Niclas Piper is the son of two members of House Piper making him a member of House Piper.
Niclas Piper would be born the first child between Hanns Piper II. and his new second wife Gretta Piper and thus he was outside of the main family line but throughout his youth he was close with his full sister Miana Piper, and her half sibling Seline Piper, but his relationship with his father and other siblings was tense at the best of times. Niclas Piper would following the incorperation of House Piper into the Kingdom of Lucerne work very hard to try and keep his family connected first travelling to Riverrun where he promiced to lead any forces they required from House Piper, and this would truly come to pass during the Invasion of Westbridge when he led a force from House Piper northward into the Invasion of Westbridge. Niclas Piper would return following the Invasion of Westbridge but was kept out of the loop by his family and thus he fought against his own family during the Bandit War on Rigen. House Piper would be a major part of the Ironborn Raid on Rigen where they would refuse to assist their lord in House Oakheart of the Riverlands and led to the destruction of significant lands in southern Maidenshore, with only Niclas Piper positvely influencing any of the Ironborn attacks when he took a cavalry force from Pinkmaiden southward to assist.
History[]
Early History[]
Niclas Piper would be born the first child between Hanns Piper II. and his new second wife Gretta Piper and thus he was outside of the main family line but throughout his youth he was close with his full sister Miana Piper, and her half sibling Seline Piper, but his relationship with his father and other siblings was tense at the best of times.
Invasion of Westbridge[]
Main Article : Invasion of Westbridge
Invasion of Westbridge The Fall of Westbridge would shake the entire continent to its core. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The invasion of Westbridge was a plan that William finally finalized in his mind followed his meetings with Karl Franz through the Magi stones known as the Meeting of the Dragon and the Griphon. The meeting had started with a lot of promise but following the initial talks it became clear to both of them that they shared some serious ideological problems, and on top of that where William had believed there would be talk about the survival of Arnor when Arnor was brought up it was as if it was a forgone conclusion that Austria would take control of Arnor, and that wasn't acceptable for Lucerne. On one side of things he knew he had a sibling that was now queen of Arnor and thus he could not leave her survival to chance. On the second part he knew that if The Empire struck against Arnor and took it then the bottleneck they had for centuries would be gone, and they might spread south without resistance. When he looked at actually being able to intervene in Arnor and what that possibility might lead to his commanders and strategists would all suggest that would be foolhardy and would have little chance of success. What wouldn`t have a slight chance of success was if they could take Westbridge as a position to hold against the potential invasion of The Empire. In order to stop this William went about planning the invasion of Westbridge which he believed would create the defense position from which even with the fall of Arnor which he now believed was a certainty Lucerne could hold on against The Empire. In order to launch this main assault House Lovie would bring with them nearly all of their vassals including everything not part of western Lucerne of which would be remaining behind.
Many houses from the region would send nearly their entire force, and in this way this was a large gamble in many ways as the way of the Orcs coming through the pass would be only defended by the forces of House Greymane of whom were commanded to not send anything into the Invasion of Westbridge and would remain behind to defend the pass. The main army would also be supported by several smaller but still significant mercenary, and volunteer forces including a mercenary group in the form of the Tarried Men sent from the Yairns and led by Jaerenor Aerareon of which was kept completely in the dark but moved north with the force in what they were told was a rebellion in the Riverlands. Making Camp[]
As the main land force moved northward into the Riverlands it was idea that directly before the two major towns of southern Westbridge that the main army would make one last major stop, and allow the fleet to be in position north of Kul Tiras, and allow House Scott, and House Shepard to marshal their forces to attack Westian, and Braedin. Arriving at Riverrun the main army would meet with significant forces from Lorderon led by William Lovie III's brother Jamie Portmane of whom would accompany the main army in its movement north. The Martells fought beside the main army as it moved towards the southern gateway of Westbridge, and as they camped out during the day in the forest Leven got the chance to see William Lovie again for the first time in a long time. During most of the day the men were resting so that they would be ready for the night attack, but William was constantly on the move visiting the different house leaders and finding out all the things that were going on with them. The visits with many of the Lords went smoothly but his arrival in the camp of House Scarlet really showed him a true side of his vassals. Entering their part of the camp he was met by their members of whom all spoke kindly, and inside the main tent they revealed how many men they had brought of which was far more then he had believed they would have been able to mount on such short notice. Saiden, and his brother Renault led the meeting as they promised that anything that was needed of House Scarlet and their vassals they would gladly do, and Nicoli Machievelli would tell William that he would stay behind and discuss more things with the Scarlets. Meeting after House Scarlet with House Swift of whom assembled in a long line upon the arrival of William Lovie III. and his entourage. William Swift, and his brother John Swift both stepped forward and led William and his force into the center of House Swifts forces where they met with the Swift vassals of whom Joshua, and Emile Hirsh also stood up and made themselves known to the King of Lucerne.
