War of the Two Dragons

Second Battle of the Blackwater

Scouring of the Crabs

Rallying of Gulltown

Battle of the Wendwater

Ambush on the Rose Road

Siege of Highgarden

Siege of King's Landing

Battle of the Mander

Battle of the Eye

Tactical Westerosi Victory

The War of the Two Dragons was a joint, and ultimately failed, invasion of Westeros by the last living descendents of the Targaryen Dynasty. Aegon ‘Targaryen’, a man who claimed to be the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, the fallen Prince of Dragonstone, attacked Westeros alongside his wife, Daenerys Targayen the ruler of Meereen.

## Prelude

After being denied his birthright at the Great Council of 300 AC, Aegon withdrew his forces and went to Meereen to seek out Daenerys Targaryen. Though his aunt, Aegon knew that the elder Targaryen would give him the strength he needed to take the throne. Upon first meeting, Daenerys was not keen on relegating herself to being the queen while a king ruled over the realm. She took significant convincing but eventually agreed to marriage with Aegon on the condition that they would be equals in their alliance and rule and that Drogon and Daenerys’ army would remain hers, answering only to her. The Targaryens were wed in 301 AC while planning for their invasion began immediately.

It was decided that they would split their force and thus prevent the Westerosi from properly grouping and withstanding their invasion. Daenerys would invade from the south, striking the Stormlands, home of the Baratheon Dynasty, while Aegon struck at Dragonstone. For the next eight years they made preparations for the invasion by stockpiling food, assigning governing ministers for the newly minted Bay of Dragons, and training newly raised legions of freed slaves.

## Conquest and Occupation of the Stepstones

In 309 AC, Daenerys Targaryen led her army of Unsullied, Dothraki, and free legions from the back of her last remaining dragon. The Breaker of Chains had been successful in her conquest of Slaver’s Bay and now set her eyes on what she saw as her destiny: the Iron Throne of Aegon the Conqueror. Her difficulty with acquiring the ships she needed to ferry her men to Westeros was critical in determining her next move. She ordered the ships that she had to sail to the Stepstones, which could be used as a jumping off point to the rest of the continent. Caught off guard by the attack and a rain of dragonfire, the disunified settlements on the islands fell quickly to the Targaryen and her men.

While on the islands, Daenerys followed her standard practice of preaching liberation to the people in hopes that she could secure their support and, eventually, their integration into the Westerosi kingdom. It took the Targaryen years to placate the islands, facing a series of internal struggles that were too decentralized to face any major success. Still, they were able to sap the morale and numbers of Daenerys’ force. While on the islands, Daenerys reached out to various houses in Westeros demanding fealty in her typical fashion. Possibly due to her tone or due to lack of certainty that supporting the fallen princess would lead to any major gains, her calls went unanswered save for a few notable exceptions. In making these demands, Targaryen made it known to the whole of the fractured realm that she intended to invade and gave Queen Myrcella time to attempt a defense.

In her free time, she enjoyed walking on the beaches as the tropical climate made the water warm and comfortable and the breeze seemed to blow away much of the stresses of rule and war. One one of her walks, Daenerys was approached by a handsome Westerosi pirate of bastard birth named Aurane Waters, who had carved a small kingdom for himself in the Stepstones. Aurane commanded a large fleet of ships which he used to reave and plunder the many islands that he controlled. Waters was called the Lord of the Waters and ruled from Torturer’s Deep. He married the daughter of Tavyos Dort, a warlord that ruled one of the islands, in exchange for the man’s ships and allowing him to continue ruling his island. When Daenerys landed in the Stepstones, the pirate saw opportunity and travelled to the keep that the Targaryens had established as their base of operations.

Upon meeting him, Daenerys saw an opportunity to better understand Westeros and acquire the ships she needed to compete with the fleets of the continent. Waters agreed to support Daenerys’ invasion in exchange for legitimization, being made Lord of Driftmark, and being named Master of Ships. Targaryen agreed and took control of the bastard’s ships.

While Daenerys prepared to launch an invasion from the south, Aegon prepared to seize the original Targaryen seat in Westeros. Seeking to make a point and stake his claim in historical legitimacy, Aegon landed at Dragonstone, the former seat of Aegon I before his conquest of Westeros.

