Battle of Lord Harroway's Town

**The Battle of Lord Harroway's Town** occurred as Valemen under the command of Ser Ryon of the Vale forded the river and made an effort to capture Lord Harroway's Town and provide a crossing into the Kingdom of the Trident. It proved to be an escalation of hostilities in the Trident, drawing more houses than Darry and Arryn into the conflict-- men of Blackwood, Mallister, Hardyng, and Corbray would now be engaged in the conflict.

## Prelude

At the conclusion of the Council of Harrenhal, King Andar II Arryn made an effort to escape to the Vale so that he might claim the Kingdom of the Trident as his own through military force. When he arrived at the first bridge over the Trident he found it burnt, and was there confronted by a patrol of Darry men that frustrated his crossing and forced him to return into the Trident. Orders were sent via runner, however, to seize Lord Harroway's Town and force a safe crossing for the King of the Vale.

## The Battle

Early in the day the Valemen scouted a ford to the north of Lord Harroway's Town and found it unguarded-- they would make their crossing over several hours and make an immediate turn to the south, where they would march on Lord Harroway's Town and the bridge there. The Valemen made it to the destination without incident, however they did not arrive unnoticed. Pickets set up by the Rivermen reported the coming of the Valemen, and word soon landed in the hands of King Robert Mallister. A host rapidly assembled and marched on Lord Harroway's Town in the early afternoon.

Ser Ryon's men set to work repairing the crossing, per their orders. Their singular focus on the bridge left them blind to the coming Rivermen. When the host flying the eagle of Mallister and the plough of Darry appeared on the outskirts of the town, the Valemen had precious little time to throw down their carpenter's tools and pick up their swords. This lack of foresight and preparation would prove critical.

The battle began with several volleys of arrows and the clash of the Mallister vanguard with their counterparts of Arryn. The Arryn vanguard would be separated from the main body of the Vale host and defeated in detail, sent to rout in a one-sided fight. The centers would clash next, Ser Jon of the Vale leading his men against King Robert Mallister himself. As the Valemen would be driven away from the bridge and back almost into the Trident itself, the lines would grow confused-- King Robert found himself isolated from his troops and pulled off of his mount, captured. Ser Axel Terrick, his sworn sword, would spend the rest of the battle seeking out his King in the chaos.

Heedless, the battle roared onwards. The Valemen were caught in a bad position and by a not-inconsiderable degree of surprise, which spelled doom to their objective of repairing the bridge. The vanguard had long since fallen away, and the rearguard-- which had by this point become the left wing of the host, as the rear was the Trident-- broke and fled. The Mallister host reorganized for one final titanic charge and smashed the Valemen, sending the last of them reeling northward along the south bank of the Trident.

## Aftermath

In the Valemen host, Ser Ryon of the Vale and King Robert Mallister negotiated a truce. The surviving Valemen would be allowed to cross the Trident to the north unmolested, but there would have to be negotiations with King Andar if he were to join them. A small crisis would unfold in the camp of the Rivermen, where Lord Uthor Darry sought to loose still more arrows on the retreating Valemen-- a host that held their King. With the timely intervention of Ser Axel Terrick the Darry bowmen did not loose on the Arryn host.