One of his final meetings would come with House Martell of whom was one of the premier houses of House Lovie`s entourage and also Leven Martell a member of the Shadow Council was with the Martell forces. Leven Martell would be waiting all day for the arrival of her best friend, and their actual meeting took place when William came to the Martell part of the camp to meet with Doran Martell who he assumed would be leading the force, but when he arrived at the command tent to find the three Martell sisters looking over the battle plans and talking furiosly over the plans. When they finally noticed that he was their flanked to his right by Jasper Hale, and to his left by Draco Highmore they watched panicked for what his reaction would be to the realization that Doran wasn't leading the force but instead it was his three young daughters. Instead of anger he looked to his two friends and begin laughing before walking to the table and discussing with them the upcoming battle. As the group dispersed, Leven stepped forward towards William and she made a note of how quickly Jasper moved to shield the prince from what he must have deemed as a hostile gesture from Leven. Instead of hostility she wished to speak to him, and he was basically done for the day so he said that she could follow him to his tent and they could discuss old times.
As she followed him back to his tent she had a moment to watch how much he had changed. Where once he had been wild and charismatic in a way that made you feel used but at the same time want to, he was now kinder, and his charisma was a gentle thing that seeped off him and instead of feeling like their was a nefarious reason behind the kind words now he seemed to truly care. She watched as he greeted everyone that he walked by, and when they finally reached his tent they moved through the numerous gaurds, and entered his inner room. Inside the room she wondered what would happen but she was suprised when he let out a sigh and slumped down on a chair. She laughed at the moment before joining him in the seat beside him, where she gave him a moment to relax before they begin talking. They laughed and joked and the feelings that Leven had for him returned just as strong as they had once been, and as the conversation got later she begin to plan to attempt to seduce him. This plan changed when they begin discussing his children, and when she heard him discuss them she realized just how far he had come. Despite the fact that she wanted him. Despite the fact that she was still in love with him, she knew that she couldn't do it. Even if she believed that she was capable of seducing him she didn't have the heart to do it to him considering everything he had become. So without that in mind she ended up falling asleep in his room with perhaps the first true friend she had ever had.
The two falling asleep together was noticed by Jasper Hale of whom was sleeping in the same tent as William as his main bodyguard and while Jasper never discussed seeing this he noted it for himself. While William and Leven went inside the tent to get ready for bed Jasper knew he had one last visit to make in the form of House Arryn. During this he was accompanied by Emmett who believed that he could make the situation less uncomfortable and actually get something done. Arriving in the Arryn part of the giant camp he discovered that Bryan Arryan hadn`t made the trip and had sent Paul Arryn in his stead. Knowing Paul was a skilled fighter he discussed with them what would cause Bryan to not come for such an important event and heard for the first time about how weak willed Bryan was beyond what he already knew about.
