Durran's Defiance

Ten-year regency council

**Durran's Defiance** was the name given to the war fought between the Lords and Ladies of Westeros that ultimately ended the crazed rule of Mad King Maelys I Blackfyre. The war resulted in then six-year-old Daemon III Blackfyre being placed upon the throne, with his cousin Aemond Blackfyre acting Prince Regent of the Seven Kingdoms.

## Prelude

Maelys I Blackfyre, the sixth Blackfyre monarch after Daemon Blackfyre’s rebellion, was a terrible man. A trickster, a gambler, harsh and cruel on those who might threaten him. Over the years of his reign, paranoia and madness begin to seep into his mind, causing him to suspect even family of attempting to betray him. Two years before *Durran’s Defiance*, Maelys secretly murders his twin brother, Aenys Blackfyre, the Prince of Dragonstone, on the suspicion that Aenys was sleeping with the Queen. Afterwards, Aemond Blackfyre, Aenys’s eldest and the new Prince of Dragonstone, is asked to spend some time with Maelys at court in King’s Landing. Aemond is suspicious that Maelys is behind his father’s death, but has no proof.

Guilt ridden, Maelys’ spending habits begin to grow exponentially, adding on to the already extreme amount of debt the crown is owed. Those that had already loaned the Crown money quickly demanded repayment, as they feared the Crown would not have much gold left. Maelys looks for more and more ways to get money.

At a Small Council meeting, Maelys demands that the Master of Coin start taking money from the Faith’s coffers. His Hand, Lord Durran Baratheon, is a very pious man and outright refuses to do his King’s bidding. Maelys, drunk and suffering from madness, threatens violence on him and his whole house. Baratheon tries to reason with his king, explaining that there are better ways to get the money and that this is true madness. Upon the mention of his madness, Maelys’ paranoia completely takes hold, slitting open Durran’s throat and claiming that his disobedience was a sign that Durran was his wife’s new lover. Covered in blood, he commanded his Kingsguard to fetch his wife, for he needed to have a ‘conversation’ with her.

Prince Aemond would get to her first, however. His paranoia against his uncle finally paid off and he had somebody listening at the door of the council chamber. The spy ran off to warn Aemond, and Aemond was able to smuggle the queen, Prince Daemon (Maelys’s 6 year old son), and the Sword of the Morning (a knight of the Kingsguard) out of the castle and onto a ship bound for Dragonstone. He would later meet with Orys Storm, bastard of Maelys and the wife of Lord Durran Baratheon, and warn the boy what was about to happen to the new lord of Storm’s End. Orys rode immediately for the Stormlands while Aemond went to the Riverlands to see if there were any lords who had a grudge against Maelys.

When Orys Storm reaches Storm’s End, the New Lord of Storm’s End weeps at the loss of his brother. Soon, however, he calls his banners to war, not waiting for Maelys to make his first move. Ravens are sent out to every corner of the realm, begging for aid. On Dragonstone, Daemon and Queen Rhaenyra take shelter with Ser Dayne, here they will remain for the rest of the war.

## War

### The Rallying of Riverrun

Aemond and his brother Aurion travel in secret to the Riverlands, hoping against all hope to find lords who chafe under Maelys’ rule. Baelor Bittersteel, Lord Paramount of the Riverlands and Lord of Harrenhal turns them down, and even worse, tries to capture them upon their leave. Only Aurion’s skill at arms prevents their capture. Harried through the Riverlands, they eventually end up at Riverrun, where Lord Tully takes them in and is the first to openly declare his opposition to Maelys. Much of the Riverlands, including houses Mallister, and Blackwood join him in rebellion, whereas Bracken, Vance, and Darry join Bittersteel in their declaration of support for the King. The Riverlands soon erupts into flames as a miniature civil war breaks out, with especially heavy fighting taking place in *the Teats*. Aemond proves to be an incredibly deadly fighter, winning almost every engagement he takes part in. A massive bounty is put on his head and is eventually considered to be a more important enemy than Lord Baratheon.

