Chapter 7
34 Year's Before Aegon's Conquest
Harren Hoare POV
The King of the Isles and Rivers gazed upon the foundation of what would become one of the greatest castles in the land as the thralls struggled to continue the pace which he ordered the construction. This would be his crowning moment as King. For generations to come his line would rule from this castle overlooking the God's Eye and tighten their rein on the rebellious Riverlanders. His people would finally fully rule over these lands since the invasion of Harwyn Hardhand. He refused to spend his reign like his grandfather, crushing pitiful rebellion after rebellion. When would the Riverlords learn it was futile to stand against the Ironborn.
Yet for all that he wished there was troubling news brewing in the Riverlands. Harren had ordered the Riverlords to send waves upon waves of Riverlanders to see to the construction of the castle of Harrenhal. For he envisioned a formidable keep which would project the power of his House across his vast domain. It would be the legacy which his descendants would inhabit to see to the continued rule of the Ironborn over their greenlander subjects. It would project power across the realm so that the Ironborn would stay in the Riverlands.
His actions of ordering the Riverlords to sentence their people to death by creating his vision was an unpopular one. Already there was news of stirring in the northern and western Riverland Houses of raising levies and arming of soldiers. It would seem that even during his reign he would need to put those blasted Rivermen down like his grandfather.
Ravens had flown to the farthest reaches of his realm to muster forces to meet these rebellious lords on the field. Many Riverlords around the God's Eye and on the border of the Stormlands had already sent men to answer his call. Even most Ironborn Houses had vowed to send men for his cause. What was troubling was that word had not been received yet from House Farwynd of Lonely Light, yet to Harren those sealfuckers could stay on their abysmal holding for all he cared. For he would gather enough men to put down this newest generation of Riverlords who seemed confident to challenge Ironborn hegemony. Yet this thinking would soon come to haunt Harren as unknown to all they would be a new foe to face besides upstart disgruntled lords.
Harrenhal: One of the biggest and most defensible keeps is located in Westeros. It's construction would begin under the rule of King Harren the Black. The construction of the castle would take 40 years to complete and would result in the death of thousands of Riverlanders and other thralls as they would be worked to death to see the construction finished in Harrens lifetime. It would be turned into a shadow of its former self due to Aegon Targaryen burning the castle and those within through the flames of Balerion the Black Dread.
Harren Hoare: He was the last King of the Isles and Rivers. He would face a rebellion of Riverlords a few times in his lifetime, along with many battles between the Ironborn and Romans. It would be in the last year of his reign that he would face a threat not even his prized castle could fend off in the invasion of the Targaryens.
Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers: The kingdom ruled by House Hoare would rule over the entirety of the Iron Islands and Riverlands. The Ironborn would fear no reprisal from the other kingdoms till the start of the Roman-Ironborn wars and the eventually invasion by the Targaryens.
Harwyn Hardhand: He was King of the Iron Islands before the beginning of the Targaryen invasion and Roman wars. It would be under his leadership which would see the Ironborn conquer the entirety of the Riverlands from King Arrec Durrandon. He would be succeeded by his son Halleck and was the grandfather of Harren the Black. He would spend most of his reign crushing rebellion after rebellion.
Roman-Ironborn Wars: A series of wars fought between the Romans and Ironborn over land in both the Iron Islands and Riverlands. The wars would span close to three decades of war between these two realms. While there would be periods of peace it would be a brutal campaign for both realms as they would be engulfed in near-constant warfare. The Riverlands would be the main battleground for these campaigns and would see much bloodshed which hadn't been seen since the invasion of the Stormlands, invasion of Harwyn Hardhand, or even the later invasion of the Targaryens.
Deniedmachewman: You are right about Justinian creating laws to weaken the slave owners/traders power. I do not know if you read the little snippets I put at the end of the chapters but I had written some background information/lore after each chapter. I believe I started doing this starting with Chapter 3. The characters I created were not citizens of the Eastern Empire until Belisarius's reconquest of Italia from the Ostrogoths. They were freed by Belisarius and the freed Romans would go on to reestablish Legio I Italica. I am not too familiar with Germanic law, but I believe most of the Roman laws and bureaucracy was mainly used while some Germanic laws were implemented in the Ostrogothic Kingdom. I believe this changed after the Eastern Roman's gained back the territory of Italia, but I believe the legal system changed when the Lombards eventually took Italia from the Eastern Romans.
SpartanWolfj6: I love the little speech you did in your review! And in the next few chapters I will be covering the style of government of the Romans though it will be a few chapters away since I do not want to give anything away till the war really kicks off.
naufalrakha0104: I love your review I've been waiting for someone to do a Spartacus reference for a while. And I am glad you mentioned about discipline and the Ironborn. It is interesting since Westeros is a very martial society. The Ironborn pride themselves on martial ability though they are skilled it is their focus on singular ability that puts them at a disadvantage unlike the mainland kingdoms and the Romans. As a disciplined fighting force which is efficient fighting as a unit rather than by themselves can overcome a disunited force.
Immage: You are absolutely right about the Romans having a huge disadvantage against calvary. Especially the heavily armored and armed knights and even the normal calvary used by the kingdoms. It will be a problem for them, though like throughout history the Romans will adapt and restructure their military to counter this, though that will take time.
Author's Note: Happy Holidays Everyone I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I also hope everyone's planning on having a great New Years too. I apologize for the late update work has gotten very hectic due to the holiday season, and I was also busy with school since I will be official done with college this year. I had a lot of time to think about the direction I want to go with my writing and have decided to just focus on a few stories. I plan to focus mainly on Roman Invicta, Trials and Tribulations of House Greystark, and The Journey of Seafaring Wolves. Currently I will put Rebirth of a Bastard Direwolf and The Old God's Fill Our Sails on hiatus. This chapter was more of a filler chapter since I wanted to write about the Ironborn perspective as they are currently facing a rebellion of the Riverlords, while also still being unaware of the Roman's invasion. This will change in the next chapter as the first official major battle between the Romans and Ironborn will be taking place soon. I also want to thank everyone who's favorited and followed this story since I did not expect it to get close to 100 favorites and over 100 follows. Feel free to leave a review since it helps me grow as an author!