## The Taking of Dragonstone and the Messages to the Mainland

Aegon was somewhat disappointed when he arrived at Dragonstone. With the majority of Stannis Baratheon’s men having either left to fight alongside him in the War of the Five Kings or had died, the garrison of Dragonstone was weak, undersupplied, and lacking for quality arms. When they saw the approaching Golden Company, they mounted a meagre defense but were ultimately defeated. They were given the option of kneeling to Aegon or dying. The whole of the surviving garrison chose to die. Following the **seizure of Dragonstone** Aegon made the ancient seat of the Targaryens his base of operations, hoping to follow the same path of conquest as Aegon the Conqueror. As Aegon established himself on Dragonstone and prepared for the coming conflict, the realm just across the strait was stunned that they now had two Targaryen claimants invading at the same time.

Aegon had managed to reach the Yronwoods of Dorne during his time on Dragonstone and, on promises of making them the Princes of Dorne, convinced them to incite a rebellion against the Martells to keep Dorne out of the larger war. The Martells were proud supporters of Queen Myrcella due to her relationship with Prince Trystane and thus, would support her in the war. Shortly after defecting to the Targaryens, Lady Ynis Yronwood rose his region in rebellion. The rebellion kept Dorne out of the war for the entirety of the attempted conquest and was only suppressed when the armies of Westeros marched south and captured Yronwood and Lady Ynis, who was executed.

## The Conquest of the Stormlands

When the news of Dragonstone reached Daenerys, she knew that her time to attack had finally come. Daenerys moved her army to the mainland, landing at Weeping Town in 309 AC. Not wanting to risk their city, the Whiteheads bent the knee to Daenerys Targaryen. She, her army, and her dragon now had a foothold on the continent. Following her nonviolent capture of Weeping Town, Daenerys Targaryen had messengers run to the various keeps and villages within and around the Rain Wood demanding fealty in exchange for liberation. Many did not believe the rumors that she rode on the back of a fully grown dragon and thus refused her demands and began raising their levies.

In hopes of sending a message and to make travel to Storm’s End easier, Daenerys mounted Drogon and burned a path clear through the Rain Wood in the middle of the day. Houses for many leagues could see the smoke and flame rising from the forest and many could see the dragon himself. The forest burned for two weeks until a storm finally put it out. By the end of those two weeks, the men of the Rain Wood had knelt to their new queen and now marched with her. Clearing loose brush and smoldering trees as they passed, the swelling army of Daenerys Targaryen marched through the Rain Wood toward Griffin’s Roost.

### The Battle of Griffin's Roost

After a shortened march, the army arrived at Griffin’s Roost. The castle, which is set upon the very end of a peninsula and only accessible by a small bridge would make it difficult to capture. Though she had a dragon, Daenerys knew that destroying a valuable fortification such as Griffin’s Roost with dragonfire would be foolish and thus held her dragon in reserve. After besieging the keep for several days, the Targaryen grew impatient and ordered an assault on the castle with the aid of trebuchets that had been constructed.

Within the keep, Lord Ronald Connington had rallied his men with a rousing speech and stood on the walls with them, firing arrow after arrow into the coming flood of men. Connington had ruled the castle since his cousin, Jon Connington, was exiled following Robert’s Rebellion. He was unaware that the man known as Griff just a few leagues north at the head of another invading force was, in fact, his cousin. Ronald Connington was steadfast in his oaths to the Crown and refused to give up his castle.

Three men abreast charged across the bridge into raining arrow fire resulting in incredible casualties, such that the advance was slowed significantly due to the amount of bodies clogging the crossing. Men had to be dedicated to removing bodies from the bridge to allow the Dothraki to cross on their horses when the vanguard had been depleted. After hours upon hours of back and forth, the invading soldiers finally reached the walls and broke down the gate. The castle did not last long after that. The Dothraki screamers made short work of the garrison, offering no quarter to those that had stood against them. Lord Ronald’s body was found in a pile of debris, having been crushed after a trebuchet round destroyed a small section of wall that he was standing on.

### The Battle of Storm's End

The Targaryen did not dally long in her newly conquered keep. Despite her losses, Daenerys ordered her men to march just two days later, pressing onwards to Storm’s End. She left behind a small garrison to hold the castle and the surrounding area. Storm’s End, like Dragonstone, had historical significance that would lend legitimacy to the invaders as it was the home of Robert Baratheon.