### The Assault on Dragonstone

Upon hearing of the betrayal of the Riverlords, Maelys lost what little prudence he had left. Worked up into a frothing rage, he demands that his forces take Dragonstone. The island, under the command of Ser Dayne of the Kingsguard, prepare to repel the invaders. Still, it seems to be too little to turn the tide of battle and it looks like Daemon will be returned to his father. As dawn broke however, green sea dragon sigils appeared on the horizon. Lord Haerman Velaryon had chosen a side, and he chose the Crown. His son, Vaemar, led the Velaryon fleet towards Dragonstone to liberate the castle. Ser Dayne catches wind of this and prepares for a desperate defense. When Royal troops landed, a furious siege took place over the next several months, with the Royal forces capturing the southern part of the island. Skirmishes ensued, with neither side being able to gain the upper hand. It’s said that the only reason that the Dragonstone garrison did not fall was the prowess of Ser Dayne.

### The Battle in the Kingswood

Crownlands forces clash with Baratheon’s army in the Kingswood. Lord Baratheon is cunning, and traps the enemy cavalry (commanded by the new Hand of the King, Lord Stokeworth), in the heavy foliage and tears them to shreds with his light infantry. The Royal Army falls back in disarray and the way to King’s Landing is clear.

### The Siege of King's Landing

Lord Baratheon lays siege to King’s Landing and Maelys’ forces inside. Before their siege is completely set up, Maelys sends desperate letters out to the Great Lords, promising them lands and a betrothal to Daemon when he came of age. Of the Great Lords, Lord Tyrell is eager to get back to the ranking of the greatest of the Lords Paramount. He calls his bannermen and marches for King’s Landing with haste, whilst Baratheon troops surround the capital.

### The Battle at Fairmarket

Lord Piper has been charged with leading the northern portion of Bittersteel’s army while Lord Bittersteel deals with Tully’s forces along the Red Fork. He pursues Aemond like a mad dog along the Blue Fork until Aemond decides to make a stand at Fairmarket. Aemond uses the week and a half start he has on Piper to prepare defenses for the battle. When the actual battles arrives, Piper rushed in with his full force, hoping to overwhelm the Prince of Dragonstone with brute force. Aemond expected it, however, and had lined the moats with flammable pitch.

Both of Piper’s flanks erupted in flame while a wall of spears greeted his front. A charging cavalry force, led by Aemond himself, was soon at his rear. It was a terrible defeat for the Royals, and Aemond personally killed Lord Piper as he fled the field. The battle served to break what little morale Bittersteel imparted in his lords, and the only Lords that stood by him were Bracken and Darry. The former for blood ties, and the later because their son Edmure was a knight of Maelys’s Kingsguard. The rest of the Riverlords defected to the Rebel side, and many swore fealty to Aemond and his cause on the field of battle.

### The Battle of King's Landing

Electing to starve out the city instead of mounting an invasion, Lord Baratheon camped outside the city and hoped the siege would break the failing morale of those inside the city walls. Before tensions could boil over however, Lord Tyrell’s army arrived from the southwest. A brief battle occurred before Baratheon realized that it was a battle he could not hope to win. A hasty march back into the Kingswood ensued, and Baratheon lost almost a third of his men.

Lord Tyrell commands his men to give up the chase and return to the city to take part in the rewards the king bestowed on the army. This gives Lord Baratheon time to marshal his forces and lick his wounds at Bronzegate. Once properly feasted, Tyrell commands Lord Caswell to continue the offensive while he assists in the administration of King’s Landing as the new Hand. He also keeps many of his troops in the capital, as Maelys’ Crownlands troops are forced to bolster the Bittersteel soldiers in the newly rebellious Riverlands.

### The Wolf and the Falcon

The Lord Arryn, once a ward at Highgarden in his youth, declares for the royals out of friendship for the Lord Tyrell and his family. Lord Stark, on the other hand, declares for the rebels out of a desire for vengeance. News spreads throughout the Seven Kingdoms from the capital; Maelys, in a fit of paranoia, slaughters the majority of the Small Council, including Lord Manderly, Master of Ships. Lord Manderly’s lady wife was of Stark blood, and the rage-filled Lord Stark declares for the rebellion.

