Chapter 21: Marchin on Riverrun

299 AC

Robb

They had left the Twins over two days ago. They had marched through the Riverlands and at the sight of their banners some petty lords and knightly houses had joined their army. In total they didn't count more than two hundred men, but it gave his army more legitimacy in these lands.

What did matter was the reinforcements that had just come over the hill. Lord Jason Mallister had arrived with fifteen hundred men to join their force. The man rode on a brown destrier at the column of his force, a cape of purple wool flying proudly from his shoulders.

He motioned to his companions and the Smalljon, Jon, Torr, Edd, Os and Robin Flint joined him with a dozen guards as he galloped towards the force. "Lord Jason, it is good to see you here." He called out as they neared the group of Rivermen.

"Not as good as seeing you here, Lord Robb. It joys my heart to see you here, to protect the land of your mother." The man boomed approvingly.

"The land hasn't been freed yet but hopefully we can manage that soon enough. May I present you my companions?" he asked politely. The Riverlord nodded in reply.

"This is Smalljon Umber, the heir to Last Hearth. Next to him is Jon Snow, my brother. These are Eddard and Torrhen Karstark, sons of Lord Rickard Karstark and Osric Karstark their cousin. Lastly this is Robin Flint, heir to Widowswatch."

"Pleasure to meet you, young lords. I present you my son and heir Patrek." The Lord of Seagard said as he waved to the younger man next to him. The man trotted his horse forward and said. "Well met, thank you all for coming to aid our land and liege."

"Well met indeed, Lord Patrek. It seems we have a lot to discuss, Lord Mallister. Would you and your son care to join me?" He asked polite, but urgently.

"Of course, lead the way." The man responded.


The encounter with Lord Mallister had been three days past. In total his force now counted a little over six thousand men. Some forty-five hundred was made up of horsemen with the rest being infantry and archers from the Riverlords who had joined along the way. He had expected this to be all, maybe augmented by a few more Riverlanders who had fled from Riverrun. Never in his life had he expected to see a force of over a thousand men, all wearing the fish of House Tully coming towards him. `

What surprised him even more was the man leading them. His granduncle rode on his black warhorse as if he was made for it. His chest was puffed forward and he wore a smug smile on his face.

When they finally came eye to eye the man said. "Good to see you finally chose to show up nephew, you took your time alright." The man voiced, but the smile on his face betrayed he was very glad they were here.

"As you know, the North is vast Lord Brynden. It takes a while for our troops to gather. We came here as fast as we could." He responded calmly, glad to see the man again.

"Where is the rest of your force, Robb? I heard you were marching to meet Tywin Lannister in battle, but I see you here with a small force, what does this mean?" His uncle asked curiously.

"Come, uncle. We have a lot to talk about. We will camp here for today and find your force a place to stay."

The man nodded and shouted at the young, brown haired man to his side to encamp the army next to House Mallister's force, before riding after him alone.

Os had ridden on to the army and made the men put up his commander's tent quickly. He entered the tent and saw some of the maps already laying on the newly placed tables. Os, Harry, the Greatjon and Domeric Bolton were already waiting for him. In the time it took to offer them all a drink, Roose Ryswell, Owen Norrey, Lord Jason Mallister and Lady Maege arrived. Ser Wendel, Ser Stevron Frey and Lord Glover arrived only a small moment later.

As all his main commanders had gathered together, he spoke up. "So, uncle it's time we talk."

The man picked a chair and seated himself at the table. "Yes, it is nephew. First tell me, where has the majority of your army gone?"

He picked a chair and sat himself at the head of the table. "We split at the Twins. After some negotiations, we managed to get House Frey to join us. Our infantry marches under my father-in-law to engage and distract Lord Tywin. That way I and the army you saw already can march towards Riverrun and take the Kingslayer by surprise. Lord Tywin won't be able to assist him in any way possible, nor will his scouts be in the area."

A smile crept on the face of his uncle. "Well, that makes things easier. I certainly have had my run-ins with the old grumpy lion so some rest to take on his stupid son will do me good." The man said and many of his commanders laughed.

"Yes uncle, tell me about those so called 'run-ins' you had. We have heard rumors, but we would like to know the tales. I would also like to ask you why you weren't at Riverrun when the battle happened?" He said, very curious about the tale his uncle was to tell.