When Targaryen arrived at the castle, it was under the rule of Lady Shireen Baratheon, heir to King Stannis Baratheon and now Lady of Storm's End. When Daenerys flew to the walls of Storm’s End to demand the castle stand down, a man in the garrison fired a crossbow bolt at her right as she began speaking. The bolt bounced off of Drogon’s scales, though it aggravated the beast who flew forward and bit down on the man and swallowed him whole. Deprived of their commander, the garrison began firing arrows which forced Daenerys to retreat. The Battle for Storm’s End became a disorganized smatter of arrows and trebuchet firing until the Targaryen forces reached the gate with the battering ram. Making things more hectic was an enraged Drogon dousing the castle walls in dragon fire. The archers on the wall were torched, allowing the men on the ram to reach the gates. The gate took significant damage from the dragon’s fire, which weakened it and made it easy for the ram to knock down. Once the gates were splintered, the Targaryen forces flooded the castle and captured it.

Unlike Griffin’s Roost, Storm’s End was well fortified and supplied and the men knew the keep well. Though not as bloody as the capture of Griffin’s Roost, the Battle of Storm’s End was costly for the invading forces and forced Daenerys to allow her troops to rest. The losses were not in vain, however. Word of the battles and the dragon spread and when Daenerys demanded the Storm Lords to bend the knee, they did so. Now, the Targaryen had the backing of an entire kingdom and all of its resources. The soldiers she lost were replaced by a Westerosi, an important change given the composition of the army upon her arrival.

## The War Expands

The loss of the Stormlands came as a shock to Queen Myrcella, who had struggled to get a proper assessment of the situation from her Small Council. When news of the fall of the Stormlands and Dragonstone reached King’s Landing, Myrcella finally called her banners to King’s Landing to prepare for the Targaryen onslaught that seemed imminent. Her call was answered immediately by Houses Lannister and Tyrell, who marched immediately after their muster was complete. They grouped their ships together and made for the mouth of the Blackwater.

The Lannisters forced their soldiers to march day and night until they reached King’s Landing, arriving in time to reinforce King’s Landing. The men of the Reach, having more soldiers to raise and not wanting to expend their stamina and morale before meeting the enemy, were slower to march and thus did not reach King’s Landing before the next phase of the invasion began.

### The Second Battle of the Blackwater

After weeks of biding his time, Aegon received news of the capitulation of the Stormlands and felt that the time had come for him to begin his invasion of the mainland. Aegon split his ships into two separate fleets; one under the command of Captain Harry Strickland and the other under the command of Aurane Waters. Waters would lead the main force into the Blackwater to harass the city and attempt to break up the Royal Fleet. Strickland would sail to the Vale and begin seizing the ports so as to starve the mountainous region into capitulation.

The Second Battle of the Blackwater began early in the morning while many of the sailors of the Royal Fleet were still asleep. Waters began the attack with volleys of fire arrows striking the ships while they were still at anchor. By the time that the Westerosi had risen to defend, nearly twenty ships were aflame and in various stages of collapse. Regrouped, the Royal Fleet pressed hard at the center of Waters’ ships and crashed hard into them. Expecting such a foolish move to be a feigned attack, Aurane Waters pressed on into the Royal Fleet. His ship grappled with that of Hobber Redwyne. The marines aboard Hobber’s ship were quicker to react and flooded the bastard’s ship with swords before they could react. Redwyne and Waters clashed in the heat of the battle in single combat. Hobber fell Waters after a lucky strike met the man’s throat.

Despite Waters’ death, the Royal Fleet was defeated after Aegon took direct command of the fleet and flanked the left of Myrcella’s ships. Hobber Redwyne withdrew the remainder of his ships behind the chain that had been installed by Tyrion Lannister, where they were trapped for months by Aegon’s fleet.

### The Scouring of the Crabs and the Rallying of Gulltown

While Aegon was smashing the Royal Fleet to the south, his second fleet reached the Bay of Crabs where they destroyed House Arryn’s ships while they sat at anchor in Gulltown, in the process killing Lord Harrold Arryn, who had been with the fleet. Left defenseless, the Vale became easy prey for the Golden Company’s fleet. The Scouring of the Crabs as it became known, saw the capture of all the major ports in the Bay of Crabs by the Golden Company. The Company seized all ships they could and destroyed what they could not, scouring all resistance the Vale could mount at sea. Meanwhile, the Golden Company began a siege at Gulltown. The siege of Gulltown was particularly brutal as the men of the Golden Company had grown increasingly restless for lack of pay. They pillaged and looted the surrounding villages and raped hundreds of women. Entire towns were put to the sword by the Essosi sellswords, creating a resentment and economic scar that last to this day.