### The Battle of the Bridge

In the aftermath of the Battle of Fairmarket, Frey declares for Aemond, and Bittersteel refuses to let the last great neutral house fall to the rebels. He writes to Lord Arryn and demands that he send his army to the Twins to secure the castle and prevent Lord Stark from crossing the Neck. The Stark army is the first to arrive, but does not have time to move on when Lord Arryn appears with an army of his own. The battle is one of the fiercest of the entire war, and is noted for the unusually high amount of noble deaths. A deciding factor in the bloodiness was that Arryn was able to secure the eastern tower before sending his men on to assault the bridge. The battle rages on for two days and nights, each side making desperate sallies to attack the other’s position, turning the bridge and the river red with blood. On the third day, the Royalists take a massive hit to morale when Lord Belmore falls to Lord Bolton’s blade. The Arryns are forced to abandon the Twins and flee eastwards with the combined Stark/Frey army in hot pursuit. The rebel army endures almost a month of constant harassment as they chase the royalists southwards.

### A Pact of Iron and Fire

Maelys Blackfyre becomes more desperate for victory, and approaches Lord Greyjoy with an offer: join his cause and the King will make thralldom legal again. They will also have Royal Permission to raid his enemies and ensure their loyalty to the Crown. Lord Urrigon Greyjoy is a peaceful man and refuses to take part in such barbarity. His brother Rodrik and his nephew Aeron Greyjoy are much more eager for a return to the Old Ways however, and quickly kill Urrigon so that Rodrik can sit the Seastone chair. After assuming the title of Lord, Greyjoy and his army of 10,000 soon disembarks to Seagard.

### The Battle of Haystack Hall

Lord Baratheon realizes that Tyrell has pushed too far into the Stormlands to keep an effective supply chain and maintain effective command. He decides to make his stand at Haystack Hall and hope for the best. Caswell is too arrogant and decides that waiting is the best course of action. While Baratheon prepares defenses inside Haystack Hall, he scouts for any weaknesses in the Reachman army. He finds it, in the form of irregular patrols. Signalling Lord Connington and the cavalry units that the Stag Lord has hidden away, the Griffin Lord flanks the enemy army and pins them between the walls of the castle and their thundering hooves. It ends the Stormlands campaign of the war and Baratheon takes the road back to King’s Landing, albeit at a much more cautious and steadier pace.

### Piracy and the Dornish

Maelys becomes nervous that his enemies are growing more numerous by the day, and becomes convinced that the Dornish are close to joining the Rebel side. He pays the pirates of the Stepstones a tremendous amount of gold to keep Dorne occupied. It accomplishes its goal, as Dorne deal with marauding pirates most of the time, but it soon backfires spectacularly, and it is mere months before the Sunspear flies over the Stepstones and they give the pirates a tremendous tanning, severely weakening the power the pirate lords had.

### The Battle of the Green Fork

At a place of his choosing, Lord Arryn decides to make a stand. Lord Darry knows the river on his left side is an area with an excellent ford, and tells Lord Arryn as much. The Stark army spies that the Arryn camp has holed up for the evening and does the same. Unbeknownst to him, Lord Royce fords the river with the Vale’s best troops and approaches the Stark camp from the rear. Upon his signal, Lord Arryn’s cavalry charges the camp with Royce performing a pincer move. It’s a massacre, and only a valiant charge by Lord Umber saves the Northern army from total destruction. They retreat for the Twins immediately, their time on the offensive at an end.

### The Folly of the Ironborn

Lords Greyjoy and Harlaw decide to only leave a token force under Lord Drumm to siege Seagard. They hope to assault the Twins and cut off the the Starks from escaping back after their defeat at the hands of Lord Arryn. Aemond Blackfyre is leading his host North to relieve Lord Mallister, when he hears word of Greyjoy and Harlaw’s plans. He immediately sends a rider to the Ironborn army, issuing a challenge to face him and end this war immediately. Though warned by Lord Goodbrother that this is likely a trap, Greyjoy does not listen, and rushes down to meet the rebel army, inadvertently sparing the Twins from a massacre that they could not have survived.

### Battle of Hag's Mire

Greyjoy and Harlaw descend upon the town of Hag’s Mire, hoping to camp out there before engaging Aemond’s army. To their great surprise, the discovered Aemond sitting in the town square, idly playing with his sword. The Ironborn could not believe their luck. Their quarry had given itself to them without a fight. They arrogantly approached and demanded his immediate surrender. After a short, cheeky exchange, Aemond merely grinned and blew the horn at his side. All around him, his soldiers who had disguised themselves as villagers leapt forward and quickly slew the surprised Ironborn. Aemond and Aurion quickly leapt into action, engaging in twin duels with the Iron Lords. Greyjoy was able to fight Aurion to a standstill, but Harlaw was not so lucky.

Aemond proved to be the deadlier warrior, and soon removed his head. Rebel soldiers soon appeared from the bog, driving the leaderless Ironborn army into disarray. Aemond had all of his pikemen form a slow, unstoppable wall that slowly but surely pushed the enemy back into the muck. Unlike Stark at the Battle of the Green Fork, there was no mad dash to break through. The Ironborn simply didn’t have the leadership or the terrain to make that happen. Those who did survive, like Aeron Greyjoy and Goodbrother did so out of a combination of luck and anonymity. After, the battle, Aemond took the Valyrian Steel sword Nightfall and wielded for the rest of the war and beyond, claiming to have paid the Iron Price for it.

### The Miracle on Dragonstone

After months of fighting and a frenzied defense mounted by Ser Dayne, both sides of the Siege of Dragonstone are growing weary. The Royals wish to go home and the Rebels are running dangerously low on supplies. In what would eventually turn out to be the final raid in the siege, Ser Dayne slew both Kingsguard sent to capture the prince and take him back home. It would be the final straw for the forces besieging the castle, as they refused to fight one more minute for the Crown. Vaemar Velaryon, now the de facto commander for the Royal Forces, forced the other commanders to throw down their arms in front of the gate to Dragonstone and pledge themselves to the Rebel cause.

### The Lion Awakens

Sitting out the war until now, Lord Tytos Lannister, with the guidance of his sons Martyn and Tymon, decides to enter on the side of the rebels, as it gives him an excellent chance to raid and plunder the Reach. Ser Martyn, being the only knight in the family, assumes leadership over the armies and makes for Red Lake. The Reach is thrown into disarray, with most of their army being stationed in the northeast to prevent an attack from the Stormlands. Lannister smashes token resistance at Red Lake and marches directly south. All Tyrell forces in the Crownlands retreat, Lord Royland Baratheon has an open path to King's Landing.

### A King's Desperate Attempt

When Lord Baratheon arrives at the city, he is shocked to find that the whole might of the Crownlands has been assembled outside the city. Maelys has called them all to the capital to march to war. In a desperate move, Maelys elects to ignore the approaching Baratheon force and marches northwards towards Harrenhal, hoping against hope he might draw Aemond out into battle and slay him, ending the rebellion and tearing apart the fragile alliance at the seams.

### Sacking of Highgarden

Although Lord Tyrell marches south with great speed, he is not fast enough to catch . Without even waiting for siege engines to be built, the knight of Casterly Rock assaults the token garrison at Highgarden and takes the castle with minimal bloodshed after offering the guards on duty a substantial bribe. He takes a great deal of their gold, and proceeds to sit on the throne at Highgarden for over a moon, reveling in his victory and mocking the power of the Reach. Perceon Lannister is noted to have been among the best fighters atop the walls, for a one-and-five year old squire.

### Second Siege of King's Landing

Lord Baratheon finds himself once again outside the walls, but still faced with desperate defenders inside. He elects to set up a siege camp and wait for supplies to run out inside the city, for he fears that enough Stormlander blood has been spilled already.

### Ransom of Oldtown

Martyn Lannister knows that the Reach army will soon be returning, and realizes that he will extend his lines too far if he keeps marching. Deciding to bluff with his strength, he writes letters to the lords of the Southern Reach claiming that unless they give him tribute, he will ransack their castles and salt their fields. Fearing the might of the Lion, many of the lords and their representatives, including Houses Hightower and Tarly, have carriages of gold sent to Highgarden to appease the occupiers. After gorging his fill on the wealth of the Reach, Ser Martyn returns to Casterly Rock, his part in the war being over. He dealt the Reach a crippling blow, and the honor of the land is stained to this day.

### The Battle of Harrenhal

Upon hearing of his uncle’s march, Aemond Blackfyre decides to meet him on the field and trust in his army. His army was undoubtedly smaller, but it was more experienced and proven in the field. Maelys had numbers, but the vast majority were untested farmhands who had never held a spear in their life. They met in the fields just outside of Harrenhal and the battle was on. From the early onset, Aemond’s side proved far superior, but Maelys was proving himself to be a seasoned warrior in his own right, and deadly with Blackfyre in his hands. Aemond, seeing that they only way to end the battle decisively was with his uncle’s defeat, met him in a spectacular duel, where Valyrian steel clashed against Valyrian steel and has been the favorite subject of singers ever since.

