What Came Before

House Stark: When Eddard Stark was arrested following the death of Robert Baratheon, his eldest twin sons, Robb and Tristan, raised the northern army to march south and free him. While Robb worked to keep the lords in line, Tristan was reunited with two of his closest friends, Daryn Hornwood and Domeric Bolton. The army marched south and while Tristan distracted Tywin Lannister's army, Robb defeated and captured Jaime Lannister. Upon hearing of the execution of his father, Robb's bannermen crowned him the King in the North and the lords of the Riverlands joined them in proclaiming him king.

Going on the offensive, Robb Stark led an invasion of the Westerlands, shattering the Lannister reserve army and taking several castles before being wounded in an attack on the Crag. When they heard that Stannis Baratheon's attack on King's Landing had failed, he returned to Riverrun where his wound, having become infected, left him bedridden. Meanwhile Tristan Stark, despite his violent nature, was sent to negotiate with Renly Baratheon to form an alliance. This fell through, and Tristan returned to the Riverlands in time to hear of the Ironborn invasion of the north and raced north to repel it. He joined with the last of his closest friends, Cley Cerwyn and retook Winterfell from Theon Greyjoy. He was successful, but suffered an arrow wound to his left hand, leaving it permanently crippled, hindering his swordsmanship.

When Tristan returned to the Riverlands, he was named as regent while Robb was comatose. Tristan exposed the Lannister lie that they still held Arya Stark hostage and cut off Jaime Lannister's sword hand as punishment. Then he led the next northern offensive into the Reach, burning as they went, terrorising the local population. When Robb awoke, he recalled Tristan as a result of the brutality and his strategic errors and sent him to the Isle of Faces to seek spiritual healing with the Green Men. While there, Tristan came to terms with his injury and his rage. Learning from the Green Men, he fostered his abilities as a warg. He returned to the Riverlands and, instead of rejoining his brother, rode west to defeat marauders, slaying the Mountain, Gregor Clegane, in single combat, saving Maidenpool from destruction. Robb Stark, taking charge of the northern war effort was able to rally the situation and defeat House Tyrell in a series of battles, capturing dozens of lords, including Mace Tyrell. After these victories, the Lannisters opened peace negotiations with him.

While Robb negotiated with the Lannisters on the terms of independence, Tristan declined to return to the front lines and instead returned to the Riverlands with a thousand men and his best friends to begin restoring order to the ravaged lands. There he combatted an insurgent group, the Brotherhood of the Sevens' Sword, and, after several setbacks, defeated them in battle and negotiated an end to the uprising with their leader, the Handless. Robb's negotiating went all in the Starks' favour at first, but after the shock victories over House Baratheon in the south, the Lannisters were able to lessen Robb's demands, but in the end, Robb achieved independence for his new Kingdoms.

House Lannister - Loren Lannister was recalled to Casterly Rock after several years in the east, serving in the Golden Company of sellswords. When war broke out, he was at first given command of the Lannister outriders, a role he fulfilled brilliantly. However, after the capture of Jaime and the declaration of rebellion by the brothers of Robert Baratheon, he was sent to King's Landing as acting Hand of the King. There he worked to strengthen the city and led the defence against Stannis' attack until his father and the Tyrells returned to drive them off. As a reward for his service, he was named the King's Marshall, and given command of all the armies of the crown, although still subject to the will of the council. While Loren was serving as Hand of the King, Daenerys Targaryen was held prisoner in King's Landing and did what she can to shield her fellow hostage, Sansa Stark from the rage of King Joffrey. Loren placed them both under his protection while he was in the city.

Loren was prevented by politics from immediately riding to war, it is only when the Ironborn attacked the Westerlands that he was released with a small army to repel them. When he returned home he reconciled with his wife and spent time with his children before sailing to Fair Isle and defeated the Ironborn there in force, sending the Iron Islands themselves into a state of rebellion. After this, and hearing of the Stark and Baratheon invasions of the Reach, Loren headed to Highgarden, rallied a convoy of supplies and marched them to King's Landing under escort, fighting off attacks from the Starks and Baratheons along the march and a desperate battle at Bitterbridge. Heavy casualties were suffered, but two-thirds of the supplies were escorted safely to the capital. When there, Loren's anger got the better of him and he insulted the council and threatened the king, leading to his imprisonment.

