Fourth Dornish War

Siege of Nightsong

Battle of Prince's Pass

Battle of Stonehelm

Liberation of Blackhaven

Siege of Wyl

Battle of Skyreach

The **Fourth Dornish War**, also known as War of Lord Yorick's Aggression, was fought in the year of 83 AC between the Kingdom of the Iron Throne under Rhaegar I Targaryen and the Principality of Dorne, led by Yorick Yronwood, but represented in the peace negotiations by Nymor Martell.

## Prelude

In 83 AC, men in the employ the Bloodroyal performed border skirmishes in the Red Mountains, to extend the Dornish influence some more into the territory of Houses Caron and Dondarrion and their vassals. Being a man of violent temper and great ruthlessness, Lord Yorick was pleased by the successful raids on Stormlander outposts and arranged for a more extensive campaign.

## The War

### Opening Moves

Joined by other houses on the Dornish side of the Red Mountains, first and foremost House Wyl, who set out to assault their mortal enemies in the Stormlands, he assembled an expeditionary force capable of capturing larger castles, which they immediately proved by marching up the Stoneway and besieging Blackhaven, while smaller raiding parties entered deep into the Stormlands.

In the Battle of Fawnton, they defeated a hastily assembled Stormlander army, before turning back to join up with the main Yronwood host. Blackhaven was assaulted after some time, and Lord Simon Dondarrion was captured and his heir executed whilst Lord Yronwood’s men sacked the castle town. By that time, Lord Baratheon had heard of the incursions and called for aid from the Iron Throne, while assembling a host of his own to march against the Dornishmen.

### The Western Campaign

While the forces of Houses Yronwood and Wyl marched along the Stoneway, old Lord Fowler also raised his men and, motivated both by his hatred for the Stormlanders and the wish not to be outdone by his neighbour in House Yronwood, had them marched them up Prince’s Pass by his second son Ryon Fowler, besieging Nightsong. As news of this second attack from Dorne spread, King Rhaegar I Targaryen called upon his Warden of the South, and Lord Tyrell assembled a host of Reachmen to relieve Nightsong. In the ensuing fighting, two of Lord Fowler’s grandsons were slain, along with many others, and so the Dornishmen retreated back to Skyreach, but were caught by a second Reachman host led by Ser Gareth Tyrell that had already entered Prince’s Pass. Those Reachmen then went on to capture Kingsgrave and move on towards Skyreach.

### The Kingdom Strikes Back

At Stonehelm, the armies of Lord Baratheon and Yronwood met and the Stormlanders were able to deal the Dornish their first defeat, driving them back. First, Lord Yronwood took up camp in the occupied Blackhaven, but as many of its supply lines had been raided, he vacated House Dondarrion’s seat for the Stormlanders to reoccupy it, erecting fortifications along the River Wyl instead.

When reinforcements from the Crownlands, led by King Rhaegar, Prince Aemon, and Prince Baelon  marched towards the Dornish border, the young Prince of Dorne, Nymor Martell, a youth of six-and-ten, first reacted with military action. After his letters to Yronwood asking the Bloodroyal to cease his actions had gone unanswered, the young Prince marched a host from the eastern parts of Dorne to the Red Mountains, while calling the other houses dwelling there, led by House Dayne, to reinforce Skyreach, where they give the arriving Reachmen battle, severely weakening Ser Gareth Tyrell’s host. Even when Lord Gwayne arrived with reinforcements, those were not enough to continue the siege, and so, the Reachmen returned back north to Nightsong to join the eastern host of the Crownlands and Stormlands.

While they took great losses in the mountainous terrain against the well-acquainted Dornishmen, the men of the Iron Throne were able to cross the River Wyl, sacking Wyl itself, with the support of House Estermont's men that landed at Wyl from the sea, Godric and Gunthor Estermont leading the attack, the former of them slain in the fighting. Thus, Lord Yorick was forced to retreat towards Yronwood. The Boneway proved even more difficult for the Andals to cross, and there was no movement at all for several weeks, besides small skirmishes, which inflicted severe casualties on King Rhaegar I’s host, including Prince Baelon, but still let them outnumber the Dornish.

### Peace Returns

When Prince Nymor Martell arrived with his large army at Lord Yronwood’s camp, bringing the news that the Bloodroyal’s wife had died of an illness, he did not employ the newly arrived spears in the fighting formations, but rather immediately sought negotiations with the commander of the host of the Iron Throne. The forces of the Iron Throne, although greater in number, had taken far more losses than the Dornishmen, the attrition only set to increase with the reinforcement the Prince had brought, and so it was agreed that the borders before the Yronwood incursions would be restored in turn for all armies to be withdrawn and House Dondarrion compensated from Yronwood’s coffers for the damage done.

### Aftermath

Prince Nymor Martell had proven himself a negotiator first and foremost, with no thirst for battle, but determination nonetheless. After the Andal army had retreated, Prince Nymor held a council with his vassals at Yronwood, where he declared that he would not condone any more offensive wars from his vassals. House Martell would defend its lands and those among its vassals that were wrongfully attacked. But if one of them would show aggression of any sort, the men of House Martell would not only march to defend Dorne from damage such incurred, but also to remove the aggressor and appoint a new Lord or Lady to their lands.

### The Battle That Never Was

While Nymor had marched east with the greatest part of the Dornish army, the fleet of the Vale had departed from Gulltown and, after crossing through the Stepstones, arrived at Sunspear, where the Knights of the Vale were ready to disembark and lay siege on the Dornish Capital. Before any bloodshed could occur, however, word of the peace agreement reached Sunspear and the Vale forces alike, and so the army departed again, without ever having given the Dornish battle. However, their arrival did not remain without effect on the vicinity of Sunspear, as the men excited for battle seemed to have built up particular tendencies towards violence, and before their departure, many riots, batteries, and demolitions happened in the taverns in and around Sunspear.