Second Lysene Spring

The Second Lysene Spring was a period of turmoil in the Narrow Sea incited by a sudden resurgence of Lysene power. Though the term "Second Lysene Spring" was coined to refer to events spanning several years, in the Westerosi vernacular it is generally used in reference to a war between Lys and the Iron Throne that spanned the duration of 369 AC.

The Rise of Sargaeno Saan
For the better half of the fourth century, the power and influence of Lys gradually diminished. The politics of the city likewise stagnated, as the dominance of the Rogare and Ormollen families remained unchallenged in the magisterial conclave. With a decline in prosperity came a loss of unity, as the elites of Lys desperately pursued their own fortunes with little concern for their neighbors.

Lys’ rivals, content with the city’s decline, invested heavily in its lesser mercantile families, hoping to exacerbate internal divisions. Initially, these investments seemed to bear fruit, as many of these families - most notably the Saans - began largely conducting their business from Lys’ client ports of Liy and Achissa. Both flourished economically, and showed potential to eventually rival their mother city. But with this growth came the rapid enrichment of the Saans, and by 360 AC, they had overtaken the Rogares as the wealthiest family in Lys.

Over the next few years, the Saans - with the support of the Maar, Sathmantes, and Orthys families - likewise usurped the Rogare-Ormollen dominance of the magisterial conclave. Lys was at last in a position to reverse its decades-long decline - and its energetic new leader, Sargaeno Saan, was eager to begin this project immediately.

The Corrupt Bargain
In 364 AC, Sargaeno surprised Tyrosh with a hasty invasion of their territory in the Disputed Lands. The people of Lys, including many of Sargaeno Saan’s most confident supporters, doubted the possibility of victory, as the Tyroshi had a much larger mercenary army at their disposal.

As the two armies prepared for a pitched battle, a decisive Tyroshi victory seemed inevitable, but Sargaeno Saan boldly invited the leaders of Tyrosh’s hired mercenaries to a meeting in his camp. The three who answered his invitation were the leaders of large, recently-formed companies: Qosio Myrakis of Pentos, the leader of the Silver Spears; Ser Agramore Rivers, an exiled knight and the leader of the Black Fork; and Malko Greenthumb, a native of the Disputed Lands who led the Lotus Company. With a credible offer of wealth beyond their imaginations, Saan convinced them that defection from Tyrosh would be more than worth the stain it would place on their companies’ reputations. The agreement forged between them came to be known as the ‘Pact of Rats.’

This Pact was unveiled when the battle began the next day, as the three companies ruthlessly turned cloak against Tyrosh’s other forces. After an easy victory, the Pact of Rats quickly subjugated the entirety of the Disputed Lands, culminating in the capture of the port of Pelosse. Though this city was returned to Tyrosh during subsequent negotiations, the rest of the peninsula was ceded to Lys.

Sargaeno Saan then set his eyes on the Stepstones, though he intended to wait for the right opportunity before instigating another war. That opportunity came sooner than he anticipated, as Myr likewise sought to exploit Tyrosh’s vulnerability. In 366 AC, the Myrish advanced on Tyrosh and placed it under siege, leaving none but petty pirate lords to oppose a Lysene invasion. Helpless against Lys’ massive mercenary armies, all but a few surrendered.

With all the Stepstones under its control, Lys was able to dominate all trade that passed through. Heavy tolls were exacted on foreign ships, hindering the economies of Westeros’ cities.

Intervention
Already losing its war with Myr, Tyrosh desperately turned to its nearest neutral neighbor: the Seven Kingdoms. Though few gave serious consideration to their pleas, the bellicose King Vaegon I - who had long sought to earn more glory to his name - saw an opportunity in the crisis. Skillful flattery from Tyrosh’s emissary further persuaded the King that an intervention in the Stepstones would be a righteous cause - but his Small Council persuaded him to stay out of the conflict. They were confident that Lys’ control of the Stepstones was tenuous at best, and doomed to fall apart in a few years’ time.

A few years came and went, and by the end of 368 AC, Lys’ grip over the Stepstones had only strengthened. The Small Council’s insistence on neutrality began to fall on deaf ears as King Vaegon tended to all preparations necessary for war. A call to arms was sent throughout the Seven Kingdoms, inviting all its knights and warriors to join their King in the capital.

A host was likewise amassed at King’s Landing, largely consisting of levies sent from the Crownlands, the Stormlands, the Westerlands and the Reach. Though a great number of troops was also raised in the Riverlands, its belated arrival brought only a fraction of its initial strength. An outbreak of disease, coupled with flooding along the Trident, stymied the riverlords’ mobilization - and the strain of these crises relitigated the many unresolved feuds between them.

The vast majority of houses in the North sent few, if any, levies in support of Vaegon’s war, as many northmen remained embittered from the aftermath of the Northern Independence Crisis. The Iron Islands, on the other hand, surprised the King with a substantial showing. Though none of the ironborn lords were obliged to participate, many were convinced that a war in the Stepstones would be a profitable endeavor. A large ironborn fleet was sent south to the Arbor, where it joined fleets from the West and the Reach as they awaited further orders.