"I will in a moment, Robb. First, I would like to know what this father-in-law business is you said. I suppose you mean Lord Rickard Karstark, as I don't see him here. In my knowledge, the man is the father of your betrothed and not your father-in-law." His uncle said, piercing him with his blue Tully eyes.

He felt the blush come up on his cheeks as he thought of Alys and the nights they had had together. As he was in the process of composing himself, the Greatjon laughed. "Ha, our young Lord here couldn't wait to marry her 'till after the war so they married in front of the army at Moat Cailin just before they left. Lord Robb was so lovesick he came late to every meeting those few days they had together." At this all the Northmen laughed loudly, while the rivermen in the room snickered a little as well.

"You and Alys married in front of the army before marching south?" His uncle asked knowingly.

"Yes, we did. Mother, Sansa and Rickon were there as well. They went home with Alys to Winterfell after the wedding." He responded honestly.

"Good," The Blackfish nodded. "how fare my niece and her other children?"

"They are all right, both mother and my sisters were quite shocked with the news of father, but they are doing well enough. Rickon doesn't really understand and he misses father and me now but he's fine as long as mother and Sansa are there to care for him. All three of them cheered up because of the wedding and having something to do with the preparations so that was good too." He explained.

"I'm happy to hear they are doing well in the current circumstances. Where was Arya in this? You didn't mention her?" His uncle asked.

"In Winterfell, there must always be a Stark in Winterfell." He answered seriously, strangely sounding like father. He wasn't the only one to notice however, as all Northmen hummed and nodded in agreement.

His uncle nodded once more at this. "Well with that out of the way, I think it's almost time for me to tell my story. Before that, I just want to let you know that Theon Greyjoy has been spotted moving through the Riverlands to the West at great speed. He seems to have used the confusion in the capital to flee with three or four companions. As he was your father's former hostage, I thought you should know." His uncle said.

Theon? Moving through the West? Is he trying to get home? "Never trust the bloody Ironborn, how long will it take until that brat finds himself on our shores again? This time at the head of a longboat full of raiders like his ancestors." Lady Maege grumbled, and understandingly so. The Mormonts had gained their island after his own ancestors had driven of the Ironborn, however that didn't stop them from trying to take it back. They had been attacking the Mormonts for over a millenia.

He looked at the Lady of Bear Island. "If they do so, we will throw them back into the sea like we have always done. If you feel like you should warn your kin for a possible danger, feel free to do so." Then he looked at the other lords. "The same goes for all the other houses on the Sunsest Sea. I won't send any troops back, but no one ever died from a possible warning." At this many of Sunsest Sea nobles were deep in thought, but no one spoke up.

The Blackfish looked around for a while before a huge grin spread over his face. "Well I think it's time that I tell you how I've been playing cat and mouse with a lion these past few days."

All men moved forward in their chairs, eager to here of the exploits of his famous uncle.

"First, why I left? My nephew Edmure did not have a position of meaning for me in his army nor did he have need of my council. As such, I asked him for five hundred light cavalry to harry Lord Tywin's army and he obliged, giving me Tully and Bracken men. The first thing I did was attack their supply lines. As he had quickly shoved all possible resistance to the side with his army, the old lion clearly hadn't expected this. I managed to capture two lightly guarded convoys in as many days. The food I shared amongst my men and the rest I gave to the people that had been devastated by the army coming through." The Blackfish started telling his tale.

"After that I attacked two garrisons of Lannister troops who were put along the supply route to guard it. Much good that did them. They were both placed in petty holdfasts and both easily fell in night attacks by my men. As with the convoy, I hang all the dead Lannisters from trees and holdfasts along the supply route with messages saying that 'Lions aren't welcome in the Riverlands'." His uncle told and he saw how many of his commanders smiled grimly at that.

"This seemed to work a little too good to my liking, as no more convoys past the next few days. Not being one to wait for the enemy to come to me, we left. Just in time that was, to hear that Clegane was marching with a thousand men to burn Stone Hedge and the surrounding lands. Not liking our lands being burned and half my force consisting of men of that area we marched towards him. For the lands we came too late, but we rode like hell and managed to get on the scene, in the middle of the attack."

