(Disclaimer: I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire nor its characters. Those all belong to George R. R. Martin, aside from my OC.)


(Harlaw, The Iron Islands)

The next few days would see a flurry of activity within the Isle of Harlaw.

Harlaw Hall and Volmark would be the first to fall, the former to Erlend, the latter to Duncan Strong.

Duncan had similarly managed to infiltrate the seat and made quick work of its inhabitants.

Both families that ruled their respective seats chose to resist and were wiped out, leaving not a single member of their families alive. The Volmarks once a potential Great House, that vied for the Seastone chair after the fall of the Hoares, were no more.

It was a cruel but practical method, that would do much to cow potential resistance to Erlend's hold over the Iron Islands.

The next few days would see the Tower of Glimmering, Stonetree, and Harridan Hill all captured. Both Hotho 'Humpback' and Boremund the 'Blue' would surrender after it became clear that they would not be able to resist. Whilst Lord Stonetree chose to resist, leading to the extinction of his House.

By the time it became clear to Rodrik Harlaw that most of the Isle had fallen, it would be too late. Three Major families would be wiped out, with one of them being a branch of his House. Those who surrendered were imprisoned and placed under guard.

A large reason why it took so long to get to Rodrik would be the fact that he'd instructed his men to shoot down any raven that tried to make its way out of the castles. Showing how vulnerable this form of communication could be.

As promised every drowned priest was killed, and the most devout of their followers would be quick to follow, their shacks of a temple destroyed and their bodies burnt with it, leaving not even ruins for any to mourn.

Erlend wanted to ensure not an ounce of worship towards the drowned god would remain. It certainly helped that a majority of the Isle's population were thralls and slaves. Making it far easier to get rid of the practice in comparison to that of the fire gods.

Speaking of faith, to his surprise the matter of choosing a father of the faithful remained contested. The most devout had divided themselves into three major factions and each one was blocking the other from getting their candidate to win the vote.

It got heated so much at one point that House Hightower had to step in, lest a few of the most devout choke their rivals to death.

Malora had mocked what she considered a farce, apparently, the original candidate that all the most devout had unanimously agreed to vote for previously, had been caught sleeping with the bastard son of one of the leading figures among the most devout.

His twelve-year-old bastard son. To say the man was almost killed on the spot would be putting it lightly. Leyton would have the man quietly disposed of.

The good news was that one of his own Wardens had managed to get mixed up in all this, becoming one of the three candidates for the seat. The issue was, he loved to drink a bit too much and most would find it likelier to see him in a tavern rather than in a sept.

How a soldier of his ended up a septon, than a most devout in such a short period, Erlend would never know and frankly didn't want to know.

(Casterly Rock, Westerlands)

A servant had come a few moments ago to inform him of the arrival of the Dornish and Reachmen hosts, seven help him they had apparently arrived at the same time. It was a small mercy that Stannis had arrived with his host earlier.

'Here's to hoping Oberyn hasn't killed Mace Yet.'

Making his way to the gates of his ancestral home, he could already see his nephew and Sister awaiting their guest's arrival.

It was a shame he was so small, Sixteen namedays and yet only reaching the height of those half his age.

Tyrion had become much more serious after he got word of Jaime's death. Sure he shed a few tears for Tywin, but that was as far as it went really.

Not that Kevan could blame him. He loved his brother as much as one could, but the proud lion had undeniably put their House in jeopardy.

He himself narrowly escaped the 'Burning of King's Landing'.

It was only thanks to years of making friends among the Westerland Lords, being the carrot to Tywin's stick that he was able to secure their position. Even then they needed the Mudd King's guarantee to truly feel confident about holding onto it.

House Lannister had numerous enemies, and Tywin was no longer there to shield them from them. The fact that he woke up to find out that the Branch families had attempted to incite a civil war of all things had hammered that particular point down.

Genna had discreetly disposed of the most troublesome ones, but he had no doubt the true masterminds behind it all were still at large.

Giving his nephew a gentle smile that did much to hide his anxiety. Aside from his deformity, Johanna's boy was a brilliant child. If only those outside of the main branch would stop sticking their heads in their hands and actually see it.

Oberyn and Mace arrived at the gates, surrounded by their bannermen. Mace puffed up as well at the sight of the welcoming party, whereas Oberyn merely smirked at them.

"Lord Tyrion," Oberyn spoke out loud, "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Lord Lannister, good to see you." Mace Interrupted. "You have a marvelous home. It's no Highgarden though."

Kevan rolled his eyes at the overinflated Rose, it wasn't like Highgarden was his, to begin with. The dead Gardner's definitely would have something to say about that.

Choosing to ignore the backhanded compliment, Tyrion greeted them politely, "I'm sure you'll enjoy Casterly Rock, my Lord."

Tyrion turned towards Kevan. "Uncle Kevan if you would please." Kevan nodded in response and led the Lords inside, whilst Genna and Tyrion headed back to the solar to deal with his paperwork.

Thankfully the fat Lord hadn't come with his mothers, no doubt the hag would have a lot to say about the state of his house.

They could no longer be considered the most powerful House in Westeros, that honor lay firmly with the Royal Family.

Still, they remained the wealthiest, their mines bringing in more gold as he guided the guests to their quarters.

This game them a measure of security for the time being. It helped that neither Doran nor Olenna wanted to unite the Westerlands once again by providing them a suitable target to unite against. Allowing him and Genna to quietly raise their House back to its glory days.

Suspicions had been cast on what strictly Tywin had intended to do to the Targaryens during his entry into King's Landing, which placed pressure on the Lannisters. Thankfully, Aery's foolishness had prevented too many questions from being asked, and considering the fact that he chose to keep mum about it, well no one was going to know.

