War of the Bleeding Wall

The **War of the Bleeding Wall** was a conflict during the year 309 in which The North came under attack by an army of Skaggosons and Wildlings who seemingly managed to pass through the wall and slip past the Night's Watch.

While the invading armies were defeated by the forces of Robb Stark and the Night's Watch, it was not without a surprisingly high amount of death and damage done to the Northern people.

## Course of the War

### Raids from Skagos

The first casualties of the war were delivered by the Skagosi, who began to raid settlements along the Bay of Seals. In response, Robb Stark ordered House Umber and House Karstark to eliminate the raiders appropriately. The motives of the Skagosi are not immedietly known and any attempted contact with the Magnars of the island received no response. The raids however, were simply diversions by the Skagosi, who were preparing their main forces on the island for a formal assault on the mainland.

Around the same time Wildling clans appear to move closer and closer to the wall. The Night's Watch and Lord Commander Jon Snow would send out rangings as an appropriate response, fearing that an assault on the wall was coming, even though they had slain Mance Rayder nine years prior.

### Passing the Wall and the Butchers of Skagos.

After the smaller raids stopped along the Bay of Seals, the Northerner's suddenly felt relief, believing that the Skagosi had returned to their island. They were mistaken however, as a large force of Skaggosons, numbering in the thousands landed upon the Bay of Seals. Their assault was quick and vicious; they slaughter man, wife and child as they passed through the Northern settlements, leaving a path of ruin and waste in their stead. They pass through the forest near Karhold slaughtering both human and livestock alike. Parts of the forest are put to flame and the Skagosi even threaten Karhold, although they do not the means to threaten it via siege. Eventually the Skagosi turn to the Grey Cliffs, butchering those who called them home.

The Karstarks would send soldiers in an attempt to eliminate the invaders, but would fail miserably - the movements and ferociousness of the Skagosi was too much against the green, hastily drafted Karhold men. They were ambushed in the forests, tortured and starved as the Skagosi engaged them in a form of guerrilla warfare.

The wildling armies beyond the walls would suddenly be spotted to the South, having passed through the wall's defenses. To this day no one is sure how they managed to do it, some suggested that they have discovered Gorne's Way, other say they sailed past Eastwatch from Hardhome, Lord Commander Jon Snow suggested that they found a similar path beyond the wall that a small regiment of Mance Rayder's forces did during his time as King Beyond the Wall.

The Wildling armies moved into the Gift, attacking the settlements there and reaching as far south as Queenscrown. While the Night's Watch was fearful that the Wildlings would attack the Wall simultaneous from the North and South, Jon Snow argued that they were not unified enough and lacked the leadership to coordinate such an assault. None the less, the Lord Commander prepared the Wall's defense, wrote to his brother Robb Stark and prepared himself for the worst.

The wildlings south beyond the wall were seemingly without direction, some of them moved as close as Mole's Town, others moved as close to the Last Hearth.

### The Wolf's Retaliation.

Robb Stark, having heard the troubling news surrounding the Skagosi and the wildlings, has no choice but to call his banners, given the submission of the Karstark and Umber forces. The King in the North called his banners, rallying soldiers from the Dreadfort, Wolfwood, Hornwood and Winterfell itself. The troops rallied at Winterfell and numbered nearly ten thousand strong. During the time the Northern forces were rallying, the Skagosi continued to cause trouble, burning and pillaging the lands along the Last River before passing by the Lonely Hills and the lands of House Umber.

The Wildlings were spread out through the North, also raiding various areas. Long Lake was attacked and the small castle of House Lake taken by storm. Other wildlings also threatened Umber lands, but also engaged against the Skagosi, indicating that this join invasion was coincidence, rather than an alliance. The Wall also faced an assault from the South, as small wildling groups attempted to gain a foothold upon the wall, thanks to the leadership of Jon Snow, the Wall held. The Northern forced led by Robb Stark would march up the Kingsroad, first eliminating the wildlings near Long Lake. From there it would be a long and harrowing campaign, thanks to the terrain and the difficult supply lines and the constant harrowing of the enemy forces.

Even though the Stark forces were better regimented and equipped, the tales say that they lost a man for every wildling or Skaggoson that they killed, and the supplies and horses that they lost were far greater than should have been for this type of campaign. It would take a better part of a year to eliminate the wildlings and Skagosi from the North, and by the time it was done the Northern most lordships of the North had been bled and burnt.

## Aftermath

While it was a victory for Robb Stark and the Night's Watch, it wasn't one without great cost. House Umber and House Karstark suffered the most, having their lands pillaged by the Skagosi and wildlings. The Night's Watch suffered heavily as well, as casualties grew from the constant assaults from the south upon the wall.

Upon expelling the enemy, Lord Commander Jon Snow took great precautions to ensure that no more wildlings would pass the wall and worked hard to raise up the numbers of the Watch to what they once were. The Skagosi were pushed back to their island and forced to swear fealty to Robb Stark.