"Clegane's men were split between storming the walls, trying to push through the broken gate or waiting to join the former two groups. We quickly charged the enemy outside the gates, routing half the total army in one charge. The mountain himself, who had been in the gatehouse leading his men, lead a countercharge and managed to fight himself to safety. One of my men managed to wound him with a spear in his side but it wasn't enough to bring the giant down. In total the Lannisters lost some three hundred men and two hundred more were captured, while Stone Hedge was saved. "

At this most of the men around the table nodded approvingly. Pausing, his uncle looked around and was clearly pleased with the reactions of the men around him. He quickly continued though. "We stayed for a few days at Stone Hedge. Resting our men and taking care of the wounded. We also fixed up the castle's defenses and repaired the gate. In that time Harry Rivers, Lord Bracken's bastard son, managed to gather some hundred extra cavalry from his father's lands and joined us when we left."

"This restored our troops to around five hundred, with the men we lost and the wounded we had to leave at Stone Hedge. Harry is the young man you saw next to me when I rode in, a good lad that. A little reckless in a fight but he has a good head on his shoulders. He quickly became my second in command."

"When we rode out of Stone Hedge, we got the news that Lord Tywin had taken Harrenhal. Not being able to touch him there, we skirmished with some of his outriders and foragers for a while until he rode to the east to confront your army. The day he left we saw a golden opportunity and took it. First, we took out many of his outriders, effectively blinding him to most our movements. Then we attacked the rearguard's camp in the night. The camp was better protected than we had thought, but we still managed to cut a few dozen horses loose and put half a dozen tents aflame." His uncle said as he saw him smile smugly at the memory of the enemy camp in chaos.

"The next day we ambushed the same rearguard twice. The first time we cut into their lines dealing some damage, but we were quickly repelled by heavy cavalry. The cavalry chased our men down and that's when Harry and two hundred horse triggered the second ambush, where he managed to get into the line and into some of the enemy archers. In total Tywin's rearguard lost some four to five hundred men and a lot of equipment in these attacks."

"The day after, the lion clearly had enough of our little fun and so he sent fifteen hundred men under Ser Flement Brax to chase us down. As we had taken some losses in the fights and were low on supplies, we had to pull back. This Ser Flement, although not a genius, was actually quite capable. We had two skirmishes with him. The first, a night attack we pulled on him failed as he was ready for it. We pulled back before our losses became too big. The second, we ambushed him in a small wooded area not far from the Red Fork. Here we had some success, but he managed to reform his lines quickly and so we couldn't deal him a decisive blow."

"After that we just let him chase us around the Riverlands for a while before losing them and pulling north. Ser Flement led his troops to Riverrun and will probably have joined the siege by now. I planned to harry the Kingslayer's army next and attack their foragers but wanted to link up with Lord Jason first. I managed to reform some wandering parts of Edmure's former force while my scouts looked for the Mallister army. To my surprise my scouts came back to me with the message that Jason had joined a Stark army and so here I am." He finished his tale.

All men looked at him in astonishment after that incredible tale. "Well, I'll drink to that Blackfish!" The Greatjon bellowed after a moment of silence. At this, all his men slammed their drinks on the table and chugged it whole in respect of the men's amazing accomplishments. He followed suit, not wanting to be seen as different to his men.

"How big is the force you brought with you, Ser Brynden?" Ser Wendel Manderly asked.

"I now have around eleven hundred men. Three hundred of my original men, some seventy left of Harry's force. We picked up some hundred more cavalry and the remaining six hundred men are infantry from various lords we came across." His uncle explained.

"That would bring the total of this army to seven thousand four hundred men, of which five thousand horse." He summarized aloud.

"A very capable force." His uncle said approvingly. "If you allow me, I think I have a plan to deal with that damned Kingslayer."


The trap had gone very smoothly. The Kingslayer had marched into the valley with over twenty-five hundred cavalry, chasing his uncle and the trap had sprung. The force was being obliterated in minutes and the Lannister seemed to realize this, as he gathered his men for a mad charge right towards him.

He sees how the force of the man dwindles quickly but still he marches on and successfully reaches his guard. Daryn Hornwood rides towards him but is quickly slain by the Lannister and before his lifeless body hits the ground the man rides on to find Edd in his path. They quickly trade one, two blows before the Kingslayer cuts his neck in a savage blow. To his anguish, he sees his brother-in-law's body fall to the floor.