In the end, Aemond proved to be too good for Maelys, and struck his uncle down, but not without sustaining quite a few injuries of his own. As Aemond raised his sword to deliver the killing blow, Maelys begged and pleaded for his life. In Aemond’s split moment of hesitation, Maelys produced a hidden dagger and gave his nephew a brutal stomach wound. Before anyone could react, Maelys and his three remaining Kingsguard had run off towards Harrenhal to seek shelter from Lord Baelor Bittersteel. Upon seeing their king flee, many of the Royal soldiers threw down their arms and begged for mercy. The Battle of Harrenhal proved to be a decisive victory for the Rebels, but Aemond was severely wounded and only a moment away from death.

### The Betrayal at Harrenhal

Lord Bittersteel had also been wounded during battle, but both he and the King were given shelter and care behind Harrenhal’s thick walls by Bittersteel’s bastard son: Rhaegar Rivers. Mere minutes after they were through the gates, Rebel forces surrounded the castle and prepared for a long siege, for even in it’s burned and ruined state, Harrenhal was prohibitively bloody to assaults and with Aemond’s severe injuries, the Rebel army suffered from a lack of unified command necessary for such a battle. But just as both sides prepared themselves for the slow horror to come, the unexpected happened. Rhaegar Rivers, knowing the inevitable outcome of the siege, had loyal guards sneak into the chambers of both his father and the king to slit their throats. In one fell move, the bastard had removed any cause the Royals might have to continue fighting. He quickly opened up the gates to Rebel forces and began to parlay for clemency. Due to his actions, House Bittersteel escaped much of the wrath that would follow for the houses that supported Maelysduring the war, and Rhaegar would later be legitimized as the new Lord Bittersteel of Harrenhal (for he had also slain all of Bittersteel’s legitimate children). The war was over, but the question of who would rule was still up in the air.

### A Sudden Shift in Power

It took almost two months for Aemond Blackfyre to recover from his wounds, but when he did, he mounted his horse and rode for King’s Landing, expecting a welcome as he went to claim the Iron Throne for his actions. But when he arrived at the city, he found that a King had already been crowned. While he healed, Lord Baratheon, with help from the newly knighted Ser Vaemar Velaryon, had taken King’s Landing and set up Maelys’ six year old son Daemon on the Iron Throne.

House Frey, seeking to recoup some of the royal favor they had lost to Houses Bittersteel and Tully during the war, had taken the sword Blackfyre from the field of battle where Maelys had dropped it and delivered it into Baratheon’s hands, who promptly used it to give Daemon legitimacy as the rightful king. Aemond was furious, but there was little he could do. The High Septon had recognized the legitimacy of the claim, and few were prepared to fight yet another war for the Blackfyre prince. To placate the furious prince, a compromise was reached: Baratheon would remain on as Hand of the King, but Aemond was to be the Prince Regent. This created tension at court, with two factions sprouting up overnight and have proceeded to create a hostile and potentially deadly environment that has persisted to this day.

## Aftermath

In dealing with the lords and regions that remained loyal to King Maelys, Lord Baratheon proved himself to be a harsh dispenser of justice. Many of the defeated houses had their funds stripped from them to pay off the great debt that Maelys accumulated. House Tyrell was severely reprimanded, losing all of their positions at court, and were told that House Lannister was entitled to keep all of the gold that they had plundered in their raiding. House Arryn was forced to give up *the Sisters*, which were promptly given to the Starks of Winterfell, as a reward for their unwavering loyalty during the crisis.

But perhaps the most cruel punishment of all went to the Iron Islands, who were stripped of every single one of their flagships, which were promptly turned over to the harbormaster of Lannisport, increasing the power of the Westerlands fleet immensely. House Bittersteel was exempt from all punishment however, for their new lord’s treachery had sealed the victory for Houses Baratheon and Blackfyre, an act neither house would be quick to forget. The Rebellion also started the ten-year regency for King Daemon III, which would end on the King’s 16th nameday, the very same day he is to wed his cousin Daenerys.