Battle of Blackwater Bay

Royal Navy crushed

## Prelude

> *Durgeon: Haywin has shocked us but if he thinks a few surprising plays will win him the war he's sadly mistaken in the end.*
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After Dragonstone was taken by Haywins initial assault it brought a great deal of shock amongst the Small council and the Kingdom as a whole. Ian left the capitol to gather an army, Privat and Shamus started to work on hastily buying sellswords. The Hand called out for aid from nearby crownland lords for support. But the next biggest change was Durgeon Miraxes, the Master of Ships who had taken it upon himself to lead an attack on Haywin himself. While he knew he had a plan to attack the city he hoped the Royal fleet gaining a victory or two on the way to stall if not outright kill off the attack by ending Haywin's momentum.

If he hoped to take Haywin unawares, he would be disappointed, the King of the Stepstones knew of his coming attack, though how has never been revealed. It did not deter him, instead backed by his allies ships and his vassals he felt confident in confronting the man himself. Hoping to further terrorize the Kingdom by taking out the Royal Fleet, or at least part of it.

## The Battle

> *Kian: Everyone knows what to do, no point in wasting time talking about it.*
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> *Darron: Time to show this Master of Ships who really commands the Royal Fleet.*
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Ser Durgeon met them head on looking to prove his worth with a quick and decisive battle. He met Lord Kian and Lord Youngflower's intial fleets, neither who would give him such, Kian used his similar tactics that made him famous during The Sunfyre Rebellion to try and out maneuver the enemy fleets, though Durgeon to his credit had planned for this and started to send his more agile fleets to cut them off and keep them from weaving through his ranks. This is where Daniel's forces moved in engaging the front ranks before starting to pull out, with the Darkspea ships following him. Durgeon was skeptical but gave chase, needing to try and secure more ground for the Iron Throne. This proved to be a mistake when the Myrish and Lyseni ships came into the fray, joining the rest in attacking him after corning the fleets.

Despite the enemies superior numbers the Stepstone forces started to overwhelm the enemy and soon several fleets sunk. Durgeon continued to fight back and his men even took out a few ships in the battle but after Durgeon took an enemy vessel he returned to his own fleets to see his flanks in chaos. The Youngflower ships proved more formidable then he expected and Kian had out maneuvered his captains. Durgeon took what was left and fought to break out of the blockade, a full on retreat, more ships were lost in the ensuing struggle but Durgeon escaped with his life...sadly his attack force was completely shattered and no oen can deny that this was another victory for the Darkspears.

## The Aftermath

> *Durgeon: I couldnt comprehend what I had seen...what could drive them to fight so fiercely?*
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> *Privat: Freedom...Or at least Haywin's idea of it. I fear this is only just beginning.*
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The fear that took hold of the city when only 5 ships of Durgeon's mighty fleet returned, battered, and beaten. Durgeon's confidence was shaken as well, what he had hoped would be the first of multiple encounters turned into one simple defeat. While the Royal Fleet had more ships to give Durgeon couldnt in good confidence send more men out in what started to feel more like a futile effort. Thankfully many lords had answered the Small council's call and the city was more prepared for the inevitable battle despite there fear of the stepstones power.

The Stepstone forces were growing stronger, Tywin had sent men to star raiding the Mainlands while the Order of the Black Knights went on there designated targets. Haywin celebrated the victories briefly before he returned to Bloodstone to make some deals and keep his land safe now that he was independent, fearing the pirates might try and take advantage. A few lords went with him but Ethan and a few others stayed to help maintain the campaign and cooperate with the Free Cities. This would be the force that kept the fight going for the furation of the war as Haywin would end up spending the rest of his kingship and his life on Bloodstone.