Immediately, Os and Torr move in to avenge him. The Kingslayer takes off Os's left hand with a lightning quick move and he can only watch in horror as the man's sword slices towards the neck of another one of his childhood friends. Just before it connects, however, the Lannister's horse shrieks a death scream as its neck is mauled by Ghost. The Kingslayer is thrown of the horse, his sword flying away.

The man tumbles across the dirt but tries to get up quickly. "No, you don't." His brother's voice says, his sword against the man's throat. The Lannister clearly thinks about drawing his dagger but suddenly Ghost is there. Silent as no beast should ever be the direwolf suddenly stands but a yard away from the Lannister, as it bares its teeth. Slowly Ser Jaime removes his hand from his waste and sticks them in the air. "I surrender, Snow." Quickly, half a dozen men come and bind the man's hands. "His feet too." He hears his brother say, while he still can't speak too shocked at seeing his two friends cut so savagely.

"Quick," the Smalljon shouts from where the fight had taken place. "Light a torch and bring it here, now!" A torch is immediately lit and brought to him. "Pin him down, he shouts to Owen Norrey and Dacey Mormont." They marched into action and pinned a still screaming Os to the ground. "I'm sorry for this, my friend." Smalljon Umber says as he pushes the red, hot torch against his stump, burning the flesh.

A horrifying scream went up from his friend before he finally lost consciousness. Just after, he heard Jon scream to the remaining Westerland knights. "The Kingslayer is captured, surrender now and you will live. If not, we will send your heads back towards the Westerlands were you came from." At this, the last remaining fighting men stopped and threw down their weapons.

This finally broke him from his trance as he jumped from his horse and marched towards the Smalljon, sitting next to Os body. "Is he … ?" He asked fearfully.

"He lives." The man said seriously. "He lost the hand, but he will live. It is possible that a Maester may need to take more of his arm due to infections, but I managed to quickly burn it off before he lost too much blood."

"Thank you." He said, as he let out a sigh that he didn't know he was holding in. The Umber heir shrugged and mumbled something like "Poor bastard, at least it's not his sword hand."

He then moved towards Edd and he saw Torr sitting with his brother's head in his lap crying. Edd's neck was cut clean open and his blood was everywhere. It had spilled all over Torr's hands and cloths, but his best friend didn't seem to notice. He looked once more at the lifeless body of his fallen brother-in-law and felt the tears streak across his own cheeks as he fell to his knees. He picked up the hand of the boy that had taught him how to ride his first warhorse and sat there.

He was vaguely aware of how Jon had taken over command in his absence and was ordering the men to loot the bodies and get their own fallen soldiers out of the battlefield to make them ready for a burial, as the prisoners were already being let away.

None of it mattered though, he sat and watched the face of one of his brothers fall in slowly, as the minutes passed. The color slowly disappeared from his face and the blood from his neck had stopped flowing.

After a while, he felt a hand on his shoulder and as he turned around, he felt fur envelop him from both sides. The fur moved and suddenly Grey Wind was in front of him, his head in his lap as he looked towards him sadly. At the same time Ghost licked his right cheek silently. He turned his head and saw how Jon silently stood behind him, his arm softly on his shoulder.

His brother looked questioningly towards him and he nodded, snapping out of his grief. He got up and looked once more towards the body of Edd. Grey Wind slowly walked towards him, sniffing at the body. He threw his head back and let out a slow agenizing howl, in the same moment that he himself grabbed on Jon's shoulder for a hug. He broke loose, and asked his brother "The prisoners and the dead? The army?"

"All dealt with." His brother said stoically. "Thank you." He whispered and his brother nodded compassionately. He looked around him and saw how the men of his guard all looked at him in understanding.

The howl of his wolf drew many of their commanders towards them, thinking something had happened to him. Most looked relieved, but there was a very clear exception. Harry rode towards them questioningly, until he saw his brother's lifeless body laying on the ground, his head still cradled across Torr's lap. "No, no, Edd, no!" His brother-in-law screamed as he jumped of his horse and ran towards his brothers, one dead, the other absently sitting there in grief.

