The Reachmen did not wait long before someone had taken over command. They continued to pound the gates.
'' I hope you are shivering from this cold autumn, because I'm here to give you a warm welcome to my gate!'' Lyle called out to the attackers on the ground, and the two cauldrons of pitch were kicked over the edge of the walls, their contents falling upon the attackers.
WHISSSSHSSS!
The scalding hot tar coated the armoured men below, scattering them. Many Reachmen were killed by the boiling pitch, the rest fled from the walls, where they were cut down by the Lannister archers on the gates. The ram, burning at the top, lay abandoned.
Lyle and his men roared in victory, but they were cut short.
The Tyrell Scorpions had wisely been kept out of range of the pitch, the men still working them. They launched their giant bolts at the southern gate.
They struck the portcullis and the locked doors behind it. Part of the Portcullis broke off and fell into a useless wreak. The doors were badly damaged.
The Lannister garrison rained arrows upon their attackers, but it failed to prevent the scorpions from firing another volley of bolts.
SMASH.
The top hinge on the right door was destroyed, and so was the bottom half of the left door. The gate was broken.
'' Get more pitch now!" Lyle yelled at his men. 3 rushed off to obey.
The Reachmen had realized their accomplishment, and charged. Hundreds, or even thousands, of Reachmen rushed towards the gate. The defenders over the wall had sent another two barrels of boiling pitch over the defenders, and had killed over 2 dozen charging infantry. It was not enough, there were too many of them!
'' Archers, stay here on the walls. The rest of you, come down with me to the grounds! '' Crakehall hollered.
He and his men rushed down the castle stairs, and found that the 50 knights he had posted at the courtyard were already heavily engaging the enemy. The red of House Lannister and Crakehall, were fighting agaisnt the on-coming tide of the Tyrell Green-Coats. Green-Coats, that was what they were, masses of them in their uniforms, with Tyrell Green.
'' Foreword men! This is Crakehall!'' Strongboar roared, and he grabbed a sword in his right hand and a war hammer in his left. He lead the infantry charge.
They crashed into the attackers head on. Strongboar cut down one Green-Coat with his sword and crushed another's skull with his hammer.
'' None so Fierce!'' He yelled out his families words. '' None so Fierce!'' Echoed his men, and they savagely fought the tide of Reachmen. The carnage was beautiful. The damaged gate to the castle grounds meant that the Green-coats were forced to go through a narrow pass in order to reach the courtyard, where the fighting was most intense. Strongboar was in the middle, cutting down all who challenged him. Never had he experienced such an intense battle before.
The Reach might field the biggest army in the Seven Kingdoms, but it was the Westerlands that trained the best soldiers. These Tyrell soldiers were disciplined, but their training with weaponry was out-preformed by the men who answered to the call of Crakehall.
But despite all this, he had a deep sense that this all was for nothing.
The tide of Tyrell soldiers never thinned, continuously hammering at the Lannister Garrison. For every Tyrell soldier they killed, 5 more turned up to take his place. Soon soldiers completely cleared the wreckage of the gate and the tide thickened from there.
Finally, Strongboar and his men were surrounded on three sides, the fourth being stone wall, by hundreds and hundreds of Reachmen.
We cannot hold. He realized. Crakehall is lost.
That thought filled him with rage. He roared and swung his war hammer hard, crushing the head of a Tyrell Knight inside his dented helm.
I swear I will not yield to the Stranger until I have sent 200 more of these peach eating armored bastards to the Seven Hells first. He vowed.
Hours Later.
Crakehall.
Randyll Tarly.
The sound of steel clashing on steel and the screams of dying men finally subsided. Lord Randyll Tarly strolled through the great hall of the castle of Crakehall, the seat of its namesake.
A messenger ran through to greet Lord Tarly. '' My lord. The fighting is over. A decisive victory. Crakehall is ours.''
Tarly nodded slightly. It had been a bloody battle, and the defenders of the castle had put up a strong fight. A noble effort, to be sure, but futile. Lord Randyll Tarly's immense army of 50,000 men answering to the call of either Storm's-End or High-garden had overwhelmed each and every effort of the Crakehall family.
Crakehall was the southernmost castle of the Westerlands, its sigil a brindled boar. Lord Tarly had set his eyes on the castle while planning King Renly's campaign in the Westerlands.
