Battle for Kings Landing

## Prelude

> *Nyessos: Today we leave a permanent mark on Westeros. For 300 years King's Landing has stood a testament to the Dragons might. When we burn it, that might will be forever tainted.*
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> *Riordan: The King's orders are clear....The city will burn*
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Ever since dragonstone the war had been building to the assault on the city and soon after the battle did come, mostly by sea though plenty of the forces were coming by land. Ready to hit the city at full force. Haywin, his Lord Commander and his hand weren't there as each had fallen back to Bloodstone but they had left more then enough men in there wake to crush the enemy, most of the Free Cities had arrived to aid in the strike backed by a few Lords and former captives of Dragonstone they prepared for what many thought could be the most critical battle. The Small council had prepared as much as they could be expected too and amassed a decent army to combat the enemy, but one put together and not fully organized. The Gold Cloaks were the ones who had to step up moving and organizing themselves accordingly and preparing for the bloodiest battle they would face since there appointments. Lord Privat helped them organize but seeing as he wasnt a fighter he would stay in the Red Keep helping them as they could but not on the battlefield. Meanwhile many allied houses were either arriving on the eve of the battle or arrived as it was starting to assist where they could.

Needless to say there was a sense of dread as the sun rose. They knew the enemy was close and would show no mercy, they had no desire to keep or hold the city so what they would do to it.. well none dared think of it. As the ships closed on the city and the enemy showed up on the horizon the battle would begin in earnest.

## The Battle of the Vanguards

> *Artos: A force like this breaking into the city would be the death of everyone. We cant let the King down.*
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> *Zelos: Im not doing this for the King. Im doing this for the city and the people in it.*
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The first moments of battle would come from vanguards. The Stepstone loyalist ships landed some of there men on land and marched out to meet the eager enemy, while they were soon offset by Brightflame soldiers looking to try and defend the area and reduce the control they had of the situation. Despite his lack of skill at arms Lord Privat was noticeably present and attempting to rally the troops to try and fight despite the tough odds, and even commanded some from the city walls but soon once the fighting started he was convinced to fall back for his own safety. The skirmishes lasted for several minutes with the two forces attempting to push the other back, the Brightflame vanguard was eventually lead by Artos Starkwood against the Thorne Ryndhill lead opposition.

Though slowly the men were finding themselves pushed back and Artos would attempt to organize a defensive line to hold there ground rather then take an offensive stance. This allowed them to hold together but when the rest of the fleets landed and started making there march on the city with the main forces unable to stop them without turning on the enemy in front of them and getting slaughtered, though its believed that had the enemy just turned and took out the vanguard it would have lead to much less problems early on. But miscommunication between the Free Cities and the Stepstone Lords was apparent, Nyessos wanted the glory of taking the city and he would get it.

## Striking the Gates

> *Royland: Dont let the enemy in, no matter how hard they hit us we must hold!*
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> *Russel: Were not gonna win this battle without any risks, if we dont do this the city and tis people will die!*
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The Gold Cloaks were organized exactly as they had planned themselves to be, the weakest gates were given the most men, any man not at a gate was patrolling the city waiting to see if they were given the signal to move to an area, and the commanders were watching the gates diligently, and Robb Carnath was guarding the Red Keep in case such an attack would reach them. The first gate to see combat was the Iron gate lead by Ser Royland Ironwood and this gate was hit the hardest taking the brunt of the action. Though the Blind Bowmen would find plenty of action as well as would Ser Ollis who was defending the Ports, the remnants of the Royal fleet kept a full on assaults' from being viable there. Ser Ollis assisted by Ser Bennard lead a simple defense of the area while the Bowmen was able to handily hold the ground he had to defend though the artillery fire killed a lot of his men and destroyed many of the buildings behind him. Neither compared to the damage done at the Iron gate, bombarded by catapults and sieged by ladders Royland lead a desperate defense of the area running back and forth between the checkpoints to keep his men active while getting involved in he fighting itself, despite being one of the newest captains he was steadily proving to be the bravest in front of much opposition. Ser Russel Waters lead his men out of his own gate left and in a sortie they rushed out and cavalry charged in the catapults to try and destroy them. Over 100 men charged out to strike, but they quickly came under fire being struck by spears and arrows, though they did managed to destroy a few of the weapons 96 of those men were killed, and a battered and scant party returned to the city, Ser Russel was one of them.