All men looked grimly on the scene that was happening before their eyes and many turned away towards their duty to give the brother's some moment of grief alone. The only ones that remained were his loyal guard. He turned towards them and said. "It's fine, I'm safe here. Go and see to your families and men."

As they left too, he walked towards Harry and the two of them hugged. Silent tears streaking over their cheeks. Quickly both of them got a hold of themselves again and Harry asked him "where is Os?"

He turned around and walked Harry towards Os. "Not him too …" Harry silently whispered. "No!" He answered resolutely. "Os is alive, he lost his left hand but the Smalljon burned his stump quickly and stopped the bleeding. He will live." His brother-in-law nodded absently at that. In the distance he saw how a man with a cart was coming his way to bring Os towards the Maester.

"Who did it?" Harry suddenly asked, all grief in his voice turned into venom in a second.

"The Kingslayer … he rode towards me. Daryn Hornwood tried to stop him but was killed in one blow. Next Edd tried to stop him, but … failed. Torr and Os rode to revenge your brother and the Kingslayer cut of Os' hand. The moment he was about to deal the killing blow, Jon's wolf bit out his horse's throat and my brother captured him.

"The cunt is still alive? After that? Where is he? I'll put his head on a pike myself!" The man growled, hate and pain all visible in his voice.

He took his brother-in-law's shoulders in his hands. "We can't Harry. He is too valuable a hostage. If we kill him, they will kill my father and all possible hostages they will take from your father's host. We can't."

The man looked at him with hateful eyes but nodded and he let him go as he marched back to Torr. The brothers embraced one another as Torr finally let go of the body. He walked up towards them and embraced Torr as well.

"Can you arrange to send his body home? He belongs in Karhold with our ancestors, not here in some Gods forgotten valley in the Riverlands." Torr asked.

"Yes, I will. I will have him and Daryn Hornwood's bones send to the North. Os will live, but he lost a hand." Torr just nodded at that.

He left to take back command of his army, when Harry stopped him. "Are you going to attack the Lannister camp as planned." He was asked. "Aye," he nodded with a heavy heart "Edd's sacrifice can't be for not. We'll attack in a few days, once everything here is dealt with and the army has rested."

Harry nodded, before his eyes steeled. "I want a command. I don't care what it is or who I attack but I want to bath in Lannister blood the coming days and I want them to know it is a Karstark who did it to them."

"Come with me to the meeting, we'll see what we can do."


Ned

It had been a few days since Varys had visited him, or so he thought. No one knew in this place. He had thought long and hard on what to do but it was clear to him now. He was no Maester but he knew his leg was horrible. The infection was very grave, and he would at the least lose his leg. If not, he would die. He was sure of that.

The Lannisters clearly didn't look out for him and he would die within weeks anyway. He would never see his children again, but luckily all were out of the clutches of that damned golden haired family. If he was to die, he would do it out there with his honor intact for the good cause. Not here forgotten in this dark cell. As such he had finally called for Rugen this morning, the name Varys held here. He had said he had wanted to confess.

His moment had come, he would finally join his father, mother, brother and sister. The only thing that he feared was that he wouldn't be allowed to rest in Winterfell with his family. Knowing that that wasn't sure whatever he did, the choice between dying alone in a dungeon or a possible way to topple the Lannisters through it was easy though.

His cell door opened, and he was dragged outside with two cold cloaks carrying him. He was blinded by the light when they got outside as he was dragged into the keep. He was carried in front of Varys, Cersei Lannister and her brother Tyrion Lannister.

"As promised, Your Grace." The slippery spider sat as he waved at him.

"Yes, thank you Lord Varys." She said. "You finally wish to confess?" She asked him and he nodded, trying to make a defeated impression.

"Good, get him outside towards the Sept of Baelor. I want all the people to see." She laughed menacingly.

"Cersei, this is dumb. He is far more worth as a prisoner. Keep him here, make him confess in front of the nobles and give him a bath for fuck's sake. Father will be wroth, if something happens to him." Tyrion said and he felt scared, as the small man clearly had more sense than his older sister.

"No, I want the people to know what happens to traitors. He must be punished. His confession will legitimize Joffrey's rule and after father beats his pup in battle, with Lord Eddard at the Wall, the boy will have to bend the knee." The Queen waved her brother's concerns away.