The Battle of Pryr
In the first moon of 369 AC, Vaegon formally declared war on Lys. His host at King’s Landing moved south by sea, carried by ships from the Vale, Dorne, the Crownlands and the Stormlands. From the Arbor, a fleet from the Reach, the Westerlands and the Iron Islands traveled east, intent on the Stepstones’ southern islands. With the bulk of Vaegon’s ground forces remaining with his own host, this secondary fleet was expected to disrupt the Lysene navy and allow the King to more easily seize his targets.

A divided Lysene navy was ill-prepared to fend off Vaegon’s eastern fleet when it approached Pryr, the northernmost island in the Stepstones. Under the confident command of Lord Uthor Grafton, the Westerosi handily won a short-lived battle, as Lys’ fleet retreated before either side incurred substantial casualties. Vaegon was thus able to land his host without opposition, and the island of Pryr became his main base of operations for the duration of the war.

The Battle of Dustspear
At the southwestern end of the Stepstones, the Iron Throne’s western fleet faced a far more formidable defense. Though slightly outnumbered by the Lyseni, the fleet’s admiral, Gawen Lannister, was confident in his chances. With disciplined Reach and Westerlands ships in the center and the unpredictable ironborn at the flanks, the Westerosi waged a hard-fought battle off the island of Dustspear. A dozen Lysene ships were seized, and dozens more destroyed.

Though Dustspear was easily taken, the western fleet carried barely enough men to occupy the island. As his fleet remained cut off from Vaegon’s host to the north, Gawen Lannister believed it necessary to cut through the islands in between. The shortest path was through the Veiled Isle, notorious for its persistent and forbidding mist. This plan was met with fierce opposition from his chief ironborn subordinates, Fralegg Goodbrother and Wex Farwynd, both of whom had played an instrumental role in rallying the Iron Islands’ support for the war. Uncertain of their next move, the leaders of the western fleet remained at Dustspear, squabbling over plans.

The Battle of Grey Gallows
Eventually, the ironborn convinced Gawen Lannister to pursue an alternate course: the island of Grey Gallows, separated from Pryr only by the Isle of Serpents - which they anticipated the King would soon seize. Their arrival was met without opposition, but with some still remaining at Dustspear, they had only enough numbers to occupy one of the island’s ports.

The Lysene fleet arrived soon after, and another battle erupted at sea. Though the Westerosi navy was again victorious, the battle gave a Lysene detachment the opportunity to land a few thousand men on an undefended beach. Outnumbered on the island, the Westerosi hastily retreated to their ships and abandoned the island, retreating back to Dustspear.

The Battle of the Serpents
Tyrosh’s few remaining soldiers joined Vaegon on the island of Pryr, where he devised a plan to take two islands at once. He arranged for the Tyroshi to be joined by the fleets of the Stormlands and Dorne under the command of Marlon Sunderland in an assault on the Isle of Serpents, where they were to distract Lys’ navy from Vaegon’s simultaneous landing on Highwatch - an island firmly under the control of a massive Lysene mercenary army.

Despite the valor of the Stormlander and Dornish fleets, their Tyroshi allies ultimately proved a lethal liability. Even as the Westerosi in the center crushed their Lysene counterpart, the Tyroshi on their flanks suffered far greater and swifter losses. Eventually encircled by Lys’ ships, the majority of the Stormlander and Dornish ships were sunk; only a small fraction of their initial force managed to escape the engagement.

The Battle of Highwatch
With Lys’ ships tied down elsewhere, Vaegon’s fleet was able to approach the island of Highwatch unopposed - but on the beaches the Silver Spears stood ready to repel his landing. Holding the higher ground, Myrakis’ men were able to slaughter the King’s forward lines, but the much larger Westerosi host was eventually able to push the company back. Accepting his defeat, Qosio Myrkais wisely withdrew further inland, sheltering his men within a small but formidable keep in the mountains. Vaegon was left with little choice but to conduct a siege.

Save for the Silver Spears’ last holdout, the island of Highwatch fell decisively under Westerosi control, prompting Sargaeon Saan to reassess the viability of his existing forces. Recognizing the Iron Throne’s superior strength on land, he devised a new naval strategy in which his fleets would blockade the occupying armies on Pryr and Highwatch. Sellsails were hired out of Volantis to reinforce his damaged navy, while his existing fleet was sent to the island of Guardian to await these reinforcements. In the meantime, the bulk of Saan’s mercenary army was relocated to Bloodstone - the most important and best fortified island in the Stepstones.

Siege and Skirmish
Hoping to exploit Lys’ momentary vulnerability, Vaegon sent half of his host south from Highwatch to the nearby island of Scarwood. Though no organized army stood in its defense, the thickly forested island proved troublesome to occupy. A much smaller Lysene remnant was able to conceal itself in the woods between an unending series of skirmishes and raids.

At Highwatch, Vaegon quickly grew frustrated with his advisors’ insistence on maintaining the siege. After a few patient weeks he commanded an assault on the keep, throwing all of his forces at the sizable mercenary garrison. The assault succeeded, though not without a heavy human cost, much to the chagrin of many of his vassals and subordinates. Qosio Myrakis was captured and summarily executed, while the last of his Silver Spears were either slaughtered or imprisoned.

The Schism at Sea
Once again sitting indecisively at Dustspear, the commanders of the western fleet received intelligence revealing Lys’ plan to reinforce its navy with Volantene sellsails. Fearful that an enlarged Lysene navy could crush any opposition at sea, