Battle for Ironoaks

**The Battle for Ironoaks** was the first major battle the Second Great Host of the Vale of Arryn would find itself in. The Battle proved an incomparable massacre, and the bloodiest battle of the war, with corpses piled; *"High as trees"*, popular word later claimed.

Alas, ultimately, under the command of Lord Robar Royce, the Valemen proved successful, though at a huge toll.

## Background

Fresh off a spree of minor victories near to the Gates of the Moon, the Redfort, Spearhead Keep, and even so far as a crushing a small host that had attempted to march on Wickenden, the Lords of the Vale under the command of Lord Robar Royce were riding high in their saddles when word reached them of the Clansmen host sat outside Ironoaks.

To say news of the host came as a shock, would be an understatement, for word had already begun to spread ripe through the Second Great Host that this war was but a 'bit of fun' and a 'young man's game'. Alas, they could not have been more wrong.

## Engagement

###### *An Exert from the Writings of Maester Yorwyck's Work, "The War for the Mountains of the Moon".*

With the levy gone off to war, Ironoaks was left for the most part, undefended. And so it had been that the Castellan of the castle had long opted to draw back patrols outside the castle, for fear of the Clansmen hacking away at his already meager numbers. So when the host was spied in the distance from the battlements, the Castellen swiftly sealed the gates to Ironoaks and readied for a siege - or whatever sort of defence he could muster.

That first night passed eerily. Numerous petty assaults on the walls came and went. Makeshift ladders, arrows, spears, and the like all attacked many a time, and so come the dawn, the men of Ironoaks were truly feeling the affects of having lost their sleep.

Relief did not come that day either. No, the defenders of Ironoaks spent that whole day standing at their post, attempting to gain what little rest they could in between assaults. And so came the second night, and under immense tension and struggle did it so too pass.

And then on the horizon, the defenders of Ironoaks saw it so. Banners. House Royce, House Hunter, House Redfort, countless others, even their own, the broken black wheel on a green field of House Waynwood.

The first to come charging toward the Clansmen host were the Knights of the day and their mounted companions, some two thousand men rode with spears lowered and war cries on the air. But they were not to know what awaited them underhoof. With the Waynwoods having been so restricted to Ironoaks, they had not been actively patrolling the surrounding area, and so the Clansmen had taken it upon themselves to dig a series of trenches, larger than any might have imagined possible to dig, with spikes in the bottom to ensure the Stranger took their due.

The Knights charged headforth led by the valiant and brave Sers Jon and Hubert Royce, their noble steeds finding naught but trickery underhoof as the disguise fell away and hundreds charged to their deaths.

It is said a gaudy and crude roar went up from the Clansmen as screams of suffering and pain came from the Knights of the Vale. Those Knights not immediately slain, did so put up a fight, with Ser Alec Templeton reportedly killing some twenty Clansmen before they dragged him down from his horse and tore him limb for limb. Much the same is said to have happened to Lord Marq Hardyng.

Everwhile, the remaining thirteen thousand men of the Second Great Host were unable to aid their fellow Valemen as they were too far back and on foot, but such did not stop them from breaking into an angered and brash charge, much to the anger of Lord Royce, who did his best to keep formation amongst the men, but was ultimately unsuccessful. And so, the remainder of the host charged forth, encouraged on by Sers Rodrik and Dunstan of House Redfort, and Lords Yorbert Tollett and Osgood Shett.

By the end of the day, both Tollett and Shett would be dead, Tollett with a spear through the face, and Shett's person cleaved clean in two.

When the two hosts did eventually meet, smashing together with steel and flesh, chaos ensued. The Valemen pushed forth, with Dremond the Devil of the Vale spotted in the thick of the fighting. Lord Uthor Waynwood is both said to have made it to Dremond the Devil, where he died fighting the Cheiftain, but also to have been cut down before he could even get within swinging distance of him, whatever the case, Lord Waynwood's skull was a bloody mess when they identified his corpse.

The fighting was fierce, with the first half hour being the worst of it, but that was when the Clansmen sprung their second and final trap. Out from the trees to the west came charging what appeared to be thousands more Clansmen. The Valemen swiftly lost heart, the ground they had gained was being lost, and the Clansmen were pushing out from their position between Ironoaks and Lord Royce's host. Then the newcomers hit. The left flank of the Valemen shattered, men fell, fled, screamer, the dead and dying were everywhere. It is whispered Ser Godrey Royce even tried flee, only to be knocked unconscios and awaken once the battle was passed.

Yet that was when the saving grace came. As if the Seven had blessed him, Ser Aron Hunter, at the head of those knights whom survived the first trap, reformed and charging, some four-hundred knights charged into the newly arrived Clansmen, carving deep and hard, killing many a foe as they did. Had it not been for the charge of Ser Aron, the Battle of Ironoaks would most certainly have been a Clansmen victory, and Ironoaks no doubt would have fallen soon after.

The charge by Ser Aron and the knights gave the Valemen the boost they needed. Push back they did, pushing the Clansmen closer to Ironoaks, eventually, after a great many hours of fighting, with the sun hanging low in the sky, the Clanmen were within range of the castle projectiles, and so from three sides they were hammered back.

Ser Aron rallied the knights once more, now only half their already diminished number though, and charged again, but this time, this time Ser Aron's steed met with the greataxe of Morwyl Redhand, a Clansmen of the Painted Dogs, and so too did Ser Aron met with the greataxe. His second charge, had failed, and cost him his life, as well as the lives of many of the knights following him. Yet even with this small victory, the Clansmen lines broke all the same, shattering, and fleeing to the east, and then toward Diamondhill and Old Anchor.

The day was won. Lord Robar Royce and his host had done it, even if his hands had remained rather clean of battle.

## Aftermath

In the aftermath of the Battle for Ironoaks, while the remaining Clansmen retreated toward Diamondhill and Old Anchor, the Lords of the Vale used their victory to lick their wounds and recover or a few weeks before pursuing the Clansmen.

Yet, this lapse in pursuit would not go unpunished as the scouts of the Second Great Host would come to learn the hard way, much as the Houses of Hardyng, Melcolm, Hunter, and Templeton had in those weeks without pursuit.