Leaving the Arryn tent he visited House Krinner, and Dorin of whom he would count upon to take up a significant portion of the attack, as House Arryn would be launching against the keep to the west of the main gatehouse. While the main force attacked the gate castle, the forces of House Arryn would attack the small port/town of Vlasnia that harbored to the west of the gatehouse. A relatively heavily defended section of Westbridge this was of supreme importance that this be taken quickly by House Arryn otherwise the heavy artillery that was in place inside the port. Because of the damage taken by House Arryn's leadership caste it was the decision of Byron Arryn that he not lead the force and thus House Arryn and its vassals were being led into battle by Martin, and Paul Arryn, as well as his son Derek, and his niece Spencer Arryn of whome was known to be there by Martin but most others thought she was a mercenary hired by the Arryns to offset their losses. Jasper would spend much of the night discussing the plans for the next day with the Arryns and he would find a surprising intelligence in Derek Arryn, and he would make a note in his memory to make sure that William knew of this mans potential. When this was over he and Emmett would leave the command tent of House Arryn and return to their respective Houses where they would be leading their respective attacks. For Jasper that meant he would be fighting alongside his best friend William Lovie as a member of the Praetorian Gaurd, while Emmett would be truly bringing the growing forces of House McCarty to the forefront with his assistence. The Beginning is the End[]
While the Invasion of Westbridge was split into many different sections with the forces of House Scott, and House Shephard attacking the two major towns south of Westbridge in Westian, and Braedin. While they did this House Lannister, and House Starke prepared to invade the main island by use of the Lucernian fleet in the dark of night, of which their attack would corespond with the attack of the main force on the south gate, and the Order of the Blue Dragon on the northern Gate. With all this in wait House Swan would invade Yerness which would block any relief from coming south from the Westbridge forces north of the town, as well as stopping Voldermorte from coming south by boat. While this happened House Lovie moved north towards the Westbridge town of Margrove which had before the battle had started been assumed to be a minor town controlled by the wealthy House Pollen but relatively undefended. Rebels in the area though would discover differently and thus information flooded into the high command that Margrove had been fortified by House Pollen and it would now be a major obstacle for the movement northwards. The High Council got together and discussed their options briefly, and William knew that he didn't have time to besiege the city so after Saiden Scarlet volunteered he left behind House Scarlet and gave them the charge of taking Margrove and then holding the town until the Invasion was over. The vast army would then surround the completely unprepared city, and once the defenders knew how many were around them they hunkered down for a siege and waited for reinforcements. Only a few hours after surrounding the city and under cover of darkness House Lovie and the majority of the force would depart and leave House Scarlet, Mien, and House Fraizen, alongside a force of Riverlanders led by Amory Justman and House Justman, and House Keath alongside House Keath's vassals in charge of continuing the siege. All of this coordination which would have been near impossible before the coming of the Magi for Lucerne was all made possible through the heavy use of the Magi Stones of Lucerne of which allowed the different sections of the army to communicate with the main army and this made sure that everyone attacked at the same time and thus the element of surprise was at its most extreme. Final Moments[]
During the next day their was an almost awkward silence that fell over the massive army, and nearly the entire command structure of the attacking force as everyone understood that night would signal the attack they had all been preparing for and obsessing over for the past week. During the day House Arryn would silently march its way out of the main camp alongside House Heard, House Krinner, and House Dorin where the would prepare for their invasion of Vlasnia the town located just west of Westbridge's main port. With their departure William Lovie begin to create a buzz as he once again spent the afternoon visiting as many of his troops and commanders as he could, and it was during the final few hours that he would order the beginning of the attack. When dusk hit he ordered that House Martell led by Wilheim Martell would move forward and hidden in the forest they would move to the east of the fortress and prepare to board the boats they had made for the purpose of their attack behind the lines. As the Martells left William Lovie would be prepared to say one last goodbye to his friend Leven Martell, but when he finally found her he heard her talking to Emmett about how excited she was to be so close to the Shadow Council again and he would change his mind keeping her with his personal guard. House Lovie, House Skane, and House Faraday alongside the Order of the Red Dragon, and the tens of thousands of men of the Lovie vassals would form the main attack along the castle while the forces of House Jackson, House Cullen, and House Vaith would attack along the flanks of the castle using heavy artillery to shield their troops who would mainly be using ladders to assail the walls. Alongside this attack would be of course the House Martell attack which would be assisted as well by the Order of the Violet Dragon who had been busy at work infiltrating the southern gatehouse keep with rebel troops, as well as murdering watch commanders so that the walls would be sparsely defended giving the attackers the most time possible to get on the walls.
