The Cleansing of Skagos

**The Cleansing of Skagos** was a series of small conflicts that occurred on the island of Skagos in 338 AC. With the elderly Haggon Magnar growing sick, a crisis of succession emerged.

## Background

### The War of the Bleeding Wall

In 309 AC, a young Haggon Magnar had led the Skagosi in a rebellion against the Kingdom of the North, alongside an army of Wildlings. The rebellion was unsuccessful, and Haggon was forced to bend the knee to Robb Stark once more.

As his three sons grew older, Haggon instilled in them a hatred for their Northern overlords, and a lust for vengeance against them for subjugating the Skagosi people. Their hearts filled with hatred, the young boys struggled to keep that hatred from extending to one another.

### The Decline of Haggon Magnar

In 338 AC, Haggon Magnar, now an old man, fell ill, and his end appeared imminent. With his death approaching, his sons began to circle. Errok, the oldest of Haggon's sons, was in line to inherit his father's lands and titles, but Toregg, the second son, grew to desire them for himself.

With their father still living, both Errok and Toregg began calling themselves the true Magnars of Kingshouse. As they did so, they began drawing men to their sides, and war became inevitable. Oric, the youngest of the three sons, stayed out of the conflict.

## The Cleansing

### Early Conflict

With Toregg pushing for control of his father's lands, war came, and both Toregg and Errok led their forces against one another. As the rightful heir to Kingshouse, Errok found greater support than his brother, and was able to muster over one thousand soldiers. Though, Toregg was a popular figure himself, famed and feared for his ferocity. His own supporters were not few in number, and his army proved only slightly smaller than that of the loyalists.

When the two forces eventually clashed, it was a bloody and brutal affair. The Skagosi had no love for tactics and strategem, instead opting to fight tooth and nail in a frantic melee. The fighting was close, until Errok and Toregg came together in the thick of the fighting. Both were incredibly large men, but Toregg got the better of his older brother, burying his axe in his chest, killing him instantly. Errok's forces fought on briefly, but eventually scattered. Toregg proved victorious, and began his approach on Kingshouse, to claim his father's seat for himself.

### Late Conflict

With the death of Errok, Toregg was not the legitimate heir to Haggon Magnar's lands and titles. However, the fact that he had rebelled against his older brother, and then personally killed him, left Toregg lacking support. His own army remained in tact, but others would not join him. Instead, the remaining loyalists looked to Oric, the only other son of Haggon, to challenge Toregg.

Oric, desiring vengeance, took up the call of his oldest brother's supporters, and decided to challenge Toregg. Those who had remained absent from the conflict now flocked to Oric's side, demanding justice for the death of Errok. With a battle hardened army, now bolstered by two hundred new allies, Oric marched against his brother.

The two forces met just three months after Errok had fallen, and the battle was once again bloody. Fortunately, unlike in the first battle, Oric and Toregg clashed early on in the fighting, an act that no doubt saved hundreds of lives. On the hills of Skagos, Oric faced his brother Toregg, and slew him, avenging Errok. With no one else to support, the rebels gave up with the death of their leader, surrendering to Oric. The conflict had been resolved, but not without cost.

## Aftermath

Oric returned to Kingshouse, victorious but short of two brothers. For nearly half a year, brothers had opposed brothers, vying for a title of a man not yet dead. Upon his return, Oric was greeted as a victor by his people, but a murderer by his father. The sickly and frail Haggon saw Oric's killing of Toregg in the same light Oric had viewed Toregg's killing of Errok - an unforgivable offence.

Though it was likely that Haggon would have disinherited his last remaining son then and there, the fact remained that Oric *was* his last remaining son. If Oric was left out of the succession, their house would die out, and Haggon's legacy would disappear. With no other alternative, Haggon exiled Oric from Skagos, bidding him only to return upon his death.

Fortunately for Oric, his exile was not long. Within months of leaving Skagos, Haggon passed from his illness, and Oric returned home. Upon his return, Oric was once again greeted as a hero, and the young man assumed his seat as the Magnar of Kingshouse. In the years following the events of 338 AC, the conflict came to be known as the Cleansing of Skagos, for the fact that House Magnar was almost entirely destroyed, by themselves no less.