Chapter 20: The battle of the Green Fork
299 AC
Rickard Karstark
He felt the early afternoon sun on his skin as they were riding through the glowing green hills of the Riverlands. They had been marching for five days, since they left the Twins. He had a force of around eighteen thousand five hundred men. Only eight hundred of those were cavalry, so it would be very hard to win against an army full of Westerland horse. Still, he felt confident. His scouts had told him that the Lannister army, that had crossed the Trident, barely numbered eighteen thousand.
It seems the earlier messages of Ser Brynden Tully's attacks were true. Even with the fifteen hundred men that had left under Ser Flement Brax the army should have close to nineteen thousand, but they didn't. He silently chuckled at the news, not for the first time. Never in his life had he hoped to outnumber Tywin Lannister when Robb told him of his plan.
It would still be impossible to rout the Lannister force, as he had almost no cavalry to pursue them. Even more, it would be difficult to win the battle with such a cavalry disadvantage. That didn't mean he wouldn't try. If he could get into the Lannister's faces, taunt them and make a solid defensive position, he could win. Even if he didn't, his original orders to force the Lannisters to do battle would be fulfilled. Win or lose, he would make the Lannisters pay for it with blood.
He had thought long and hard on his battle plan and formations. He had come to the conclusion that he would use the lords and houses that he trusted the least on the front. It would strengthen his own position in the North, if some of his more powerful rivals lost troops. Besides that, it would strengthen Robb's position as well. If the houses that were less loyal took the brunt of the damage and not his most loyal supporters, Robb's command would be unchallengeable and he and Alys would be safe.
As such he had decided that the first lines would be made from troops of Houses Bolton, Dustin, Ryswell, and of course the Freys. He would deliver himself to Tywin Lannister before he would endanger a loyal Northman before one of that weasels Southron troops. From a personal point of view, it would benefit House Karstark a lot if Houses Umber and Manderly also had some big losses. However, the Greatjon and Lord Wyman were some of the strongest supporters of Robb and House Stark and so he wouldn't risk it. It was more important that Robb had as many troops available as possible and especially from those loyal houses.
Lord Walder had sent a number of his sons, grandsons and bastard offspring with his three thousand infantry to join his army. All three thousand of them would be on the front in 'honored positions'. He would even make them believe that it was to build goodwill between their houses with their upcoming bond. In truth he didn't trust Lord Walder or his offspring. Ser Jared is a prideful fool and Ser Hosteen is both a great warrior and an idiot. He didn't even bother to know the rest of them in these few days. They were all scheming, both amongst and against each other, and it would do Robb's armies good to have less of them.
So, he had made up his battle plans. It seems the Blackfish really had done a number on Lord Tywin as he had expected to meet the Lannister army sooner but they were clearly delayed. His scouts under the command of Robett Glover had told him they would come upon the army tomorrow. The Glovers had been able to either fend off or eliminate most of the Lannister scouts. He was confident they didn't know of the split and maybe not even his own exact position.
If everything went as planned, he was told that they would come upon the Lannisters next midday. When he looked to the right, he saw a nice position to make camp on a nearby hill. The field he had eyed for the next battle was only a few miles away, so this would be perfect. He shouted the order and they made their way.
Two hours later his whole vanguard had been camped and their tents raised already. Those men were now preparing the defensive positions for the night, as the last of the main body of men arrived and started putting up their own tents. His rearguard would arrive in the next half an hour with the necessary amount of the baggage train. The rest was left more to the north in yesterday's camp, as to make sure it never fell into Lannister hands.
The next hour he spent checking on the palisade and stakes around the camp. When everything was in order, he went back to his command tent and send orders to call his commanders to him.
The time until they arrived, he spent checking and rechecking all of his plans. Everything was in order, but you could never be too sure.
With the arrival of Osric and Harmond Umber, the younger brother and son of the Greatjon, they were complete.
"On the morrow we will clash with the main Lannister army, our duty is to make sure they do battle and commit to it as to give Lord Robb the ability to strike against the Kingslayer. Unexpectedly we find ourselves outnumbering the enemy slightly. However, we have only eight hundred cavalry men to their seven thousand. It will be impossible for us to rout the Lannisters tomorrow, but that doesn't mean we can't win." He started explaining.