As the armies of Lucerne massed in the valley the Order of the Violet Dragon moved northward in their entire strength and silently over the course of a few days infiltrated the city of Westbridge. The Order already had sympathizers in the city as House Malfoy was extremely unpopular in Westbridge and as such it wasn't hard to find people that were loyal. With roughly a month before the army of Lucerne was to arrive the forces of the Order of the Violet Dragon went about changing schedules for the defenders so as to weaken sections of the wall. Those who it was planned to survive the conflict were basically given vacations on the day of the conflict so that they would not be caught up in the conflict and all those who were not were either killed if possible or allowed to go about their normal routine and thus die in the attack. As well as this they begin setting up a rather sophisticated, and well equipped rebel army that on the day of the invasion would be completely focused on taking control of the southern gate. This rebel force was made up of the forces in the villages and towns of northern Westbridge, and led by Ser Polliver Grouillin of whom had watched his household lose all influence and led the forces south of Westbridge in betraying their neglectful overlords in House Malfoy.
Inside the city Ezio Ederiz stands with a large grouping of Order of the Violet Dragon in an abandoned house where they await word from the Magi stone telling them that William is ready for the true chaos to begin. After hours of waiting past when they thought it would be Ezio, Benjamin Bradfoot and Dama plan to go into the street and make sure there are no increased preparations from the defenders, and while in the street the stone activates and they are forced to answer it inside a merchants store that is luckily closed for the night. The Attack[]
The moment that dusk settled on the skies above the army William Lovie gave the order to begin moving to attacking positions, and then quickly had his messengers alert the other sections of the attack by Magi Stone's that the attack was now moving forward. The siege machines were pushed forward in case the siege didn't work according to plan and they were forced to bash their way through while at the same time the hundreds of ladders, and dozens of siege towers were silently pushed forward as well by dozens of oxen. The siege towers were the main thing that might be noticed and thus they were covered with trees and it was hoped that the darkness and the lack of real defenders on the walls would allow the towers to get nearly to the walls before noticed. As the army pushed forward it was the Griffins of House Griffon and the Order of the Red Dragon that first hit the defenders as hundreds of Griffin Riders landed in the towers and within the keep of the southern gate and made a mess of the defenders. Led by Tristifer Griffon the forces of House Griffon would cause near complete collapse of the defenders on the wall, and as the attackers reached the walls and climbed through the siege towers there was only a few that actually fell to the defenders as they had been devastated. By the time William Lovie III., and the other members of the main force had reached the gate Clarke Greymane, and Garrett Elbertson had placed the flag of Lucerne on the largest tower, and the front gate was being opened by other Griffin Riders.
Tristifer Griffon and his Griffon Riders had broken the defenders and opened the gates allowing the massive force inside the walls, and they proceeded to mop up the remaining defenders of the southern gatehouse. Leaving the southern gatehouse and making their way towards the bridge spanning the mainland to the real city of Westbridge William would stop the army momentarily and await the flags of the rebels to go up on the other side of the bridge. When the flags didn't go up initially there was fear it had failed for the rebels, but a few minutes later the flags went up and the entire main force begin moving across the bridge spilling into the main island.