Without Loren's protection, Sansa had her own hand cut off as retaliation for Jaime's mutilation by her brother. Meanwhile, Daenerys found a passageway into the hidden tunnels that cross the Red Keep in their room and started exploring the passageways at night. In the tunnel, she found a dagger with a hilt carved like a dragon. When she is confronted by Meryn Trant of the Kingsguard, alone in a corridor, she murders him with the dagger, beginning a string of murders in the Red Keep that will include attendants of Cersei Lannister and the High Septon himself. However one night in the tunnels she encountered a boy and, surprised, killed him without thinking, after this she shuns the tunnels. Meanwhile, Margaery Tyrell, the key player in the Lannister-Tyrell alliance through her betrothal to Joffrey, does all in her power to keep the alliance working in the court. She supported Loren's suppremacy in military affairs, while trying to raise funds and soldiers to support the war.

When Loren returned to the Red Keep and was imprisoned, Daenerys and Sansa went to him to thank him for looking after them while he served as Hand of the King, Loren asked Daenerys to deliver a message to Ser Gerold Lydden, his personal guard and closest subordinate. Using the tunnels, once more, she delivered his message, telling Gerold of his imprisonment. This led to Gerold rallying the army to lay siege to the Red Keep until Loren was released with the full powers of his office of King's Marshall to command the war effort.

As the war progressed, Daenerys did not wish to enter the tunnels again, and instead spent her time with Sansa in the Red Keep. They bonded with Tommen and Myrcella, who have become forgotten by much of the court, their tutors conscripted to help with the war that occupies the minds of their mother and uncles. The two were clearly struggling to deal with it all and Sansa and Daenerys took on a maternal role for the pair.

Loren, finally empowered, devoted all his energies to the war, he marshaled supplies and drilled his soldiers until he was ready to depart. However, shortly after he does, Margaery Tyrell was kidnapped in the capital and he raced back to the capital to retrieve her, his haste in doing so led to fires that spread through the Flea Bottom slums, which reduced them and burned much of the city beyond. He left cleaning up the city's mess to the council and returned to the war. Meanwhile, Margaery, hardened by her experience, turned from petal to thorn as she used hostage-taking to ensure the loyalty of wavering lords and became more determined than ever that she will be the queen.

Arriving back with his army, Loren found that without him, his army had suffered a sharp defeat at Stannis Baratheon's hands and he rallied his troops to avert a greater disaster. What follows is a campaign of skirmishes as the two great commanders seek to gain advantages over each other. Loren found himself outmaneuvered and pushed against the Marrenmarsh, but he detaches his cavalry under Gerold to circle around the marsh while he uses local guides to take the infantry through it. However on the other side he encountered Stannis' army, who had force marched around the swamp to the south. What follows is the most brutal battle of the war where Loren is nearly defeated until the arrival of his cavalry, who prevent defeat, but at a heavy cost, including Gerold. The next day a truce was agreed to allow both sides to collect their dead and depart. Only after Stannis' army departed did Loren learn that his enemy had been mortally wounded in battle. Loren was able to drive Stannis' army out of the Reach, securing the capital's supply routes, and he returned to King's Landing a hero. However, he learned that to buy peace with the Starks, his father had given his daughter as a hostage and the council intended to restart the war with the Starks as soon as possible. Even the reasonable Margaery wishes to be the sole queen of the continent. Angered at this, a conspiracy of western lords, led by Loren, murdered Tywin Lannister, allowing Loren to take his place as the lord of the west.