"The plan is to take up a defensive position, here." He continued as he pointed towards the map in front of him. "It's a series of small hills some four to five miles in front of us. We will bait the Lannisters into attacking us. There are two options, one the Lannisters attack themselves, two our vanguard will attack theirs and slowly retreat pulling them into our lines. The result will remain the same."
"Behind the vanguard, there will be stationed three lines of infantry along the whole battlefield with archers in four lines behind on top of the hills. Our cavalry will be on the left, as the river covers our right flank. It is our objective to bait the Lannisters in and destroy them with our archers, while our infantry tries to hold them along the line." He laid out his plans.
"We will never pursue or charge trough them and always keep our position, am I understood? If any of our troops break formation to run down from the hill the Lannister heavy cavalry will charge into the hole and we will be slaughtered! If we hold position, the Lannisters can attack us whatever they want, we will throw them back! The greatest problem is their heavy cavalry, as such the first two lines will consist of mostly spears and pikes with men with axes, maces and swords mostly concentrated in the third line and reserves to assist and plug holes in close combat if necessary. We will put up a small line of stakes along the weakest sides of our line to further inflict casualties and slow down their charges." As he said this, he saw many of the more experienced generals like Medger Cerwyn, Osric Umber and Ser Wylis Manderly nod, while Roose Bolton looked at him intently.
"The three lines will all consist of over three thousand men with a vanguard of eight hundred men in front. The vanguard will be commanded by Lord Cerwyn and consist of troops of Houses Frey and Cerywn." he said as he looked upon the man who nodded stoically. "When battle is joined the vanguard will join the first line to make sure it can better resist the Lannister cavalry. The first line will position just on the beginning of the hill and will be under the command of Lord Bolton, under him will be the Bolton troops, augmented with the Dustin, Ryswell, Tallhart and Locke spears and pikes." He said as he looked upon Roose, the man nodded expressionlessly.
"The second line, positioned a few hundred yards above them on the slopes, will consist of the majority of the Freys and the spears and pikes of both the Flints, the Slates and the Hornwoods, under the command of Ser Hosteen Frey. The third line that will be above them consists of the remaining infantry of the afore mentioned houses combined with the forces of Houses Umber and Glover under the command of Osric Umber. These lines are to move in to aid the line in front of them when necessary or must form another front if the line in front of them was to break." He said as Osric and Ser Hosteen nodded at him, both eager for a command.
"The reserves, consisting of around four thousand five hundred infantry, will consist of the troops of Houses Manderly, Mormont, Stark and my own house under my command. The reserve will also consist of two hundred cavalry under the command of Robett Glover. The remaining six hundred cavalry on the left will be led by Lord Hornwood. Our almost three thousand archers will be under the command of Ser Wylis Manderly." He finished, looking around the table. "Any more questions?"
"Who will command the Freys together with Lord Cerwyn?" Ser Jared Frey asked, clearly eyeing the position to get some glory.
Fool! The whole mission of the vanguard was completely lacking glory. They would most likely have to charge into a larger Lannister vanguard and retreat whilst fighting and being pursued before joining the first line in the thick of the fighting once more. He had put a few hundred Freys there to thin out their lines and to not lose any more Northmen, as most of the vanguard would be captured or killed. The only reason that he put Medger there was because he needed an experienced and trustworthy general to carry out his orders. If the vanguard didn't retreat in time his whole plan could fail and he could lose those men for nothing.
"If you mean that you put yourself forward for the job, I would accept. However, I'll make myself clear, you will not serve next to Lord Cerwyn, you will serve under him! He has complete operational command of the entire vanguard, although you can be the leader of the Frey detachment and his number two if you so wish it." He said, making sure the man understood who was in charge.
Clearly disappointed and a little angry, the man accepted the position. Good, if the Gods are just, they will make sure he is killed or captured in the fighting.
"Any others?" he said as he looked around the room. None replied and so he looked around at their expressions. Ser Hosteen Frey, Osric Umber and Halys looked pleased with their commands. Ser Wylis and Robett looked calm and collected. He was glad, he didn't want to offend the Manderlys and didn't know if Ser Wylis would be offended that he wouldn't be in the thick of the fighting. Medger and Roose Bolton looked serious, clearly understanding their important but dangerous positions, which was also good. He had wanted to put the Freys in the first line but couldn't rely on them to be experienced enough not to break at the first charge. Bolton was a lot of things, but he would hold the line with skill and authority that was sure.
"Good, well I suppose you go check on your men and the defenses of your sides of the camp once more. We march an hour after sunrise tomorrow." He said evenly. All the men nodded and left the tent.