The defenses were by this point collapsing all across the line, and they were greeted by the sights of the rebels holding hundreds prisoner all across the main island. During their movement though William and his center would come under assault from a fanatical group of Deatheaters of whom came directly for the king hoping to kill him. The many lords and knights around him fought at his side as they fought against this final counter assault, and one by one the Deatheaters fell dead as their Magi was muted by the defenses on the runic armor of William, and the several Magi around him. William would as they pushed forward make his way with most of the main army towards the holdings of House Labeouf where they would make sure they were safe, but he sent Joshua Jackson, and the forces of House Skane, and their vassals towards the final holding of Lucius Malfoy of whom they wanted to capture but if he died it would also be fine. Death of Lucius Malfoy[]
With the fall of the final gatehouse into the main city, and the quickly debarking marines from House Starke, and House Lannister the forces remaining under the command of Lucius Malfoy waited for his command, and he ordered them to retreat to the Malfoy Keep for what everyone believed was a last stand. At this moment more then half the remaining men under his command would under the command of Peter Arnault who had joined the forces of the Order of the Violet Dragon days before, would lay their swords down instead of follow what Lucius wanted to do which was a last stand. Peter Arnault realizing in this moment that Lucius was not a terrible man, just a man who was under the leadership of a monster would offer Lucius a chance at survival but quickly discovered from Lucius's response that he no longer wished to live anymore. So without the majority of his forces and unwilling to spill anymore of his own people's blood Lucius traveled over the bridge with less then thirty men left and ordered the men to prepare for the final attack. He was reported to by a messenger that the Hall of the Deatheaters had just fallen, thus meaning their final means of escaping the city was gone as the forces of Hogwarts alongside the Order of the Blue Dragon had teleported directly inside the building after the wards had been destroyed by traitors within the Malfoy forces. With the means of escape gone, and not fearing a return of his brother he knew that the city had fallen to the forces of Lucerne and in this Lucius saw this as his chance to finally die. As his remaining men prepared to die in the last stand, he knew he had to make sure that his son Lucius wasn't going to make the same mistakes that he did. Returning across the bridge with his men Lucius first went to his youngest son in Draco Malfoy, and the only one left in his family who he felt had any morals left and told him the following.
Following this he took out his sword and walked to the center of the bridge connecting the main island to the palace, and stood waiting for the forces of Lucerne to come. His men waited around him horrified but still remaining loyal to the end, and in that moment he ordered them to lay their swords down, and return to stand with his family. After a few minutes Joshua Jackson arrived on the bridge with his men, and told Lucius to stand down and accept the surrender of the city. Lucius just laughed at them and said that his time was over, and if they had any compassion they would end him. Joshua knew something about compassion for the weak, and he ordered his men to stand down while he engaged Lucius in a duel, of which both knew how the duel would end. By this point Draco had escaped the grasp of his mother of whom had been holding him back and Draco would watch from the tower overlooking the bridge as the two fought and as Draco watched on Lucius was killed by Joshua Jackson, and then released gently into the river.
Joshua would lead his men across the bridge and find the remaining members of House Malfoy and their vassal aristocrats lying on the ground with their swords thrown away. Seeing this he ordered his men to take them into captivity until they knew what to do with them. As the House Jackson men moved to do this, Draco finally came to the conclusion that would change everything. Draco would rise from the rest of the surrendered troops and stand up, and seeing this his mother would yell at him to lay down, and think about his wife who was in another part of the city, but he had to escape and so he ran from the group and climbed to the top of the House Malfoy keep. Chased by the men of House Jackson, and the now arriving House Lovie forces, and the shouting of his mother he would jump from the ramparts into the water nearly thirty feet down barely missing the rocks. Hitting the water he stayed under as long as he possibly could before hiding under the outcropping of rocks so that none could see him. The Jackson men believed he was dead, and thus he managed to escape but left behind much of his family and his wife and young son.
