(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.)
(Stannis Baratheon POV, Storm's End)
The Stormlands were exhausted, we barely had any men left after the war, that could be sent out without leaving us defenseless. The constant assaults by the reach cut through our numbers, while a significant portion of our raised men fought and died with Robert within the trident and you had quite the dire situation.
Something that both my grandfather and father-in-law pointed out, and one can't forget the marcher lords who feared that the Dornish might use this to raid our lands while we're still weakened, and there was little to no motivation by most Lords in regards to an offensive.
It was understandable, I had little to no care for the Targaryens or Robert's war with them, the fact that the foolishness of both sides had led to what appeared to be the near collapse of House Targaryen, Stark, Arryn and Tully didn't escape anyone's grasp.
House Arryn was likely only barely holding on from going extinct, through Lord Erlend Mudd, and distant cousins. Maester Cressen reports that according to ravens being sent, Lord Erlend intends for his second son to take up the name Arryn and inherit the vale. As for his firstborn, well there's a reason he seems intent to conquer the Riverlands.
The Starks were reduced to just Benjan Stark, who wed Bethany Ryswell, and what little information we could gather from the north suggested that the Freys will face their due, something I wholeheartedly supported.
Dragon and trout faced similar situations, one was a queen no one but the Lord's of the narrow sea cared for and the other was holed up with her sister and dying brother within their ancestral home.
Outside of that, I couldn't care less, my main focus was ensuring that my people would not starve and there were enough men to harvest the fields, the Stormlands had never been the richest kingdom. There was a good reason why most Storm King's either sought to conquer the Riverlands or the Reach.
While some Lords suggested taking up the mantle of Storm King, I chose not. It would gain us unwanted attention, something we couldn't afford right now, as we focused on rebuilding.
I cared too much for my family to force us into another war, the previous one had already taken too much from us. Not to mention a son, I wanted to be there for, I refused to die a pointless death just to stroke my ego.
...
(Erlend POV, Saltpans)
Erlend Mudd-Arryn, as soon as the thought came to my mind, I couldn't help but cringe at it. That was a rabbit hole I refused to fall into.
The cursed Potter inheritance seems to have followed me to this verse, though if I saw anything resembling goblins within this verse, I would make sure to annihilate them, their greed could very well destroy Westeros.
Potential genocide aside, I turned my attention towards this town, while minor and insignificant, it did have some potential for development. It's a pity that it faced such a harsh fate during the canon timeline, though that was unlikely to occur, now that it was under me.
The only thing of note from this minor holding was that a daughter of House Hawick had wed a Frey, but the house was left alone as they were frankly worth nothing. Ser Symond for all his need for vengeance was not one to take it out on those he considered innocent, good for him I suppose.
One look at the large army gathered before his modest castle and Ser Quincy Cox quickly surrendered, choosing fealty over destruction. The landed knight was shaken by the appearance of the army.
Truthfully I had no idea if he had been part of the royalists or rebels, nor did I care, both sides no longer existed and any support he could've lent to either would've been quite insignificant.
Something my vassals agreed with as we planned to continue moving forward, plans for future development can wait, I should secure the Riverlands first.
…
I stood at the opening of my tent, overlooking the pink stone walls, one of the things Maidenpool was famed for alongside its sweetwater bathhouse, Jonquil's Bath.
With me was the 3rd Banner, the rest of the banners had moved to besiege and capture the various towns and holdings under Harrenhal, which would be the first major stronghold I intended to capture. Similarly to the Saltpans, Harroway's Town had already surrendered with House Roote joining whatever force they could muster to the cause.
Of course, I wasn't foolish enough to leave Twilight Isle defenseless, it had the 7th banner guarding it, and that combined with the 8th banner which was undergoing training, left a solid 6,000 men to guard it, more than enough to keep any foolish invaders out.
The first 1st - 5th Banners would be participating in the Riverlands campaign, supplemented by about 10,000 men from the vale. Whilst the 6th banner under the command of Lt. General Strong would focus on securing the narrow sea and Crackclaw Point with the aid of the shadow wardens.
Maidenpool could be considered a major stronghold, mainly for the fortune it held, yet that wasn't the primary reason I was here.
It would be surprising if the Mootons chose to resist, as I had no qualms about reducing Maidenpool to dust, I'm sure House Cox wouldn't mind having their town replace Maidenpool as the primary trading hub in the area.
It was hard not to admire the beauty of the rivers that ran through the region, sure they would more than likely become annoying obstacles should any of the river lords try and muster a force to meet me in open battle. But whatever advantage the rivers would give them would largely be negated by the size and skill of my banners.
"My Lord." Horton Redfort approached me, there was a bit of hesitation in his tone.
"A contingent of soldiers has arrived, their leader requests a meeting with you."
"Good, let him in." They finally arrived, that certainly is a good sign.
"Are you sure, my lord." there was a hint of concern in his voice, understandable when one considers the fact that assassinations weren't all that uncommon during such a chaotic period. Not to mention how suspicious they tended to look.
"It's alright Lord Redfort, they're meant to be here."
Nodding his head, the old man motioned for them to allow the visitors in, whilst I sat in the impromptu office I had within my tent.
A rather gaunt-faced man entered shortly after, his steel grey eyes seemed apathetic to all who lay eyes on it. He wore all-black clothing and light armor supported by a cloak, that held a crown emblem, which signified his status as an elite soldier of House Mudd.
The Man bowed his head to me, and then saluted, before speaking.
"My Lord, the Narrow Sea, and Crackclaw point is yours." his voice was cool, yet distant, with nothing that could point to pride.
Old Horton looked both surprised and pleased at this piece of news but was summarily ignored by both of us, as I nodded for him to continue
"That's Good, any issues with General Strong?" I asked.
"Negative My Lord, General Strong seems to have matured since his last battles with the Dothraki, being more careful with plans and the lives of the men under him."
This was good, while Duncan Strong was a good man, his brash attitude and aggressive demeanor, meant that his plans tend to lead to unnecessary deaths, hence why I had Commander Eller oversee alongside his brother Denys Strong serving as his aide in the campaign.
"What of the Losses?"
"80 deaths, and 167 injuries, none of which were crippling" I frowned at that.
The deaths meant that they resisted, but that was to be expected, their keeps were ironically harder to infiltrate compared to their fellow counterparts. So a bloodless capture would not have been possible.
"Were the causes dealt with?" This time he nodded his head.
"Indeed my Lord, the stubborn ones were executed by General Duncan, the rest were spared due to Lord Denys not wanting to implicate innocents." The distaste in Ellars voice was obvious, he man believed that destroying all potential enemies stem and root was a must, a bit extreme, but his loyalty and skill were too valuable for me.
Horton didn't like Ellar's attitude but chose to remain silent. I had impressed the importance of maintaining a proper chain of command with the Vale Lords and they wisely chose to accept it, largely thanks to the fame that the banners had accumulated, none of them wanted to be embarrassed, so they didn't care to cause many incidents.
It still happened, but it was rather rare as the valemen were quite intimidated by the banners. Plus, no one wanted to bear enmity with someone who could potentially make the difference between life and death on the battlefield.
Ellar continued discussing the crownlands front, with Horton simply observing and voicing his opinions whenever I asked for them. He wasn't new to war, and his insights gave me an example of the Westerosi perspective on warfare.
Finally, the discussion on the matter ended, as we sat within the tent contemplating the information, so far everything had been successful. Yet, Harrenhal would be a far more difficult capture, as I had no intention of using my dragons for this conquest.
I then asked the question that had been on my mind for quite a while "What of the Targaryens?"