Battle of the Dawn Horizon

## Prelude

> *Ian: The war wont end until we have captured Bloodstone. I need all of your help if that is to happen as Haywin has too much power to fully break for any one house.*
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> *Aenar: Then we make for Bloodstone to put down this king before his war kills thousands more innocents.*
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All of the fighting had been off the Stepstones and Haywin remained in Bloodstone away from any and all dangers to his person. Ian Dayne hoped to end that once and for all, the Sword of Mourning was in the Capitol at the time and called upon men and some of his household knights available at the start of the war, calling his banners in Dorne to come to him and gather an army there he called upon his allies closer to him while getting men to follow him for a campaign to Bloodstone, which he planned to start in the Stormlands where Haywin's men were currently ravaging the land. Many lords and Knights came to his aid, his longtime friend and veteran knight in the King's Army Ser Tristifer Terrace was one of the first to come to his aid, followed by Ser Jaime Ryyker, who Ian had knighted himself at his Starfall tourney, and Ser Aenar Blackfyre who Ian had been helpful towards for much of his attempts to integrate into the 8 Kingdoms and bestowed Blackfyre upon, after getting permission from the king. Lord Darron Flameheart also joined him, who Ian had called upon because of his prior experience in fighting Haywin during the Sunfyre Rebellion would be invaluable. After King's Landing he also called for the help of Lord Zelos Wilder, despite there lack of known interactions he knew how personal the feud with Haywin had gotten given the man's work towards uncovering the Darkspear plot, plus his skills as a commander and a soldier were well known and respected. The final Lord he called upon and at the time the least prestigious of the men involved was the squire of Lord Privat Kalukho Wilfred Littleknight, though by no means an experienced soldier or veteran like the rest of the company he was slowly showing his value and skill as a commander and strategist unmatched by many, no doubt Ian was one of the first to notice this trait and valued the mind of the man enough to bring him into the fold. No more would that skill be put to use then on this campaign which many called the Trail of Dawn, which extended from here all the way to Essos.

This company of soldiers lead a massive army first to liberate the Stormlands Ian sent parties lead by his experienced men to try and assist the Storm Lords in pushing back the raids on there lands and villages, with Aenar Blackfyre in particular saving a village from a group of 50 Dothraki backed by only a dozen men. Once they had gotten close enough to the enemy camp they were accompanied by many Stormlord soldiers and lords, namely Dwyte Skybright who insisted he help in pushing Lord Tarly back. Lord Zo Patton was securing the area elsewhere as his land had been greatly compromised by his defeat. Ethan Lash had long since left the area leaving just Randyl Tarly in charge of the Stepstone forces in the area, though he too found Khal Pono difficult in agreeing to strategies he nonetheless marched out with a formidable army ready to meet the enemy in direct combat, hoping to put an end to the Sword of Mourning's charge before it really got off the ground.

## The Battle

> *Tristifer: Randyl Tarly will come at us focused with an organized army, his Dothraki counterpart will not. If we are to beat him we must take advantage of there lack of cohesion.*
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> *Will: This Khal Pono is smarter then most but hes still Dothraki. We need to give him something to pursue and he will, then we strike.*
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Assisted by soldiers who had tasted defeat at this alliance before they had known enough about the way they fought to plan a proper counter. Lord Tarly was smart enough to try and change things up and avoid letting his army come across as predictable but like the Brightflame army expected the butting of heads proved difficult to match and Khal Pono differed in how he did battle. He sent men attempting to try and break the shield wall, to no avail and his frustration motivated him to keep trying, when he got close enough Will ordered the Calvary forces to move in, catching the Dothraki and hoping to take them out in one fell swoop to stop them and there archers. From there Aenar, Zelos, and Tristifer started to lead the front flanks forward attacking the foot of the Stepstone armies and Ian followed after a short round of combat between the two forces. The Qohor forces under Randyl's control were the first to break, beaten on the front and cut to pieces by Ian's forces they started to abandon the battlefield, made worse by the Dothraki refusing to listen or respond while being under attack themselves. This left Lord Tarly to try and salvage the battle himself risking his life and charging the enemy to try and cut a path through the lords.

Backed by the Lightningfyre Army and the men he still had Randyl cut his way to Aenar and Ian, battling the Blackfyre and Dawn wielder at the same time, though he showed his own brand of skill and valor he was no match for the two skilled warriors who eventually disarmed him, though they made a point of sparing his life. With the last of there leadership cut off most of the army that wasnt under Volantis started to break or surrender, but the ruler of Volantis himself didnt surrender just yet, attempting to have his men continue to rush and pick at the enemy's defenses, it was only when he realized the army wasnt going to break and that he was starting to becoming massively outnumbered that he finally accepted defeat and started to retreat.

## Aftermath

> *Darron: Haywin has to be running out of resources, no matter how carefully planned out this war is he cant possibly have another big plan coming along.*
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> *Zelos: The bulk of his plans may be behind us but that doesnt make him any less dangerous. He'll come up with something if we give him the time.*
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The victory here ended another of Haywin's biggest offenses and he found himself with little left in regards to mainland offenses, though he remained in rebellion regardless and so Ian continued to lead his men against him, knowing that the realm couldnt be safe as long as he remained in power. Randyl was left in captivity of the Stormland lords and brought to Lord Zo Patton with the intent he would be shipped back to Dragonstone once the war ended, but he was the only major opponent captured in the battle, the Stepstone Lords and Khal Pono escaped, though the braids of the living defeated horde could be found on the pathway to the port. Ian continued onward planning to meet the rest of his bannermen and Dornish army before taking the fight to Bloodstone directly to take Haywin's head, but the Darkspear King proved his craftiness once again having a few more cards to play.