Ever since King Renly had given him command of half of the Baratheon-Tyrell forces, he had been considering every option on how to take the Westerlands without losing too many men.
The Westerlands, governed by House Lannister, was guarded to the east and southeast by mountain fronts. Between those fronts were strong castles that were nigh on impossible to take without suffering heavy casualties. Golden Tooth, Hornvale, Deep Den, and more kept invaders at bay; any enemy invading from the east would waste the element of surprise attacking the strong castles, and then would be finished off by Lannister reinforcements.
The South on the other hand, was not as well defended. The lands here were more flat, although heavily forested once you got inland. The only real problem when it came to invading from the south was that an invaders army would first have to cross into the Reach in order to invade, which would thus risk the wrath of House Tyrell, unless approved of ahead of time.
Due to the orders by King Renly, such a political barrier ceased to exist for Randyll Tarly.
The castle of Crakehall was between the Sunset sea and a large forested area. From there was a straight road to Lannisport and Casterly Rock. It was the strongest castle of the southern Westerlands. Their words were '' None so Fierce.''
Lord Randyll Tarly had assaulted the castle with half his strength. The garrison in Crakehall was around 250 men-at-arms and 50 cavalry, including knights. They had put up fierce resistance, true to their words.
He had sent 15,000 infantry and the siege weapons in the first wave, to break the gates of Crakehall. The garrison had first made life extremely hazardous for those manning and defending the battering rams. When the gate was finally broken, they had been delayed by several hours by the stubborn defenders. They fought to the death for Crakehall. For every Crakehall man slain, Lord Tarly had lost at least 5 more.
The garrison was put to the sword for their defiance, and the castle of Crakehall was in the Tyrells hands now. But at a great cost.
Their casualties were insignificant, considering their numbers- a little less than 2,000. Byran of the House Fossoway, Lord Felyx of the house Appleton, and Ser Galbert Ashford were the only nobles slain. They were of little consequence to Lord Randyll Tarly.
The Flag atop the castle, the Brindled Boar of Crakehall, was cut down and burned. In its place rose the sigil of House Baratheon under King Renly, a Stag over a green field.
Ser Loras Tyrell strolled up to his solar and found him over a map.
'' Such a victory. A pity it was too short. We could have used a challenge, don't you think, lord Tarly?''
'' We lost 2,000 men taking this castle. Does that not sound like a challenge to you?'' Randyll snapped.
The young knight lost his beaming enthusiasm he had seconds ago.
'' We took our first castle. When do we take Casterly Rock?'' He asked instead.
Lord Tarly ground his teeth. Ser Loras Tyrell was too rash and impatient for his own good. He seemed to think war was just a song. He had never tired of telling everyone how he slew the commander of the Crakehall garrison- Ser Lyle Crakehall in single combat. Randyll had always refrained from pointing out that Loras was surrounded by 3 knights at the time he had duelled Ser Lyle, and two of them had been slain before Crakehall was finally killed himself.
'' Not until we are ready. We stirred the hornets nest. The Rock has never fallen by force, so don't get your hopes up.'' If Loras hadn't been the son of Randyll's liege lord, he would have spoken more harshly.
That night, he called a war council.
King Renly had kept the politicians allied to him with his half of the forces, currently in the Stormlands. Randyll Tarly's war council were all experienced military commanders. His council was taking place in the solar of Crakehall, which he had taken for his own temporary quarters.
'' We have taken Crakehall, our invasion has begun. When do we march?'' Asked Lord Orton Merryweather.
Randyll Tarly examined the map of the Westerlands. All of their forces were currently positioned at Crakehall.
'' Jaime Lannister's army is still in the Riverlands, but in the Western half. To the far north of us, by the village of Oxcross, a second Lannister host is being raised. Exact numbers are unknown but it can't be as large as Jaime's host. The commander is said to be Ser Stafford Lannister of Lannisport, cousin of the late lord Tywin. Their attempting to make up for the losses they took in Green Fork. Small chance of that. I would say this new army is conscripted small-folk. Training them will take time, time the Lannisters lack. The question is if the Kingslayer comes West with his host to confront us.
Casterly Rock will learn of us soon enough. They will prepare for a siege. Our losses are insignificant. But we should attack Lannisport first, before Casterly Rock. We should take the city on two fronts. One by sea, the other by land.''
