Sixth Blackfyre Rebellion (The Lion and the Dragon)

The **Sixth Blackfyre Rebellion** was a conflict between the weakened House Targaryen under King Rhaegar I Targaryen and the claimants to the Iron Throne, House Blackfyre under Aegon Blackfyre. The conflict began after Illyrio Mopatis and Prince Doran Martell deemed the Targaryens to have been weakened sufficiently during the War of the Four Kings.

## Prelude

During the reign of King Rhaegar I Targaryen the continent of Westeros erupted into civil war in the War of the Four Kings, in which much of the realm rebelled against the polygamous marriage of Prince Aegon Targaryen and his two sisters; Rhaenys, and Visenya.

For some years prior to the war the Prince of Dorne, Doran Martell had been in contact with Magister Illyrio Mopatis of Pentos, an incredibly wealthy merchant. Illyrio had secretly married one of the last remaining Blackfyre descendants some years prior, Serra Blackfyre, and had a child with her. The boy was named Aegon Blackfyre, though was referred to as Young Lem while growing up due to his mentor naming himself Lem - though in reality he was a former ally of King Rhaegar I, Ser Richard Lonmouth.

Despite House Martell having formerly sided with House Targaryen in the previous Blackfyre rebellions, Prince Doran's ambition led to him supporting the Blackfyre pretender to the throne. He and Illyrio made an agreement which would see Doran's daughter Arianne marry Aegon Blackfyre. Also when Aegon becomes King, Doran would become his Hand.

## Sixth Blackfyre Rebellion

### Landing of the Black Dragon

With the arrangement between House Martell and the Blackfyre supporters, it was agreed that Aegon should land in the south and wed Arianne Martell to begin with, for the Martell's this meant no future betrayal could occur, and for the Blackfyre's it meant they couldn't easily be abandoned by their Dornish allies. While Aegon would initially land in Dorne he would then sail to the Stormlands to join his Golden Company vanguard.

* **Marriage at Sunspear:** Ahead of his main force of the Golden Company, the Blackfyre claimant Aegon landed at Sunspear, the seat of the Martell's. Soon after his arrival, Aegon "VI" Blackfyre and Princess Arianne Martell were wed in Sunspear, thus fusing the Martell's with the Blackfyre cause.
* **Arrival of the Golden Company:** Soon after Aegon landed at Sunspear, the Golden Company set off from Pentos, seeking to land at Cape Wrath of the Stormlands, where the recent dynastic war had left the region severely weakened.
* **Taking of Griffin's Roost:** One of the first castles to fall to the Golden Company was Griffin's Roost, the ancestral seat of House Connington. The head of the house was Lord Jon Connington, Master of Laws to King Rhaegar I Targaryen who was a commander in the royal army. His nephew Ronnet was the castellan of the castle, but he proclaimed loyalty to House Blackfyre in return for being recognised by Aegon "VI" Blackfyre as the Lord of Griffin's Roost.
* **Fall of Cape Wrath:** As Griffin's Roost fell, much of the remainder of Cape Wrath fell to the Golden Company in a fairly bloodless fight. Crow's Nest, Rain House, Greenstone, Mistwood, and Tarth had all fallen to the Company's men in quick succession.
* **Capture of Maris Baratheon**: One of the key components that the Blackfyre supporters were hoping for to gain legitimacy in the Stormlands was to capture Maris Baratheon, daughter of the slain Lord Stannis Baratheon. They then hoped to betroth her to Prince Trystane Martell to ensure Stormland loyalty. After the death of Stannis his closest ally, Lord Davos Seaworth, put the young Baratheon girl on a ship set for Tarth, hoping keeping her away from the mainland would help her survival. However as the Golden Company took the island they captured the young girl before she could once again escape potential captors.
* **Battle of Storm's End:** The seat of House Baratheon, currently being held by a coalition of Stormland lords defending Edric Storm, was put under siege by the Golden Company. The lords, who had had little time to prepare for the battle as news had arrived of the Golden Company's invasion not long prior, had prepared as effective a defence as they could. Though the defenders did the best they could, there was little to be done against the elite Golden Company.
* **Taking of Storm's End:** After the sieging forces of Storm's End had been defeated the Golden Company found the few defenders of the fortress were no match for their might. Thus the capture of the Baratheon seat was a fairly quick affair. Aegon "VI" Blackfyre proclaimed the young Prince Trystane Martell and his betrothed Lady Maris Baratheon were the true Lord and Lady of Storm's End, while also proclaiming Ser Ronnet Connington to be the true Lord of Griffin's Roost. In an act of clemency the young Blackfyre claimant declared he would take Edric Storm, the bastard son of the former Lord Robert Baratheon, as his squire.

### The Spear in the Marches

As Aegon and his allies took Cape Wrath and Storm's End, it was agreed that a Dornish army led by Prince Oberyn Martell would take the Dornish Marches and thus connect with the Golden Company to create a united front against the Iron Throne. Initially Lord Anders Yronwood was meant to join the forces by he kept much of his levies back in Yronwood, refusing to put them under the command of the Red Viper. Instead he allowed his son Cletus and nephew Archibald to join Prince Quentyn Martell in Storm's End.