House Baratheon - Lyonel and Shireen Baratheon are the children of Stannis Baratheon, King Robert's brother, and his wife Myrielle Caron. Lyonel is a famed archer and Shireen a famed singer, but despite this, both grow up friendless apart from each other. This is because both are survivors of the deadly disease called Greyscale. When our story begins, Shireen accompanied the Royal progress to Winterfell, where she bonded with the Stark sisters Sansa and Arya by her singing and archery. Lyonel was due to be there as well, but he was sent on an assignment by his father to Pentos. Seeing the potential threat of a Targaryen wedding to the Dothraki Khal Drogo, Stannis ordered his son to seize the Targaryen princess Daenerys and bring her back to Dragonstone under lock and key. In King's Landing, Lyonel, with his signature Dragonbone bow, forged from the skulls of dragons in the Red Keep's cellars, won the archer contest before taking Shireen home to Dragonstone where their father reveals that Robert's children with Cersei were in fact fathered by Cersei's brother Jaime. Together, they determined to support their father in his claim on the throne for the honour of their house.

Upon learning that their uncle Renly had also claimed the throne, Lyonel, Shireen and Stannis sailed for Storm's End, the ancestral seat of the Baratheons, to contest Renly's claim. However, upon seeing the strength of Renly's host, Lyonel secretly assassinated Renly at the peace negotiations, wounding his father in the process to hide that it was an attempt on Renly's life. As Stannis recovers, Lyonel dueled the Castellan of Storm's End, securing the castle. Shireen returned to Dragonstone as Stannis led the army to King's Landing and Lyonel led the fleet. After several days of naval clashes, Lyonel was able to secure the Blackwater Rush and start transporting his father's army across to attack the city. However, Lyonel encountered the Lannister-Tyrell army coming to relieve King's Landing and was able to retreat in time to evacuate most of the Baratheon army, but, believing this defeat was brought upon them due to his kinslaying, he fell into a deep melancholy.

Lyonel was in a rut of depression, but was forced into action by his mother following the island of Tarth's declaration for the Iron Throne. Lyonel reluctantly led the fleet to Tarth and was able to subdue the island. However, he was nearly murdered by a treacherous knight, only saved at the last minute by some smallfolk archers. Lyonel returns to Dragonstone, recruiting the archers and any others he can find to form elite archer regiments to help them in the war. When he returned he finds that their situation has somewhat improved by them taking in exiles from the city of Myr who contribute their wealth to the war effort. The first family to arrive on Dragonstone are the Traghars and Lyonel bonded in particular with their vivacious daughter Amalia. He makes preparations to battle the Redwyne Fleet, coming to lay siege to Dragonstone. The night before he sails, he slept with Amalia for the first time. He inflicts a devastating defeat on the Redwyne Fleet securing the naval supremacy of Dragonstone.

Meanwhile Shireen travelled to Storm's End, where her father had become despondent following the defeat, however her ship was caught in a storm and wrecked with only three companions. They traversed the Stormlands on foot and finally reach Storm's End where Shireen was devastated to find her father, a man she loved dearly had become hollow and listless. Angered, she left Storm's End to give thanks to those who aided her journey south. Stannis sent an escort, leading it himself while disguised, and witnessed her kindness and generosity. The sight of it gave him the strength to continue the war. As he rode to war, Shireen was named Castellan of Storm's End in his absence, and helped settle refugees and loyalists in the castle.

But as the war dragged on, Stannis needs a soldier to command Storm's End as it came under threat, and sent Shireen home to Dragonstone. There she assisted her mother in providing support to her father and brother in the field, and learnt that Lyonel has taken Amalia as a mistress. Initially angry at this, Amalia is able to win Shireen over and the two reconcile. After this, Lyonel led an invasion of Crackclaw Point, north of King's Landing, aiming to use it as a jumping off point to attack King's Landing. He captured the point and administered long-missing justice, holding Commons Courts to allow the smallfolk access to the protection of royal power. When he requests extra supplies from Dragonstone Shireen delivered them to him, but they were alerted to a Lannister army approaching them. As Lyonel raced to Pyle Castle to defend it, Shireen gathered what reinforcements she can. But despite a heroic defence, Lyonel is slain mere minutes before the reinforcement army that Shireen had gathered arrives at the castle. Unaware of Lyonel's death, his army launched a ferocious attack to save him and are able to drive the Lannister army away and recover Lyonel's body. Shireen returns Lyonel's body to Dragonstone, only to hear the next day that her father has also been killed, leaving her as the last scion of House Baratheon.