He looked at the maps once more. He hoped that this would work. If the Lannisters didn't attack him and refused to do battle, he would fail in his endeavor. If his lines broke or his commanders didn't listen, they could lose the whole army. He looked calmly over everything he had done and planned once more and saw that everything was in order. In the worst-case scenario, he would always be able to retreat everyone except for the first two lines and they were made up of the more dubious or smaller houses anyway.
He left the command tent and went into his personal tent next to it. He picked up a mug of ale and thought of his sons. Harrion was leading the Karstark cavalry and he would do well. He showed true promise of being a good future lord and he was glad about it. His two youngest sons would serve with their cousin Osric as a part of an honor guard around Robb. They would make him proud too, he was sure of it. He hoped Robb would be able to free Riverrun, but he trusted the boy that had become a fourth son to him. First unofficially, now official by marriage.
He sat atop his horse on top of the largest of the three hills his army had gathered on. His whole army had been ready here for over an hour and at last the Lannisters had arrived. He saw how the enemy center consisted of most of their infantry. Thousands of heavy horses were positioned on his left with even more men, infantry and cavalry alike, under the standard of the golden lion of Lannister in reserve.
What interested him most, was the vanguard of the enemy. It was positioned somewhat towards the river on the right and he saw clear weaknesses in the Lannister line there, too clear. No way that an experienced general like Tywin Lannister would make such a mistake. He probably expected Robb to rashly jump into the whole and push him against the river. Even if that isn't his plan, it matters not. He had his own plan and he would stick to it, the Lannisters would not dictate how this battle went. Even if his plan worked it would still be close, the Lannisters could afford to make multiple heavy cavalry charges and he didn't know if his lines could withstand those, well it would be clear soon.
He gave the signal for his vanguard under Medger to attack the Lannister one under the banner of three dogs on a yellow field. The mountain commanded it, perfect. If that man wouldn't rashly follow Medger until he crashed headlong into a Bolton spearwall, he didn't know who would.
His men attacked quickly but the Mountain was ready for it. A fierce fight ensued, as he saw the Frey knights go very deep in the enemy position, killing many enemies. "Ser Jared, you fool! You can never retreat from there!" he mumbled and soon it proved to be true. When it was time, he ordered the horns to sound for the retreat of the vanguard as planned. It was clearly visible how most of the Cerwyn troops, followed by a portion of the Freys, managed to retreat in something coming close to an orderly fashion, while a group of around one hundred and fifty Freys became surrounded on all sides as the Westermen pushed forward.
Medger safely managed to reach the Bolton spearwall, however the Mountain made a devastating charge with a few hundred men on the retreating soldiers just in front of the Bolton position. The only positive was that most of the Lannister van cut through, slowing right into the spears behind and a fight ensued. As he looked back towards the Freys, he saw from up above how many of them were surrendering. "Bloody Southern Cowards!" he cursed loudly. They had lost close to two hundred men for nothing but the glory of some unimportant Frey.
At the line however, it was clear Roose Bolton was making short work of Clegane's force even with dozens of men still charging in. He wasn't the only one to have seen this, it seems, as he heard Lannister trumpets as their archers and center moved forward. He looked to the side, were one of the light horse he had set up as messengers stood. "Go to Ser Wylis! Say that he must keep his archers ready and can shoot whenever he deems it fit, but make sure he targets either the archers or incoming cavalry." He commanded the man, who immediately rode of towards the archers.
He watched the fight below as the Lannister center advanced until a sudden movement from the left made him look. He saw how the Lannister heavy cavalry came in action and charged right at the left side of the first line. He immediately called and pointed to two more messengers "You, go to Lord Hornwood and say that he must countercharge that cavalry right after they make contact with our line. You, go to Ser Hosteen Frey and tell him to send his spear on the left down to augment the first line or it will fall. GO!" The men left immediately.
He heard the hooves of thousands of heavy horse thunder across the field towards his line and prayed that they would hold. Suddenly he heard the sound of thousands of bows being loosened and moments later they came down among the horsemen. He saw dozens, if not over a hundred fall but still the charge continued. Again, the bows loosened and now he heard the screams of the horses dying below, still thousands marched towards his line.