* **Battle of the Boneway**: With the fall of Storm's End the second phase of the capture of the Stormlands commenced, with the Dornish needing a route to link their army with the Golden Company and any who joined Aegon Blackfyre's cause. A Dornish army commanded by Ser Oberyn Martell, Lord Dagos Manwoody and Lord Harmen Uller marched up the Boneway but were met with a force of Stormlanders from the Dornish Marches commanded by Ser Rolland Storm and Lord Beric Dondarrion. It was a hard fight for both sides, the marcher lords had had time to prepare defences on the River Wyl, though their troops, exhausted by years of fighting within the Stormlands, were vastly outnumbered by the Dornish host. The Stormlanders lost in the end and only through the effective command of the commanders were the forces able to form an orderly retreat to their respective fortifications in Stonehelm and Blackhaven.
* **Battle in the Prince's Pass**: Soon after Boneway a second, smaller incursion into Stormland territory was undertaken by Dornish forces through the Prince's Pass, the second main route connecting Dorne to the rest of the realm. To the north of the pass is Nightsong, the seat of House Caron, a historic rival of House Fowler who controls the southern part of the pass. The Dornish host was led by Lord Franklyn Fowler, head of House Fowler, and Ser Gerold Dayne, head of the cadet branch of House Dayne in High Hermitage. Facing them was a force led by Lord Bryce Caron and Lord Arstan Selmy, as Harvest Hall, the seat of House Selmy, was further up the marches. Once again the battle was a hard fought one, both sides consisting of historically militaristic forces, but once again the Dornish won the day and pushed the marcher men deeper into their own territory. In the battle Lord Bryce Caron was slain, while Lord Franklyn Fowler was injured and forced to return to his seat of Skyreach.
* **Capture of Blackhaven**: The primary block that stood between the Dornish army and connecting with the Golden Company was Blackhaven, the seat of House Dondarrion. Despite being much smaller than the other greater castles of Westeros, its black basalt walls and dry, bottomless moat made the endeavour harder than it would first appear. Eventually though, with a drained garrison and surrounded by Dornish and Golden Company forces, the castle was captured in a bloody assault which saw the offensive army take casualties.

### Florentine Rebellion

With two regions of the realm having declared for and falling to Blackfyre forces the Reach appeared to be next in line for the Black Dragon's forces. Thus a rival house to the Tyrell's in the Reach, House Florent, declared for King Aegon "VI" Blackfyre in return for hopefully being made the Lord Paramount of the Mander. In response to this King Rhaegar I Targaryen strips the rebellious house of their lands and declares Ser Garlan Tyrell, the second son of Lord Mace Tyrell, to be the new Lord of Brightwater Keep.

* **March on Roseroad**: After the revolt of House Florent against the crown, Ser Garlan Tyrell, the second son of Lord Mace Tyrell and newly decreed Lord of Brightwater Keep, was forming an army in the Reach to march down the Roseroad. His father had taken about half the strength of the Reach to meet the royal forces and so Garlan was able to take a substantial force himself to the southwest.
* **Siege of Brightwater Keep**: Ser Garlan Tyrell set up a siege of Brightwater Keep, with the Florent host trapped inside the fort. The siege went well for the Tyrell claimant but was swiftly dropped when Garlan heard reports that the Shield Islands had been captured by Ironborn forces under the new self-declared King of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy. Garlan lifted the siege and moved his men to prepare for the capture of the Shields.

### Betrayal of the Boneway

After the loss at Wendwater and the harrying through the Stormlands, Aegon Blackfyre, the Golden Company and his Dornish supporters sought to retreat down the Boneway and hold the treacherous pass while waiting for reinforcements.

* **Battle of Wyl**: The Blackfyre supporters decided to make a stand at Wyl, seat of House Wyl at the entrance to Dorne. The rebels were able to form an effective defence of the fort, using the River Wyl to their advantage.
* **Retreat down the Stone Way**: After the loss at Wyl the Blackfyre forces retreated deeper into Dorne, down the Boneway to Yronwood. However the deaths of Prince Quentyn Martell, heir to Dorne and betrothed to Gwyneth Yronwood, and Ser Cletus Yronwood, heir to Yronwood, made Lord Anders Yronwood disillusioned from the rebels cause. Thus when the army arrived at Boneway, the gates of Yronwood were shut and the way past the fortress was blocked.

## Aftermath

### End of the Blackfyres

With the death of Aegon Blackfyre and many of his supporters, the war came to an end with the Stormlands having been devastated. The region had been the centre for much of the warfare and thus when it came to a conclusion many of the houses had been devastated by war.

### Baratheon Succession

Edric Storm, bastard of the former Lord Robert Baratheon, was formally legitimised by King Rhaegar I Targaryen and married to his cousin Maris Baratheon, the former affianced of Prince Trystane Martell before he died on the battlefield. However due to the chaos that had previously reigned in the region, the King believed it needed stability and so declared House Connington under his Master of Laws, Lord Jon Connington, to be the new Lord Paramount of the Stormlands.

### Dornish Succession Crisis

See Also: Dornish Succession Crisis

Though Dornish territory itself was fairly untouched, the deaths of most of the biggest family members of House Martell led to a power vacuum within the territory. Ser Manfrey Martell, cousin to the late Prince Doran Martell, is declared the new Lord of Sunspear. However as punishment for the Martell support of the Blackfyre cause King Rhaegar took the right of the Martell's to name themselves as Princes away, while also declaring House Yronwood to be the Lord Paramount of Dorne.

## Houses by Allegiance

### Loyalists

**Crownlands**

* **House Targaryen**
* House Velaryon

**Dorne**

* House Dayne

**Reach**

* House Tyrell

**Riverlands**

* House Darry

**Stormlands**

* House Baratheon (Edric)
* House Connington (Jon)

**Vale**

* House Grafton

### Rebels

**Crownlands**

* **House** **Blackfyre**

**Dorne**

* House Martell

**Reach**

* House Florent

**Stormlands**

* House Baratheon (Maris)
* House Connington (Ronnet)