War of the Exile

The **War of the Exile** was a military conflict fought in the years 341 and 342 AC, between the sellsword and loyalist forces of House Targaryen, and the forces of House Baratheon and Stark. It was the first attempt made by a member of House Targaryen (or descendant of) to reclaim the Iron Throne since Maelys Blackfyre.

## Background

In 338 AC, Aurion, son of Aegon, decided to press his claim upon the Kingdom of Westeros. Having abandoned or exiled his home in Slaver's Bay, he was hungry for something more.

In Volantis he met Vaekar Maegyr, a young Volantene Triarch of the Elephant party, looking for a means to etch his name into history. The pair become fast friends, though Aurion manages to hide his darker side from the Triarch, and instead fills his mind with tales of Westeros; of how the people suffered in the divided kingdoms and longed for their old masters. Vaekar was swayed by his words, and agreed to help him claim his birthright

Vaekar puts Aurion in touch with a pair of men; Arrec of the Burning Brand, a mercenary from the Stormlands that was the current Captain of the Long Lances, and the Commander of the Windblown. For their aid in retaking Westeros, Aurion promised them lordships and gold beyond measure, and encouraged them to offer the same to any mercenary captain who would follow him. They spread the word, and soon, the sellswords and sellsails began to gather. Vaekar also manages to convince one of his fellow triarchs - Alios Qhaedar – of the benefits of aiding Aurion, stating that they need not enough supply many men for the people would rise to support him, and win them an easy victory. Alios, being a member of the Tiger party, saw the benefits of having the favour of a King on the Iron Throne - and agreed to send a small force, to represent Volantis' interests. Word soon spread, however, that Volantis backed the Bastard Dragon, and his recruits come in ever increasing numbers.

With his men ready, Aurion begins his journey west, still gathering any man willing to fight for loot and the pleasure of war. Cravens, exiles, and bandits flocked to his banner

Word reaches Westeros of Aurion and his plan, and both Kings begin to prepare. King Brandon XI Stark places men in Gulltown, and in Harrenhal - mostly levies from the North, Riverlands, and Vale. The King on the Iron Throne gathers men to King's Landing, and summons the Lannisters to approach from the West.

As Aurion reaches Tyrosh, a delegation from Pentos approaches him in secret. Maella Narratys, sister of the Prince of Pentos, offers Aurion the support of her city if he swears to liberate them from Braavos upon his ascension. Aurion, in a display of surprising magnamity, agrees. In a display of unsurprising lust, he then takes Maella Narratys to his bed, and a few weeks alter, marries her.

Aurion, his new wife, and the horde of mercenaries, exiles, and vagabonds he gathered to support his claim, make their way to Pentos in 341AC. In but a month, they would cross the Narrow Sea and begin the **War of the Exile**.

## Course of the War

### The King's Landing

In 341AC, Aurion and his supporters crossed the Narrow Sea from Pentos, sailing for Blackwater Bay. The Pentoshi sailed further north, landing in Cracklaw Point before sending their ships to join strength with the Volantenes. The Point is known for it's Targaryen loyalty, and raises it's banners for the Bastard Dragon.

In the **Battle of the Gullet**, also called **the Splinters**, the forces of Aurion and Volantis clashed with the navy of the Crown. Aurion emerged victorious, though only by a hair, sailing into Blackwater Bay. With much of his navy damaged, he dare not assault King's Landing by sea - and so Aurion and his men touched down south-east of Rosby.

### The Northern Front

King Brandon XI Stark, having heard word of the Bastard in the East, sent levies to both Gulltown and Harrenhal in case they should attack. Aurion, fearing an attack from that direction, ordered the Pentoshi to distract the Northmen.

The men of the Claw joined their forces to that of Pentos, and together marched westward into the Riverlands, burning and looting. They laid siege to Maidenpool after conquering several nearby villages and holdfasts, while another group marches south to besiege Antlers.

### The War in the Crownlands

Aurion's men were divided - the Golden Company, Vaekar Maegyr, and Aurion himself wished to march on the capital. Most of his mercenaries and raiders, having been promised loot, wanted to march Rosby, the nearest stronghold. The majority of the Volantenes wished to hunker down and await the reinforcements they were told would be forthcoming.

They had decided to split; most of the mercenaries march on Rosby under the command of Arrec of the Burning Brand, while all others save the majority of the Volantenes march south, to King's Landing, an army of 25,000.

### The Wolf's Conquests

Maidenpool fell after a surprisingly quick siege, to the shock - and horror of the Kingdom of the North. The Pentoshi and their Clawmen allies sack the town, burning and looting and clogging its famous pool with refuse and corpses. The Northmen gathered in Harrenhal marched on Maidenpool, even as those collected in Gulltown set sail for Crackclaw Point.

