War for the Dawn

The exact start date of the War for the Dawn is unclear, but it was fought in the later half of The Long Night between the armies of the living and the army of the dead.

## Deep in the Night

The conflict that is now referred to as the War for the Dawn did not truly begin until the **Sack of Seagard**. Prior to this, the Others and their army of wights were mostly consolidated to the kingdom of the North. However, small pockets of wights and random sightings became more and more common as The Long Night progressed, until finally, the army of wights themselves came past the Neck and into the Cape of Eagles.

Following the devastation at Seagard, and the increasing reports of wight activity in the South, King Aegon Blackfyre sent word to all the lords and kings or queens of Westeros, calling them to unite like in the old to defeat their common enemy, the Others.

## Declaring War

   To the surprise of many, not only did the kingdoms under the Iron Throne's rule come to join the fight, but also many noble houses from the Vale and even the Greyjoy kings and their Ironborn. The Arryns are one of the most notable Houses not to join the armies of the Living.

King Aegon and his allies from the other kingdoms converged in the Riverlands, where the fighting in the South was most thick. Many forces from outside kingdoms were slow to arriver, however, pushing back against wights in their own kingdoms as well.

Many battles were fought between the living and dead during this time, both sides taking heavy losses. One particularly gruesome conflict for the living was the **Battle of Harrenhel**.

Harrenhal is known only as the hardest loss for the armies of the living. What occurred during the battle and thereafter is unclear, but the large castle remained vacant until the present day.

At some point during their campaign, it is said that Daenerys the Mother of Dragons flew from the North and joined King Aegon and his allies a brief time; bringing both her dragons and her dragonglass. This is seen as a turning point in the War for the Dawn.

## Hope for a Dawn

   The war continued to drag on for a decade or more, remaining extremely bloody for both sides. Eventually, however, The living slowly pushed the Others and their wights back into the North and onward.

The remaining northmen and even the Night's Watch under Jon the White Wolf's command joined King Aegon in the North. Together, the Seven Kingdoms were able to finally push the Others beyond the Wall once more, along with the bulk of their wight army.

The Others' return to Beyond the Wall is the event maesters use to signify the ending of The Long Night, even though winter did not conclude for many years after.

## Aftermath

The victory for the living cost them the lives of thousands of people, if not more. Lords and smallfolk alike fought together and died for the cause, knowing it to be the only hope of saving Westeros.

   Jon the White Wolf, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, are both remembered as Heroes of the War for the Dawn and The Long Night. The two were said to have given their lives in order to protect the realm of men. Drogon, Danaerys' largest and most fearsome dragon, is said to have died against the Others as well. Some stories in the North even speak of an undead dragon or possibly even an Ice dragon, lurking in the far north. These are only rumors and have never been confirmed, however.

Many other notable men and women became known as heroes during this time as well. The Long Night and War for the Dawn are often referred to as a Second Age of Heroes, similar to that of 8000 years before.

In the North, large quantities of wights still lurk south of the Wall, however, sightings south of the Neck are not unheard of either. For the next several decades, wights were hunted and killed by the Southern lords, until their lands could return to a new sense of normalcy. Unlike the South, the magic that the Others pocessed to reanimate the dead still haunts the kingdom of the North. As a result, northmen have come to widely accept funeral pyres, cremation, and body burnings as a means of survival.