Angered by the actions outside their walls and encouraged by a charismatic garrison commander named Lord Artys Shett, the people of Gulltown rose to arms against the invaders. Soldier and civilian, man and woman, old and young all rose in a patriotic counteroffensive that resulted in the burning of the handful of ships that anchored and occupied the port of Gulltown and the wholesale slaughter of many members of the Golden Company after the battle. The resistance forced the Golden Company to abandon the siege and destroyed their equipment. The people of Gulltown mounted the heads of executed Golden Company prisoners, including that of Harry Strickland, on the walls of Gulltown until they had been picked clean by crows. Harry Strickland remains a hated name in Gulltown.

The Rally at Gulltown was a message to all of Westeros that there remained hope to win this war. “Gulltown” became a rallying cry for those charging into battle for the remainder of the war, especially those from the Vale. The loss significantly weakened the Golden Company, who abandoned all operations in the Vale to regroup with their force in the south.

### The Battle of the Wendwater

With King’s Landing protected by the harbor chain for the time being, Myrcella knew that she needed to send men south to fight back against Daenerys before she got too close to King’s Landing. A mixed force of Crownlanders and Westermen gathered under the command of Lord Bryan Brax made up the vanguard that marched to meet the Targaryens. Daenerys received a scout report that a force was marching down the Kingsroad and sent soldiers north to meet them. Under the command of Lord Edric Buckler, Daenerys’ men made for the Kingsroad.

The two forces met where the Kingsroad crossed the Wendwater. Lord Brax had specifically chosen the area in hopes that the river would slow or prevent the Dothraki from flanking his force. Unfortunately for Brax, the Wendwater was at an abnormally low tide which allowed it to be forded all around the bridge. The Battle of the Wendwater was the largest and bloodiest battle of the entire war and is marked for its collapse of lines of communication early on. Without proper communication, the fighting became extremely disorderly with many being killed by men fighting for the same side.

The battle opened with Dothraki screamers charging across the Wendwater and smashing into the Westerosi center, which buckled almost immediately due to being made up entirely of sword units. The Dothraki streamed through the center and took the bridge, allowing the Targaryen infantry to cross directly into the breach. The Westerosi were now forced to fight in two entirely partitioned groups that were being enveloped on two sides. The Westerosi cavalry and auxiliary, having received no clear orders but saw the tide of the battle quickly turning, deployed in an effort to reclaim the center. The charge, however, was disorganized and was quickly broken up with many men being trapped in the growing scrum. Seeing no alternative and losing soldiers at an imperceivable rate, Brax ordered his troops to withdraw to King’s Landing. The retreat was as disorganized as the rest of the battle, with thousands dying as they attempted to flee. Lord Brax was reprimanded for his failure of leadership and was made a pariah for the remainder of his days for having mismanaged the battle in such a way.

## The Climax of the War

### The Ambush on the Roseroad

While the Wendwater was a complete disaster for the Westerosi, there was hope on the horizon. Thousands of Reachmen were on the march to reinforce the crumbling front around King’s Landing. Daenerys, emboldened by her victory at the Wendwater and by Aegon’s successes elsewhere, decided to press her advantage in hopes of ending the war sooner. From atop Drogon, Daenerys led a force of Dothraki west through the Kingswood and across the plains to ambush the Tyrell force traveling down the Roseroad. The ambush was successful in slamming the vulnerable center of the Reach’s column. The Reachmen were so taken off guard by the dragon and Dothraki that they broke without mounting much of a defense. Shattered, many turned back and retreated deeper into the Reach while the rest withdrew towards King’s Landing. The Targaryens lost relatively few men in the raid and killed many, all while slowing the Reach’s advance.

### The Siege of Highgarden

Her hubris over her recent victories led Daenerys to make a fateful error in her quest for the Westerosi throne. After the victory in the ambush, Daenerys began to believe that the war was all but won and that by striking at the heart of the Reach, as she had done in the Stormlands, she would be able to force the Reach to capitulate as the Stormlanders had. It was in the spirit of this thought that she decided to besiege Highgarden with her small expeditionary force and her dragon. **T**he Siege of Highgarden was less of a siege and more of a mad rush for the gate after a period of waiting. On the back of Drogon, Daenerys burned the farmland around the castle to surround the garrison in flames. They refused to surrender, which enraged the Targaryen who ordered her men to take the castle however they could. The Tyrell garrison opened fire with arrows and scorpion bolts, a few of which struck Drogon and wounded him. Still able to fly, Drogon unleashed dragonfire on the castle gate. When it collapsed, the Dothraki poured in and put the castle to the sword. Many members of the Tyrell family died in the sack, including a branch of cousins to Loras and Margaery Tyrell. Highgarden had fallen but the Reach would not bow after the sack.