"At least take enough of the gold cloaks. The people are fickle, especially now that refugees from the Southern Riverlands are coming in and Renly has cut off our food supply from the Reach. Our guard here was severely damaged in capturing Lord Eddard." Tyrion pleaded, at what he thought was a very interesting conversation. The Lannisters seemed to be surrounded, Robb in the north, Stannis in the east and Renly in the south.

"Yes, yes. You do it. Ask how many gold cloaks you want and more, I do not care." She waved him away. Tyrion sighed and the Queen walked off.

He was then locked in a carriage, where he quickly lost consciousness.

He was woken up by a bucket of water being thrown over his head. He looked up and saw that he was outside on the steps of the Sept of Baelor. Seeing that he was awake, Ser Ilyn Payne waved to some of the men over here to carry him. He was placed in chains before a sitting place where Joffrey, Cersei and the Small Council sat.

Before him, thousands upon thousands of people had gathered. All looked at him with blood in their eyes. They were just trying to have a spectacle in their otherwise miserable life in this stinking city. More than a few of them looked hungry and desperate.

"Dear people of King's Landing." The blond bastard of Cersei said. "You have come here to finally hear the confession of the former Hand of the King, Lord Eddard Stark. The man has committed treason and wishes to confess." He said with a smug and evil smile.

He was pushed forward. He sat there on his knees looking to the crowd and for the first time in weeks, he didn't feel afraid. This was his fate.

"I come here to confess a treason, yes. However, not mine. I come here to confess the treason of the Queen Cersei Laninister on the late King Robert Baratheon." At this he heard a lot of gasps coming from everywhere, but he didn't dare wait and continued quickly." She slept with her brother the Kingslayer and all her children are his, bastards born of incest. They have no claim to the throne and are abominations to Gods and men." He shouted as hard he could.

The chaos that erupted was enormous. People started shouting everywhere. Joffrey screeched from behind him. "KILL HIM! I want that traitor dead! Kill him!" While the Queen was screaming to silence him.

He was grabbed and put on the execution block as he noticed how stones were being thrown towards the Lannisters and shouts of pushing and violence begin to stir from below him. As he was being held down, he heard what sounded like a scream of a man dying and then another. He noticed how more and more stones and other things were thrown towards Joffrey and the Queen and as he forcefully lifted his eyes, he saw how hundreds if not thousands of people were storming the stairs of the Sept.

Between them were only one or two hundred gold cloaks, although they were quickly being reinforced from the gold cloaks that had been stationed on the stairs. Still a rain of stones went up towards these reinforcements, several men falling before they reached the line. "Kill the traitors. Kill them all, I command you to kill them all!" He heard the blonde shit scream from behind him but he didn't care anymore. The truth was out, there was no way this wouldn't spread.

Ser Ilyn Payne grabbed a huge axe and prepared to swing. Having already made his peace with his Gods and family long before he came here, he said all he had left to say. "Stannis Baratheon is the rightful King. Joffrey is a bastard born of incest." He screamed at the top of his lungs as the axe came down. He felt a distinct pain in his neck and then everything went black.


This is it for this chapter!

Robb wins his first victory. Notice that both Robb and Jaime's army are bigger here than in canon. Losses are similar as the trap works the same, minimal for the Starks, big for the Lannisters with a lot of nobles taken prisoner.

We also lose Ned He was slowly dying in the dungeons and decides to go out swinging instead of lonely in the dark. In response the populace of King's Landing revolts against the Lannisters. More on that later.

Next up is the battle of the Camps.

Thank you for all the support and reviews!

Fannic


- Supremus85: Thank you!

- Kingmanaena: Thank you so much! Well he did, but it cost him his life ...

- Thecurler66: I appreciate the long review! Your fear for Ned was founded ... I really didn't want him to die but realistically with Joffrey there was no other way.

I didn't kill both Karstarks, the presence of Jon and Osric changed this. Still a gruesome end for poor Edd ... I really liked his character development too but this is ASOIAF, if you don't kill some favorites (Jory, Edd Karstark, ...) it's not realistic or thrilling anymore in my eyes.

Roose Bolton for now is a great mystery and I like to keep it that way. However, his position is a lot different than in canon now. Having lost hist command he can't just kill off his rivals and havingmost of his melee infantry, he won't be abel to make as big a moves in that army. Domeric, is a big strength for the Boltons. He commands both the Dustin and Bolton cavalry with Robb and can make a lot of an influence here, so Roose has a lot to think about.