He looked to the second line and saw how some four hundred spearmen were making their way down to augment the first line. When they were almost at the line, a third arrow volley loosened at the perfect time and this one was devastating. He saw at least three hundred riders go down and many obstructed the horses behind them in their charge. Still the sickening crunch of the charge was heard as over a thousand heavy armored cavalrymen crashed into his line at top speed. Behind them even more followed, as those that had been slowed down joined the attack.
He heard screams, death cries and the sound of steel hitting steel. He saw how hundreds of Bolton, Locke and Dustin men were trampled under the charge but they managed to stop the charge along the length of their line. He saw how a large group split of and tried to circumvent his line and attack the rear, but they were stopped in their tracks by the Frey spearmen. That same group was countercharged by Lord Hornwood and his horse moments later, and he smiled. Hundreds of enemy horse were pinned by their own troops on the right, spearmen in front and a cavalry charge to their left.
The Lannisters also realized how bad this would be for them if they stayed in this position and charged their men-at-arms in across the whole line. The effect was clearly visible as the first line immediately started to buckle because of the enemies overwhelming numbers. He also saw how the Lannister bowmen were targeting the cavalry under Lord Hornwood and so he had to retreat up towards his original position. A big part of the Lannister cavalry saw the opening immediately did the same, retreating back out of spear and arrow range in an unorganized mess.
He shouted at a horn blower. "You, blow the signal for the second line to advance." The man and his companions quickly started blowing on their instruments. "You," he shouted to a messenger, "ride to Ser Wylis and tell him to stop firing at the archers and target just behind our first line. He needs to thin out the Lannister ranks, if he complains about friendly fire tell him it is a necessary sacrifice!" the man looked shocked but left anyway.
"You," he asked another one, "ride to Osric Umber and tell him to stand at the ready."
He saw how the second line immediately marched down and soon they had stabilized the front. Even so, his line was still outnumbered. The troops there wouldn't hold forever, especially not if these Freys surrendered as quick as the others. He couldn't commit more troops now though, as the Lannister archers had the same idea as his own and were shooting at his line. Sending more men would just mean taking unnecessary casualties through arrow fire for now.
His men down below were slightly outnumbered, but they had a slight hill advantage and so had his archers. He also seemed to have an advantage when it came to archers, which was handy. He looked at the situation sternly, as the minutes past but didn't feel the need to change anything.
Then he saw how the Lannister heavy cavalry was reforming itself on his left. It looked like almost two thousand men got out of the lines and back into position. He saw how a few hundred fresh men from behind the center joined them. Looking at his line he saw how most of it held firm. It looked solid, except for left side of his line, he saw how it was still buckled and weakened from the earlier charge, although it had stabilized. It wouldn't be able to hold a second charge like that in the same place and if they broke, he would lose the battle.
He sent another messenger to Ser Wyllis to make sure that he would target the cavalry when the time came. If he sent in the third line now, there was still a chance that his lines would break. If so, they would lose their entire army. If he didn't, they could never hold.
He looked over the battlefield once more and realized that the Lannister had two thousand more heavy cavalry in reserve. It was at this moment he saw that he could never win. He would have to throw more men into the fight and would kill thousands of the enemy infantry, while his archers heavily damaged theirs but a charge would break him sooner or later. If he sent in the third line, they would charge into his archers and all would be lost. He would have to send his reserves there, while his army would be surrounded and cycle charged by the enemy horse. It would be a pyrrhic victory for the Lannister as they would lose thousands more men, but it would be decisive one nonetheless. Better to keep the army intact and fight another day. He had gotten the better of the fighting today, sometimes you have to quit while you're ahead.
He made the decision quick. He ordered Robett Glover to him and ordered him to screen their retreat with his cavalry and sent orders to Halys to make one charge into the enemy flank before quickly retreating and doing the same. This would create an opportunity for the men on the front line to flee. Messengers were sent to the Umbers to compose a small rearguard before retreating their host.
He had also sent another message to Ser Wylis. The archers needed to shoot a hail of arrows on the left, just before Lord Halys charge connected. After that, each archer needed to shoot four or five more arrows at the center and right side of the line before packing their things and retreating with the third line. All of this was meant to create the most chaos in the enemy line below. It could slow down the enemy's response, and every minute could save hundreds of his men.
He watched as Lord Hornwood's charge connected with the line successfully before the Lannisters started theirs. It did exactly as he hoped and destabilized the line for a short while. This was all the cavalry needed to retreat and at the same time he sounded the horns for the general retreat.