In the **Battle of Maidenpool** the Northern forces defeated the seven thousand men in Maidenpool, setting their army to rout. They then descend upon the Antlers, despite it being across kingdom borders, and in the **Battle of the Hunt** they defeat the army gathered there.

Meanwhile, the Northerners from Gulltown had landed in Crackclaw Point, and set the countryside ablaze. Word of the sack of Maidenpool began to spread, and the subjugation of Cracklaw Point was violent and bloody. The Northmen fought three battles; the **Battle of the Valleys**, the **Skirmish at Brownhollow**, and finally, the **Battle of Dyre Den**, where both Northern armies united to put the last of the Clawmen rebels, and nearly a thousand Pentoshi, to the sword.

With the men of Crackclaw Point subjugated, the Pentoshi fled eastward into the peninsula, hoping to make it to their ships. Unbeknownst to them, the vast majority had been burnt by the Gulltown fleet in what was known as Grafton's Pyre, and they, like their southern allies, were stranded.

### The Rise of the Stag

The Stag King rallied his armies forth, and marched out to meet the invaders between Rosby and King's Landing. In a mighty clash called the **Battle of the Horns**, Aurion and his host were defeated, and the Commander of the Windblown slain. The remains of Aurion's host fell back toward Rosby, pursued by the King himself, while another army clashed with the forces of Arrec in the **Battle for Rosby**. With both armies in retreat, and two hostile forces closing in, it looked like the end for the Bastard Dragon.

### The End of the Exile

Aurion and his men had fallen back to their landing to regroup. There, they met a terrible sight. The Volantenes they had left behind, after learning that the people of Westeros had no intention of declaring for Aurion, gathered their ships and abandoned the self-proclaimed King upon the dusk of a foggy morning. At the sight of the treachery, infighting had broken out against the remaining supporters of Aurion. The Windblown and the Golden Company were the one-sided victors of this fight, taking any remaining ships for their own, and leaving the rest of Aurion's host on Westeros.

Furious, many of the remaining men had turned on the last of the Volantenes, chiefly Vaekar Maegyr and his personal guard. They fell upon them in a quick but brutal battle, slaughtering them to a man. With this last done, any hope for Aurion was well and truly dead. The King on the Iron Throne and his army were at most two days behind them, and the morale of his host and withered away.

In Crackclaw Point, the surivivng Pentoshi holed up in the ruined stronghold of the Whispers, hounded all the while by Northern armies. The ruins would fall during the **Battle of the Whispers**, and the Pentoshi would be slain in large numbers.

### The Bastard of the East

Late that night, as the camp slept, Aurion, Maella, and the last of her Pentoshi guardsmen stole away into the darkness with horses, a carriage, and a king's ransom. They took to the road, heading north, likely intent on hiring a ship in Duskendale to take them east.

When the camp woke to discover Aurion's treachery, the few generals still under Aurion's command were, by all accounts, furious. Before a search party could be composed, the Crown's army had arrived. Taking into the camp in the early hours of the morning, they surprised their foes, and what followed was the bloodbath called the **Battle of the Hammer,** though few could call it a true battle. The invaders had broken almost immediately, and many attempted to flee. Those who did escape would cause trouble in the Riverlands for years to come, and the rest were either cut down or sent to the Wall.

Though his army lay dead and broken, Aurion the Exile seemed to care little. He and Maella Narratys traveled north along the Kingsroad toward Duskendale, spending their gold in taverns and their nights with one another. The night before they arrived, Maella Narratys took Aurion to bed, and the next day, his body was found with a hundred wounds in his chest. Maella Narratys would never be seen in Westeros again.

## Aftermath

The death of the Aurion and the end of his war would see both kingdoms bloodied, but victorious. The North's men would remain in Crackclaw point, leading to the Crisis of the Claw, and those of Aurion's army that escaped would plague the Riverlands and northern Reach for years to come, eventually culminating in the War of the Burning Brand.
Many Maester's point to Aurion's lack of diplomacy as the reason for his defeat.

*"Though there are undoubtedly many Targaryen loyalists still in Westeros, Aurion's parceling out of titles to mercenaries, bandits, and Essosi warlords won him no allies in the Seven Kingdoms. He married a foreigner, brutally sacked the lands he meant to rule, and tales of his cruelty and depravity spread throughout the land. His rebellion was doomed from the start, and was not the true trial of a Targaryen invasion many in Westeros have often feared - that, I believe, shall not occur until a trueborn of the dragonblood turn their eyes toward the west."*

- Writings of Maester Othell