There were worries that the King knew about it, but chose not to pursue the matter. He was the one that benefited the most out of anyways, so he doubted anything would come out of it.

The sacking of Lannisport had been both a blessing and a curse, on one hand, House Lannister had lost its fleet and a lot of gold in the process. On the other hand, Euron Greyjoy had unwittingly killed off a significant portion of the Branch families, those that survived had lost their source of wealth, making it so much easier for Tyrion to rule.

Unfortunately, it would take time and gold to rebuild everything. Not to mention the blow to their image and pride.

Genna had suggested they adopt the changes that King Erlend had implemented with Firmridge. She had pointed out that it might flatter the young Conqueror, while also having the benefit of avoiding the shit show that was King's Landing. Lannisport while better than King's Landing, still had its flaws.

Something that could be prevented this time around, without the intervention of those hyenas.

Sometime later Kevan found himself seated to the right of his nephew and Genna to his left.

They were all gathered in a war council, headed by Stannis. Oberyn didn't seem to mind, far too busy seducing the maidservants to care about an already established plan.

Those present consisted of Himself and Tyrion from House Lannister with his Uncle Damon Marbrand and Gawen Westerling accompanying them. Stannis Durrandon, Eldon Estermont, and Gullian Swann from the Stormlands, Oberyn Martell, Harmen Uller, and Quentyn Qorgyle from the Dorne, Mace Tyrell, Baelor Hightower and Randyll Tarly from the Reach.

Alongside them were a few high-ranked Officers from the Banners representing the crown, their leader made it clear to all those present that they would not interfere unless necessary.

Wanting to get this over with, Stannis spoke first, "His Majesty has ordered us to take Great Wyk, Old Wyk, and Saltcliffe. As we speak, the Vale, Riverlands, and the North are now capturing Harlaw, Blacktyde, and Orkmont. We are to converge towards Pyke as soon as possible."

"Doesn't that mean we're behind schedule?" Oberyn asked.

"Yes." Was all he got from the Storm Lord.

"My Lords, surely we'll be able to make quick work of these savages. Why my brother-in-law Paxter already repelled their fleet, I'm sure we'll be able to make quick work of them." Surprisingly the flower didn't take credit for it, he had enough sense not to piss off one of his key supporters.

Tarly for his part stared in contempt at Mace's head, no doubt still furious at how the fat oaf ignored the Dornish incursion and left the Marcher Lords to fend for themselves.

Baelor looked exasperated with his brother-in-law, considering how friendly Erlend was to the Hightowers, Kevan was baffled as to why they didn't receive rulership over the Reach.

It was remarkable how his House was kept so close to each Royal House. First were the Gardners, then the Targaryens, and now the Mudds.

The smirk on the Martell prince's face turned sour as he thought of Dorne's experience with the Ironborn, "The attack on Sunspear was something none of us expected. They've never shown any interest in Dorne before." Quentyn admitted.

The most sensible Lord among those sand dwellers, likely Doran wanted him there to reign in Oberyn from doing anything stupid. It wasn't much of a secret of how unhappy Doran was with how easily Oberyn knelt.

Something he could use later on, or Tyrion once he comes of age.

"Lannisport wasn't their only target. Banefort and Fair Island didn't fare too well, it's a miracle that so many smallfolk survived their attack. Previous experience with them I suppose." Damon said.

Tyrion didn't look happy at the mention of the other attacks. While he was far kinder than Tywin, he did take pride in House Lannister and anything that damaged that pride irked him. Something he shared with his late father.

Mace looked curiously at Stannis, "What about the Stormlands?"

"Thanks to the Royal Fleet that regularly patrols the Narrow Sea, the attacks focused on the Stormlands and the Riverlands led by Aeron Greyjoy all failed, culminating in his death."

All those gathered stared at the Storm Lord as if he had grown a second head, the man looked unperturbed by the fact that he got off scot-free. The only ones that seemed to share his nonchalance were the Officers and they looked bored with the whole thing.

Tarly getting tired of the silence spoke up. "My Lords" he began "We are sitting here doing nothing, while our King actively fights these barbarians. We have our Orders, we should move immediately to fulfill them."

"Indeed, His Majesty was clear on what we should do. There's no need for this pointless discussion." Stannis supported Tarly's words. "Myself and Oberyn will take on Great Wyk. Tyrell will take Old Wyk and the Lannister will take Saltcliffe."

Getting Up, "Why is it you get the largest Island," Mace disagreed.

Baelor whispered a few words to his good brother's ears, whatever he said seemed to deflate any argument Tyrell might have had, who proceeded to clear his throat and sat down.

Ignoring what just occurred, Stannis nodded toward the Officers and left the chambers with his vassals in tow.

Oberyn shrugged, "I see no reason to object to this." With these words, everyone had their marching orders. Since both the assigned commanders had agreed to it.

Kevan sighed, "At least I don't have to deal with the fat oaf." He mused.

Tyrion while old enough to lead the men, would be in significant danger if he did so. Sure a few lords would complain of the 'cowardly' behavior of their liege, but most would keep their mouths shut.

Kevan had no interest in allowing Casterly Rock to fall in his niece's hand, lest she lead them all to ruin. So he and Tygett were put in charge of the men.

Then again, this would be a good way to get rid of the remnants of the branch family, he was sure they hungered for vengeance and glory. It was only expected of him to allow them the chance.


[Note: Kevan isn't Tywin, but that doesn't mean he isn't as capable. This is the man that managed to fix Cersei's fuckups within the capital during his tenure as Regent. He was so capable that Vary's had to kill him to make sure his plans stayed in place. Initially, I was going off him, but decided against it, Tyrion needs a solid paternal figure he can emulate and while Gerion and Tygett could have done that, they aren't as well connected and established as Kevan.]