The third line and reserves were already marching and soon the archers joined them. A huge rout also started at his line. He saw how in some parts it resembled some order, as smaller groups of Freys, Boltons, Hornwoods and Flints marched up the hill. Most of it was a complete rout though.
A great number of the troops made it behind the Umber rearguard of some three to four hundred men, as his plans to destabilize the Lannister front worked. He also managed to surprise them, as their cavalry only now came into action.
With most of the men either running towards the columns marching north or surrendering to the incoming cavalry, he knew he needed to leave as well. He spurred on his horse and he and his retainers rode to join the retreating army.
They had marched for a few hours until they reached the camp that they had stayed in two days ago. Parts of the stakes and the defensive perimeter were still intact and so he ordered his troops to stay and rest here.
All of them were already settled and the Maesters and healing women that had joined his army were busy looking at the wounded men, while the healthy ones rested.
As evening had fallen now, he had called his commanders with him to report on their losses. A few nobles had been taken prisoner. Half a dozen Freys, Rickard Ryswell, Medger and Ser Donnel Locke had been taken by the Lannisters while Roose Bolton was wounded but managed to join their retreat. Some had died, among them a Ryswell cousin and one or two Freys but no lords or heirs.
Concerning the men, they had lost around two hundred of their cavalry and some four thousand infantry. The Boltons had lost over half their force, the Dustins, Tallhart and Ryswells two thirds of their spears and pikes, while the Locke spear contingent almost ceased to exist. The Freys also lost over a thousand men and the Cerwyns almost all of the four hundred men they had sent in the vanguard. All of the other losses were smaller.
The Lannisters forces would probably be similar. To his estimation they had lost the whole of their vanguard, among them Gregor Clegane. It had apparently taken seven men at once to surround and take down that monster, even while he was still recovering from some wound the Rivermen had given him. Besides that, they lost a little over a thousand of their heavy cavalry and maybe fifteen hundred to two thousand infantry. Some of those might yet recover, but not many.
All in all, it was a great battle for their side. They had managed to engage the Lannisters, as ordered, but they had done so much more. They had made them pay similar losses, even when you counted all the prisoners and wounded men they had to leave behind. However, the losses the Lannisters had taken were much more valuable. Spearmen and levy could be replaced relatively easily but heavy horse was a hard thing to come by.
He had also succeeded in his secondary objective. The Boltons had lost the majority of their footmen. The Dustin and Ryswell losses were less, as only their spear- and pikemen had been engaged but their commander Rickard Ryswell had also been captured, while some cousin of his had died. The Freys had lost a third of their overall infantry as well but most importantly Ser Jared Frey and his annoying kin were captured by the Lannisters. The man had cost him almost two hundred men of his force and he wouldn't forgive that easily.
Ser Hosteen had followed orders adequately and had made it out of the fighting. He was busy trying to reorganize his men now to get them into some kind of shape. There would be more time for that later. He would retreat towards the Twins. There, he would decide on what to do, depending on what his scouts told him then.
He sat down and wrote a letter to Robb telling him of the battle, which almost felt like a victory. He would send a rider to the Twins, from there on a raven could deliver it to Riverrun. He also wrote a letter to Alys to tell her everything and smiled when he addressed the letter to 'Lady Alys Stark'. The Freys would have to send it on to Winterfell.
That night he slept happily. Feeling that, Tywin Lannister might not be that great of an opponent after all.
This is it for this chapter!
It is a little shorter than the last ones, but I wanted it to feel like a battle episode.
In my opinion, Roose Bolton put the forces of his biggest rivals in the front to thin out their troops. As such Ser Wylis Manderly, Lord Medger Cerwyn (not a big opponent but loyal) and Harrion Karstark got captured in canon with a lot of their men captured or killed. Lord Halys Hornwood even died.
Here Rickard Karstark does exactly the same, but with other houses. You also get his POV, which makes the battle more tactically interesting in my opinion. The Karstark, Manderly, Hornwood, Umber, Stark (Winterfell area), Glover and Mormont troops come out of this battle (almost) unscathed. The same can't be said for houses Rickard thinks disloyal. The Cerwyns, Lockes and Tallharts are the ones that by necessity drew the shorter end of the stick, sadly enough. The only difference here is that Rickard employs the method of sacrificing political opponents in Robb's best interest.
What did you think of the battle? Keep in mind that is in reverse from Tyrion's account of the battle in canon and that it doesn't take place in the same spot, but a little down river.