With the death of Lucius, and the the capture of the remaining resistance within the final Malfoy keep the city of Westbridge was well and truly fallen into the hands of Lucerne. Following this news and dealing with the Meghanna issue William would meet with the commanders of the attack at the center of town, and already news had filtered in about the fall of Yerness, and the numerous towns south of Wesbridge having fallen as well. Realizing he had a true victory William would command to have the Labeoufs, along with House Arnault, and House Hartrian brought to the center of the town where he would have a meeting with them in order to tell them of the direction he saw the city now moving towards and to make sure they knew they had nothing to fear from him the way they must have feared the Malfoy's. The New Order[]
The meeting of the leadership of the Lucernian attack, and the remaining nobility of Westbridge would happen in the Palace grounds of Westbridge outside in a large amphitheater where William could speak openly to the entire leadership of Westbridge. While this population of the town was brought forward, and from there he named House Labeouf the new Arch Lords of the Grand State of Westbridge, while Harry Labeouf would stand as the Arch Lord. Promicing to assist in rebuilding the city, the people would cheer as the Malfoy`s and their madness was pushed out and the new Lucerne-Labouef union began. |
Battle of Margrove My King I shall take the city for you. |
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Battle of Margrove[] |
Banditry War of Maidenshore[]
New Rebellion Everyone on this island knows that it was you Pipers that did all this. We may never prove it but the fact remains. There is no one on this island who does not know you are the reason so many of their family lie dead in shallow graves. |
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With the departure of a large portion of the forces of House Goodbrooke from the Island of Maidenshore to assist with the Invasion of Westbridge it was seen as an obvious move by House Piper to move against them as they were sending only a token force under Niclas Piper, but this would be forseen by House Tully of whom while preparing for the Invasion of Westbridge would send Beron Rivers the bastard son of Lord Edmure Tully to the island and he would go to Stoney Steppe and tell House Piper that if they to become involved in anything hostile against House Goodbrooke or the island then they would lose their title and be executed. With this threat in mind Kervis Piper would not be completely turned away from his chance at revenge as all he had left was Padme Goodbrooke and with her death House Goodbrooke was finished. Returning Allies[]Staying Alive[]Following the Advise of Oswell Lothston it would be Lucas Oakheart that would travel southward with his small personal forces through the Island of Maidenshore unlike the rest of House Oakheart and the House Scott forces who chose to travel by boat from Riverrun. Padme would become involved with Lucas Oakheart after he was injured defending his caravan while they were returning to the valley of Lucerne. She would be mistaken for a maid by Lucas and this led to him being more authentic with her then he might have been to a riverlord, and they would become close. After he got an infection in his wound many believed he would die, and Padme stayed by his side taking constant care of him, and this sealed the bond between the two. When he healed he begged her to come back with him to Tree Hill, and she told him who she was, and he was briefly mad but got over it and they once again rekindling their affections. Siege of Pinkmaiden[]Battle of Bridwel Hill[]Vitus would be defeated at the final battle of Bridwel Hill and following this defeat he would be sacrificed by his uncle and executed at Riverrun where despite chances to rat his family out he took their involvement to the grave and was executed without raising any proof despite being tortured at the end by House Blackwood. |
Ironborn Invasion of the Riverlands[]
Main Article : Ironborn Invasion of the Riverlands
The Raid on Rigen The Ironborn had overstepped their place, and would pay. |
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Following the rise of Euron Greyjoy the Ironborn begin reaving the western lands again as Euron was attempting to sow chaos amongst the Lucernian allies and try to stop the flow of reinforcements into Bolten. Seeing the Riverlands as the great reserve yet untapped by the Kingdom of Lucerne Euron would send three large Reaving fleets to the Riverlands of which one was meant to feign an attack on Pinkmaiden, while the other two would divide into two fleets and with their large fleet they would reave the lands of House Justman, and House Lancer of whom were on the island of Rigen. On the island of Rigen the forces of House Lancer, and House Justman were the supreme powers of the island and both of them had spent generations not remembering the threat that the Ironborn poised to them, and thus their fleets remained anchored, and their military forces were lax in much of their preparation. In this state the Ironborn would move under the command of Stygg Tawney of whom led some two hundred ships against the port of Weldenvale, while his second in command Tom Tidewood would lead sixty ships against Castle Lancer, and the lands surrounding the castle. The plan was for Tom Tidewood to move south and attack the richer Lancer lands, while Stygg Tawney waited nearly three days before making his presence known, and then once he had he would delay any relief from the Justman's and thus allow Tom to escape with all the loot he could.
