War of the Torrentine

No territorial changes

**The War of the Torrentine,** also refered to as *Ashara's War,* was a conflict that began in 231 AA after Ashara I Dayne, the Queen of the Kingdom of the Torrentine, against the Kingdom of the Greenbelt and the Principality of Dorne over her marriage with Boros Durrandon. The war was the only time where House Yronwood and House Martell came together against a common foe.

## **Prelude**

In 231AA it was announced that Queen Ashara Dayne of Starfall had been betrothed to Ser Beric Durrandon, brother of the current Durrandon King Durran XXIX. Yoren III Yronwood, the Bloodroyal of the Greenbelt, feared that this betrothal would spell disaster for House Yronwood. Worried that King Durrandon would use this betrothal as a stepping stone for an invasion and conquest of the Greenbelt. He wrote a letter to Queen Dayne expressing his concerns and grievances, warning her it would mean war if the betrothal was not called off.

The Queen Ashara promptly tore the parchment up in front of her entire court, to rapturous applause. Still, when Ser Joffrey Dayne asked of her if she was to warn King Durran, she declined to do so too. “What sort of Queen would I be if I let Durran and his ilk fight my battles for me? Starfall is mine, not his, and so are Starfall’s enemies.” Yoren, so fearful for his Kingdom’s future, sent a rider to Sunspear to request aid of his house’s longstanding enemy: Prince Martell.

Prince Myles Nymeros Martell received the rider in his courts, hearing Yronwood’s call for help. Mors spent a day and a night pondering the proposed alliance (the first time Yronwood and Martell would be on good terms in over 200 years). Myles agrees, not because he was sympathetic to Yronwood’s cause, but because he wished to bring Dayne back under his fold.

The two men met upon the borders of their territory and signed a temporary peace agreement, Myles promising Yoren support should Queen Ashara not back away from her marriage. Yoren’s son and heir Edgar was present and against the signing of this treaty.

## The War Begins

Martell called upon the Principality to marshal its troops, the staging ground would be Hellholt.

Unfortunately for the Prince, Ser Symond Briar and his spies had infiltrated his court weeks previously, and successfully managed to send word back to Starfall regarding the agreement. The first target of Martell and Yronwood’s wrath would by Sandstone and House Qorgyle. In a daring maneuver, Myles Martell and his men scaled the walls of Sandstone in the night, taking the Lord of the Keep and his family hostage. Yronwood’s men swarmed in as the gates were opened.

Most of Qorgyle’s soldiers had been away at the time of the attack, meaning Queen Dayne would not be lacking for men from that house. Near nine-thousand men had gathered at the banks of the Torrentine, Queen Ashara leading them personally, the Lords Blackmont and Dayne of High Hermitage also offering their presence for command. Aware of the coming threat to the east (and now aware of Sandstone’s fate), the young Queen ordered Lord Barker to march south with a thousand men, to hold the Starstone Pass and prevent the coalition easy access into the valley of the Torrentine. The Lord Qorygle went under a Yronwood knife that night, as Yoren’s men tortured him for information on Ashara’s staging ground for her counterattack.

Upon receiving word of Lord Qorygle’s demise (another of Ser Symond Briar’s spies having written to the young queen), Ashara ordered her men to the southern shore, knowing that Lord Barker’s thousand would be able to hold the pass for at least a week, even if the Martell-Yronwood coalition threw their entire might forwards. Ashara’s plan was simple; the mountains and Lord Barker would be the anvil, her eight-thousand the hammer.

Arguments soon broke out between Yronwood and Martell, as long standing blood feuds resurfaced. Both Yoren and Myles demanding to be the leader of the centre-guard for their assault on the next stronghold. Yoren wished to marched up the Starstone Pass, but Myles feared being bottlenecked. The Prince of Dorne offered an alternative, sea based route as their best option. In the end, The Bloodroyal won the argument and the Prince and his men reluctantly marched on their way. All the same, Martell would send off his fleet to do scouting from the ocean.

This fleet, Captain by Lord Dalt, sailed past the southern coast of Dorne. On its way, Lord Dalt and his men spotted the eight-thousand men the Queen Ashara had sent off. Moving quickly, Lord Dalt sent his fastest boat with his fastest runner to intercept the army before they reached the pass.

This lead to further strife amongst the commanders, but the army turned round all the same. Both Yronwood and Martell saw an opportunity though, Ashara had left herself vulnerable to the North. But as usual both men had wildly different strategies. Martell favored sailing around the Broken Arm upin in the gulf and up the river leading to Kingsgrave, taking it from House Manwoody, then marching in from the North. Yronwood favored cutting across the mountains to regroup at Skyreach before marching south-west onto Starfall. All of this squabbling gave Ashara time to regroup

The Armies of the Principality and the Greenbelt soon found themselves marching straight for Starfall, both commanders wishing to end the fight quickly, their alliance falling apart.