I love that you found the story again! Yes I do appreciate it a lot.

- Youngthundercat67: Well sabotaging the North is maybe too big of a statement. I do think he wanted to diminish his rivals power, but not necessarily Robb's or the North's. Just improve his own position by killing of his rivals armies and letting their lords be captured. His tactic was really dumb and I think he did his best to maximize losses for Houses Hornwood, Cerwyn, Manderly and Karstark. So glad I"m able to change that here.

Well Tywin's battle plan was okay. He just made it on assumptions that he had no way of knowing. Expecting Robb to be a brash youth without ever having seen him is just ... cocky. Yes, I see Robb defeat Tywin as well, especially with the help of the Blackfish. Tywin I think is a good general through a lot of experience, but not at all an exceptional one. His big flaw however is he thinks so highly of himself that he often underestimates opponents. A trait he has passed on to his two elder children.

Thank you so much!

- Williams1996: He brought around 20.5k men south. Yeah the North can muster a lot more but you have to realize that includes the garrisons of many castles. Robb isn't going to leave Sansa, Arya, and Rickon undefended. Well, neither are the other lords going to do that to their children. So I think at least 5 to 8k of the possible troops are now in or around castles (600 in Winterfell and 600 in Dreadfort in canon for example). The others haven't been raised yet (like the Mountain Clans).

- Kuman: Thank you! Yeah Rickard is ruthless like the old lords of the North. Thank you for notifying me, I fixed that immediately! Yeah from Rickard's (untrustworthy) estimation Tywin lost some 3500-4000 men. In the future more trustworthy scouting missions will show the accurate numbers, just like in reality. Keep in mind that Tywin still has his force march south, where he loses hundreds of wounded men.

In medieval times, before Crecy, archers used to target each other. So if you're in the thick of battle like Tyrion you don't see archers used as much. Companies like that is difficult because you would need a standing army, although they would be very powerful!

How did you think Jon's difference was handled.

- Mikkelibob: Thanks I guess? ;-) I try to be realistic from the changes I have made. Rickard did amazing here, also because Tywin underestimated and expected Robb. Winning against 7000 heavy cavalry is very difficult when you have a few hundred and Tywin is not as dumb as the french were at Poitiers or Crecy.

- Fyrflame: Rickard might feel a little overconfident after what he has managed to accomplish. He's only human after all. Tywin isn't out of the game yet, not by a long shot.

- Anja Quikert9: What did you think?

- Groverthegoat: He is definitely in the story and important! I have had him as a POV before a while back. As you see here he is with Robb and he is slowly growing into the role of Robb's right hand man. Already he is the second in command for the Winterfell troops and all the Northmen will respect him, especially after his capture of the Kingslayer. This is hopefully written clearly here when Robb is in grief, that Jon takes over. Even the Karstarks won't protest at all, as he saved Osric's (and probably Torrhen's) life. As such Jon will grow to be 'the Kevan Lannister' of the Starks. He will get side commands, will take over when Robb is unavailable, ... It just takes time for him to develop.

- Knight8: Jon Snow's parentage will be in the story. It will play a large role in Jon's character arc but I won't say more about that. I haven't completely fleshed it out yet. I completely agree with your assessment of Tywin. Not amazing but experienced. He won't make the same mistakes twice out of ignorance.

- Force Smuggler: He is a ruthless bastard that loves his family, house and country, in contrast to Roose who only loves power and maybe the legacy of the Bolton's.

- TheNiemand: Thank you very much! Very glad you found the story and are so actively involved in it.

- Poly19hum: Thank you so much! It is very important for me to know that it makes sense, both storywise and in topic (here strategy), and that it is still agreeable to read.

- Guest1: wow

- Guest2: He didn't, Frey started of with the highest demands and when he refused he saw that Frey was getting mad and greedy. He offered Bran because otherwise Frey could call Rickard's bluff and say Sansa or you can't cross. Rickard knew this and played on Walder's greed with the tales of Hoster's favorite grandson to distract him from Arya and Sansa. Besides, Rickard doesn't give a single fuck about squires (Southern nonsense) and wards he knew wasn't going to cut it.