Lord Paxter Redwyne tapped at the map. '' It seems to me that to take Lannisport from the Sea would be most effective. We can block Casterly Rock from that way too. ''
Lord Tarly moved a rose piece to the sea. '' Lord Redwyne commands no less than 200 warships from the Arbor. Taking our current losses into account, we have an army of 48,000 total. 33,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry. Currently, with Crakehall in our hands, we can now travel the Ocean Road, straight to Casterly Rock and Lannisport. Stafford Lannister's army at Oxcross will try to stop us. United, they might pose a possible threat. ''
He directed his attention to Lord Redwyne. '' Your fleet is sailing east to meet us here, correct?''
'' Indeed, Lord Tarly.''
'' Good. They will know of our victory soon enough. 150 warships are headed to the coast. They should be here on the morrow. I have decided that I will split our forces into three groups. 8,000 men will board the Redwyne fleet and sail towards Lannisport and take the city from the Sea. Lord Paxter, you will be in command of the fleet. Another 10,000 men will march up the Ocean Road and lay siege to Casterly Rock, and assist in taking Lannisport if need be. Ser Loras Tyrell, I am giving you command of that army. The rest will be under my command, to march east for the castles of Golden Tooth, to meet Jaime Lannister should he move west. ''
Ser Loras Tyrell rose up and politely bowed. '' Thank you my lord. I will not fail you.'' He grinned at his new responsibility.
'' Who is in command of Casterly Rock right now?'' Questioned Mathis Rowan.
'' Stafford, his son Daven, and Jaime are all out on the field. The Queen and the Imp are in Kingslanding. Ser Kevan Lannister, Tywin's only living brother, is a captive of the Starks. That leaves Lady Genna, a Frey by marriage, a Lannister by birth.''
Genna Lannister was Lord Tywin's younger sister. Married to Ser Emmon Frey, second son of Lord Walder Frey, she had convinced her husband to side with House Lannister, even as the rest of his family sided with the Starks.
'' A woman.'' Lord Fossoway said. '' Well then, lets see what she is made of.''
'' You say you will take 30,000 men east to meet the Kingslayer. But his host is the same size, which means you lose your numerical superiority. '' Lord Rowan pointed out.
'' Taking Casterly Rock and Lannisport are the most important of this campaign.'' said Lord Tarly. '' We don't even know if Jaime will choose the Rock over the Throne. He may head east. In that case, he's finished. King Renly has his own host just south of the capitol. I will be taking all but 2,000 of the cavalry with my own army. But we must have a secure siege over Casterly Rock, so that it will fall into our hands in time.''
'' A good plan my lord.'' Said Ser Loras. Having finally been given command of his own army, despite it being only one tenth of Renly's entire army, he was now going out of his way to make Randyll feel very good about himself.
Of course Randyll cared little for compliments.
The meeting seemed about to end. '' One more thing.'' Tarly said, and everyone turned to him. '' Mathis Rowan, tell Ser Marron Oakheart to take 1,000 riders, split up, and set the southern Westerlands on fire, from Cornfield in the south to Sarsfield in the North.'' That would compel both Jaime and Stafford to move west with all haste and hopefully spread themselves thin trying to deal with the damage.
'' The West shall burn, my lord.'' Mathis Rowan said. '' I will give the commands. '' He rose up and left the solar, followed by the rest of the war council, leaving Lord Randyll Tarly alone in the quarters of Crakehall he took for himself.
Beside him, he noticed a banner of House Lannister, ripped open, drapped beneath the window. Hehad already burned every other flag in the castle, with either the Brindled Boar of Crakehall, or the Lion of Lannister. A symbol of their victory. As of today, Crakehall was now territory of the Reach.
He rose from his table, putting an empty goblet on the edge of the map, to keep it open for the morning.
The invasion of the Westerlands had begun.
And thus begins the Western Theater. Remember that Renly Baratheon has a second massive host in the Stormlands right now, that is in close proximity to Kingslanding. Jaime is going to have to make some difficult choices in the next few chapters...
The Redwyne Fleet is under House Redwyne, loyal to House Tyrell. Their navy is up there with the Ironborn fleet and the navy of Stannis Baratheon, in the most powerful fleets in Westros. Of course, the Tyrells and Greyjoys both intend to assault the Westerlands, but neither are aware of each others plans.