After Russel's charge the battle at Iron Gate grew bleak as Ser Royland was gravely injured and his forces beaten back causing the enemy to slip into the city, attacking all they could. Here massive damage was done to the city and the populace as the enemy was intending to torch the whole place and leave it a pile of ash for King Daeron. It would have ended in blood had they succeeded and Ser Robb Carnath started to leave the Red keep to confront them head on hoping to slow down there assault even amongst the burning buildings while Reiner defended Flea Bottom as best he could. The battle outside the city was a difficult one as well as the army had been held back from assisting the gates, even as reinforcements from other houses such as House Wilder arrived they hadn't been able to fully break the enemy, merely keep them from adding to the cities woes.

## The Battle at Sea and Rout

> *Asher: So focused on the road ahead you neglected the battle behind you. Such a mistake will be the death of you.*
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> *Rovos: These Myrish dont know a thing at sea, let us Ironmen show them all a thing or two.*
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While the battle on the land seemed bleak the situation would soon change as the enemy had neglected its flanks and coming from the back came ships hosting the fleets of House Tullius and House Reaver. The two forces ships had moved remarkably fast and proceeded to start attacking the fleets still attacking the city or attempting to land on the ground. The attack was just as swift and deadly, though they lost a few men in the counter attack they devastated the enemy fleets and forced them to scatter or flee in every other direction after the attack, scattering them to the winds attempting to save themselves from being killed or captured. This turning of the tides worked in tangent with the battle on land, seeing the ships being set afire shocked the armies still outside the cities and the Brightflame lords swiftly started to turn the tides, hitting the panicked enemy with everything they had and soon splitting them apart. Soon the enemy was forced into a retreat there and the army rather then give chase poured itself into the city attempting to start saving there burning capitol.

The enemy inside found no mercy and by the time they realized what had happened and that they were trapped it was too late. The Gold cloaks were hitting them from the front, the lords armies from the back, and they were unable to handle any of these threats. They broke in mass making any kind of dash for freedom or throwing down there weapons in an effort to save themselves. But for many it was too late and they found themselves decimated by the infuriated enemy.

## The Aftermath

> *Bennard: Not even Jon's coup caused this much blood and chaos...the city wont recover from this for...who knows how long.*
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> *Bowmen: But it will recover. And we must be there to help it until it does.*
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Of any of the Civil Wars in Brightflame history no single battle brought as much devastation or death as this one. If the Darkspears craved blood. they were given it in great detail on this day as they had not only caused a high death toll but the city burned still as the enemy was defeated and the fires would continue into the night especially in Flea Bottom, only finally being fully snuffed out when day broke again, by that time ever soldier was exhausted. Ser Royland Ironwood was commended for facing the brunt of the action at his gate though due to slipping into a coma he wouldnt know of the honor for days after the fact. Ser Bennard and the Blind Bowmen were likewise commended. Ser Russel was given a more mixed reception, as many debated the pros and cons of his infamous charge that cost him his entire unit, but still his bravery during the battle and handling the aftermath couldnt be denied and one positive that could be taken from this brutal day was that the faith in the Gold cloaks had been relatively restored as songs were sung of there bravery from that day onward and the chains that been holding them since the Jon Black incident had finally started to fade. Lord Tullius and Lord Reaver were likewise seen as heroes as there attack at sea had saved countless lives, as had Artos' defense and Zelos timely arrival, though Zelos likewise fell under fire as many noted he should have been with his men in the city rather then outside with many noting he was more a Lord then he was a commander of the Watch.

The damage to the city would be decades of work and require a great deal of money the crown couldnt afford and so the marks of the battle would remain for all to see even into later generations. But in the moment it was no comfort to Haywin or his allies, the back of the Myrish his most staunch Free City supporter was broken and Nyessos had fled to Myr pleading his case to amass another fleet but in the meantime was out of the war, he still had others but they couldnt be trusted to fight as hard or as much and Haywin lacked the manpower to amass such an assaults' himself and still protect his lands. The war was slowly becoming one of defense for the Darkspears and Haywin knew in the long run that was a losing battle. Quickly he ordered Ethan to take his troops and attack the Stormlands with Khal Pono's forces hoping to distract the enemy long enough as he prepared for battle and got his allies back in the fight but this was the first major crack in his plans. Tywin realized it too as around this time he fled from Dragonstone and further into Essos where he would never return from. And finally now that the worst had been avoided many lords were getting ready to take the fight to Haywin himself, namely Ian Dayne who had been building up an army for a campaign to end the Rebellion, hoping to cut a path all the way to Bloodstone.