Within a few days, the reserve of the Reach’s army made up of men from Oldtown and its vassals had reached the Mander. Ser Baelor Hightower, son of Lord Leyton Hightower and heir to the Hightower, led his men valiantly into battle against the Targaryen expeditionary force. Exhausted and cut off from their supply lines, the Targaryens were routed by the Hightowers and retreated from Highgarden. A brief siege took place and Highgarden was retaken by the Reachmen. Baelor stayed in Highgarden to hold proper funerals for the defenders and noncombatants killed by the Dothraki before continuing on toward King’s Landing.

### The Siege of King's Landing

The Golden Company during the time of Daenerys’ expedition west had regrouped and met up with Targaryen forces from the south. Together, the combined Targaryen force besieged King’s Landing. The siege drug on for moons without end in sight. For the first time since the beginning of the war, Queen Myrcella appeared before the people of the city. In a rousing speech, Myrcella called for her people to stand tall in the face of this foreign threat and alluded to the Westerosi’s history as a people who cast off the oppressive rule of the Targaryens under her father, Robert. She appealed to a burgeoning and new sense of unity on the continent. She pointed to the valor of the people of Gulltown and the cruelty of the Golden Company in the Vale. Appealing to the patriotism of the people not as Valemen, Reachmen, and Westermen, but as one Westerosi people united in opposition to a foreign threat that sought to destroy all that they had worked to achieve. It is the first recorded instance in which the Westerosi were referenced to as one people rather than many that existed under one Crown. The people of King’s Landing went to the defense of the city with renewed vigor. The entirety of the city set to work building barricades, boarding vulnerable buildings, stamping out criminals and smugglers, and enlisting to fight in the defense alongside the armies.

### The Battles of the Mander and the Eye

Following their defeat at the Battle of the Mander, Daenerys’ troops regrouped near Featherforts but did not attack the castle. Feeling vulnerable following the loss and not wanting to lose her advantage, Daenerys decided to act on reports of 5,000 Riverlanders, under the orders of Lord Petyr Baelish, marching to rendezvous with Western reinforcements and break the Siege at King’s Landing. She hoped to recreate her success on the Roseroad and took her force north at speed. She ignored Drogon’s injuries despite his obviously weakened state. Unfortunately for Daenerys, the Westermen and Riverlanders successfully met at the God’s Eye and the Targaryen failed to do proper reconnaissance. She and her expeditionary force ran straight into the waiting jaws of the now combined force. **T**he Battle of the Eye just south of the God’s Eye and saw the ultimate defeat of the expeditionary force under Daenerys Targaryen. The Dothraki charged headlong, as they had before, straight into the Westerosi force. The center of this army, however, was made up of pikes wielded by veteran troops who held the Dothraki back despite their charge. Daenerys watched from above as her Blood Riders fell to the Westerosi pikes and were quickly being enveloped on both sides by Western cavalry. She descended at speed in hopes that she could burn the pikemen and break their hold on the Dothraki. Archers from House Vance fired a volley at the descending dragon, one of which struck the rider in the heart.

Daenerys Targaryen, last child of Mad King Aerys, died falling from the back of her dragon with an arrow lodged in her heart.

## The End of the Two Dragons

Broken by the loss of his rider, the wounded dragon roared with grief and flew from the battle and returned to the Stepstones. The Dothraki that were left were slaughtered without exception as the Westerosi enveloped and killed them. Completely unopposed, the combined Lannister-Baelish force marched on to King’s Landing.

Ultimately, the force was not to see further battle. Upon hearing of the loss of Daenerys and her dragon, Aegon realized the entirety of his force was now surrounded on all sides by enemy reinforcements with an ever closing window of escape. His forces depleted and unable to survive even if they took the city, Aegon ordered his men to withdraw. Along with the Golden Company, Aegon boarded his ships and fled to Pentos ending the War of the Two Dragons.