Thank you so much for your support!
Fannic
Reviews:
- Mad52mac: I think he does, although it isn't exactly true. Rickard is more his loyal right hand, who has his own agenda that somewhat aligns with Robb on the side.
- Darthwolf: Well, does this make you feel even better? ;-)
- Osterreicher97: House Bolton doesn't need it but it can definitely still use it! Barbrey however will be absolutely pissed, she really wants Sansa for Domeric.
Yes it is, that is what makes it better. They might still try to seduce Robb, power is everything to some families, but I don't think they will succeed that easily. The Karstarks are 200% in the Stark court now, they will fight with Robb till the bitter end.
In the books, Harrion Karstark survived in Lannister captivity. So, the other branch never died out. Catelyn not being there is sad for Hoster/Edmure but a boon for everything that is considered tactical.
- Kuman: Ned is still honorable so he won't think about it immediately. That doesn't mean the thought won't come up later because he indeed doesn't care anymore, maybe he'll do it and maybe not.
- Kingmanaena: Thank you so much for the support!
- Force Smuggler: Thank you! The Freys and especially the Boltons get what they deserve here.
- Freakdogsflare: Joffrey was a fool to execute Ned in canon. He is psychopath born from incest, I don't think his wits have to do with anything. The only thing that can change things are his advisors and more concretely Tyrion being in King's Landing (but not as hand).
- Williams1996: Roose Bolton isn't exactly the loving father figure. Although he loves Domeric (stated in canon), he also sees him as a pawn in House Bolton's power.
- Emsee: I agree with you on the numbers but not on the composition or mustering. Lady Dustin had send troops in canon "the lowest she dared to send". I would put that at 400-500 men if the house can muster 2000(+?). The Ryswells are never stated to have send less men, but they might still have been cautious, and it has been mentioned that a lot of them died at the Red Wedding. So, if I take it that the Ryswells are able to muster less man than the Dustins, I would state that they mustered at least some 500 men (out of 1500 or so) to Robb as well.
Here they muster 1200 men EXTRA, so that comes tot 2200 for the both of them, with the Dustins sending some 1200 and the Ryswells around a 1000. I think Lady Dustin is too smart to send everything south, especially with her position being as unstable as it is. There have to be Dustin cousins eyeing her position at all time. The fact she has no Dustin blood, might also play a factor that she isn't able to muster the full 100% (=2k(+?)) troops. All those factors taking into account I think what I wrote is fair. Also the idea that a house musters all their strength is false. They would have to equip, train and feed all those men and besides they would leave their own lands (and each of the lands of their masterly vassals) completely defenseless. Even House Stark and House Bolton left more than 600 men when Robb marched south. All other Houses would do the same to varying degrees.
It also is a 6% increase of Robb's army which makes a difference. If you say that the Ryswells have a lot of cavalry I agree, say 4 or 3 to 1 infantry vs cavalry. However, the Dustins have a low one as they would likely recruit from the poor people in Barrowton, say 10-8 to 1, that would mean that Robb has some 200-300 extra cavalry and almost a 1000 extra infantry in his army. (The Karstarks brought 300 cavalry out of 2300 men and the Manderlys 300 out of 1500, for reference). For Robb it won't make too much of a difference, but on the Green Fork it made a difference in army composition.
What did you think of the battle? Rickard could never pursue the Lannisters as the cavalry of the Lannisters would have destroyed his marching columns. You can't pursue someone who has almost ten times as much cavalry as you. He also had to engage the Lannisters, as per orders from Robb so no runarounds. No dumb night marches however, he did it methodically and defensively with a good strategy.
The battle of the Whispering Wood and much more is for next episode.
- Poly19hum: Thank you!
- TheNiemand: As seen in ADWD, Varys isn't on the side of the Lannisters. He's just playing his role and besides Ned is weakened from injury and infection, so maybe not the time for big epic speeches. ;-) Frey got a lot less than in canon and there is no way for Bran to break the betrothal like Robb did. The silver was 2/3's of the body weight for a second son (Eddard Karstark) and the entirity of the bodyweight for an heir/lord (Domeric Bolton/Daryn Hornwood).
- Anja Quickert9: :-)
- Scillacci: Thank you! Yes he is, although that is more difficult to say. It would mean the Tully family would die out and that's a lot more difficult to confront people with but you're absolutely right that he is.
- Guest: Wow, you're back!
