Thorn's War

**Thorn's War**, or **The Scouring of the Torrentine**, was a series of clashes between the forces of House Dayne and Vortimer Flowers' pirate alliance, hailing from Grey Gallows.

## Prelude

Around 290 AA, Vortimer Flowers and his band of mercenaries arrived at Gallowstown. There, he claimed it as his capital for his fledgling Pirate Kingdom. The Gallow King hanged half the people there, or whatever was left of them. Using Gallowstown as his starting point, he led set forth to each and every settlement on the island, repeating his cruel hangings. Always half. No more. No less. His pirate kingdom grew in size and encompased all of Grey Gallows by 291 AA. When he was finished, he returned to Gallowstown to build his own keep, known as the Oakenseat.

From there, he was eventually contacted by King Yoren IV Yronwood, who hired him to wreak havoc on the Kingdom of the Torrentine. The Bloodroyal promised him gold and lands for his growing enterprise, should he succed. The Thorn, eager to gain more for himself, and to take vengance against House Dayne in the name of House Oakheart, accepted.

## First Blood

Almost immediately, Flowers sent several waves of pirate ships towards the Torrentine, raiding the many small fishing villages that lay along it's shores. He made good cause to avoid Starfall, sailing past under the cover of a foggy night.

While returning with his wife and child from Oldtown, all had seemed well they had set sail back home under a setting sun...only for Vortimer Flowers’ warship, The Oakenfist, and countless others to chance upon them on their route to the Torrentine. Cedric joined the fighting on the deck, clearing countless waves of pirates before the Gallows King had a net thrown over him, his hands bound, and the Prince thrown into the ocean, Dawn with him.

When Cedric awaoke, he was on the beach, drenched wet and clutching Dawn. He counted his blessings, the young Prince rode hard for Starfall after he arrived at a nearby village. He soon discovered the port of Sunoak, one of the many ports along the mouth of the Torrentine, was a smoldering ruin. The Thorn had hanged half the inhabitants and burned the town.

### **The War Begins**

Prince Cedric soon found himself back at Starfall, where his father unsympathetically ordered him to join his brother Arthur in the preparation of a fleet to “send the dogs back to their watery graves”. Dutifully, the exhausted Cedric agreed, sharpening Dawn and finding himself a suit of armor.

## The Battle of the Falling Star

Reunited with his younger brother, they immediately set out to find the pirate fleet that had slipped past Starfall further up the Torrentine’s mighty flow. Within half a day’s sail, black sails had been spotted on the horizon, and hands made ready for battle. The two fleets met in a cataclysmic mess of wood and fire, blood and bone, and the Dayne ships were of superior quality, proving an uneasy victor. They had found half the estimated strength of the pirates, only to receive reports of the Oakenfist and countless others approaching Starfall itself.

### **Starfall under Siege**

Returning from the battle, they made sail south once more, using the flow of the river to their advantage, to find the city under siege from land and sea. Vortimer Flowers had disembarked half his men, having near four-thousand men-at-arms upon the ground, and near twenty longships blockading the port. Cedric took a rowboat under cover of nightfall into one of the countless coves of the island, while Arthur lead a valiant yet fruitless attempt to lift the blockade.

## The Battle of the Oakenwater

As the sun rose, Vortimer Flowers marched across the wailing bridge with a minor retinue and called for an audience with King Maric. His request was met - from the battlements, the sickly Maric peered down at the pirate bastard who had caused his people so much strife. It is not recorded what exactly Vortimer had asked for, or if he had asked anything at all, but before long two hostages were brought before the gate. Sacks were removed from their heads, showing the pair to be Lyra Hightower and Nymeria Dayne. King Maric began to bluster with offers of gold and ships, but he was silenced as the Gallows King drove a pale dagger deep into Lyra’s chest. Vortimer then slit her throat, and pushed her kneeling body to the floor, corpse lying in front of her crying daughter.

The gate opened within a minute, and out flew the Sword of the Morning, Dawn in hand and fire in his heart-broken eyes. Vortimer pushed Nymeria down, into the blood and the stone, turning to run back to his men. It did not matter much. Behind Cedric ran the Knights of the Order, and behind them the entirety of the City Guard had rallied. A fierce melee broke out on the shores beyond the bridge, while Arthur Dayne’s fleet crashed against the pirate longships once more. Before long, the day was won and the pirate lords captured.

But much was lost, and not just in material terms.

## Aftermath

After the Thorn had died, the Bloodroyal sent his fleet to Grey Gallows to purge the remaining pirates from the isle, and taking all the wealth on the island, due to in part to remove any evidence of involvement from House Yronwood, and greatly in part due to the guilt of King Yoren IV Yronwood for the death of Lyra Hightower.

King Maric II Dayne grew deeper into his sickness and his zealotry, feeling nothing for the death of his sons wife, claiming she was "a whore of the Reach."