Stygg Tawney had brought some sixty of his ships as large Cogs, as they were planning to haul away a lot of goods, and materials from the island of Rigen. The mines of Lancer were one of the first places that Tom Tidewood would plan to hit, and Tom knew that the Lancer's had a relatively weakly defended hold fast near the mines that defended them, but he knew that he would be able to take it quite easily. Moving to land near Castle Lancer, he moved ashore with half his force, while the other half moved around the island to the site of the mines of Lancer where they would rush the small holdfast of Sturren Hold, and then from there take as much loot from the mines as they could. Tom Tidewood would quickly move ashore and lying before Sturren Hold the Ironborn would sack the town of Sturrenia of which they hung hundreds of bodies in the town square and looted everything they could get their hands on. Amongst the dead was the heir to House Stur in Wallen Stur of whom had attempted to bargain his son Gorold Stur back from the Ironborn who had taken him, but was instead murdered and hung before the Keep of which was one of the few places that didn't fall. Emly Stur (Emly Lancer) and her daughter Bethany Stur would be taken hostage alongside several other high nobles as the Ironborn sent these slaves back to the boats while they moved to attack Sturren Hold.
Following the sack of Sturrenia the Ironborn would assault Sturren Hold of which had also not been alerted to the danger and was taken completely unaware. Fighting at the Hold would be bloody, and the defenders were able to close the gate briefly before it was retaken again, and the Ironborn flooded inside killing every man inside the Hold including the heir to House Lancer in the form of Arnell Lancer, and following his murder his wife Leven would become enraged and killed two Ironborn before she was shot through with a crossbow bolt. With the hold taken the Ironborn would ransack everything of value including using hundreds of prisoners to push carts of minerals to the cogs offshore, and taking hundreds of slaves from around the Hold. At this point Castle Lancer came under assault, but by complete luck the guards on the main gatehouse were able to close the gate, and set off the alarm, and following this the battle devolved into a siege of which the Ironborn could no win, as they didn't have the required tools to take the castle. After two days of the seige it became clear that the Ironborn couldn't assault them, and thus realizing that the Ironborn were simply delaying them, Arwood Lancer would lead a force of some three hundred cavalry out of the castle and move around the rear of the Ironborn forces, and seeing this the Ironborn pulled back and were harassed for hours as they retreated back to the boats. Arwood would stop the chase as he regrouped with some three hundred men at arms from the region who had arrived outside of Sturrenia where they entered the town to find much of it burned to the ground, and hundreds dead. Arwood would find his sister's husband and child hung outside of the main keep, and from survivors he learned that his sister and her one daughter had been taken captive by the Ironborn and had escaped by the boats with the rest of them.
With the attack on the Lancer lands underway the second and smaller force led by the overall leader Stygg Tawney would move the fleet outside of Weldenvale in order to alert the Justman forces they were there. Having heard of the attack on the Lancers from ravens they had been preparing to assist the Lancers, but seeing the Ironborn fleet and watching several Longships moving into the rivers they would end that plan, and instead prepare to attack the Ironborn fleet. Armory Justman would lead the Weldenvale Fleet that was some forty ships strong so was weaker then the Ironborn, but the Ironborn were less capable of fighting fleet actions, and thus the Weldenvale fleet spent two days attempting to draw them into battle, but the Ironborn continued to flee, and then on the third day they received word of the extent of the reaving in the south, and the fact that the Ironborn there had been able to escape, thus realizing reinforcements were coming the Weldenvale fleet returned to port and went into defensive action. Believing the assault would happen the next day the entire garrison was under high alert, but two days passed and nothing happened, and it was only when they received a raven from Lorderon saying the Ironborn had slipped through the Lorderon Pass that they realized they had been tricked the entire time. Raid on Pinkmaiden[]
As the three Ironborn fleets moved through the Lorderon Pass the first fleet moved furthern north of Rigen and against the Island of Maidenshore where the forces of House Piper, and formally House Goodbrooke but following its near demise it would be dominated by House Oakheart of the Riverlands. |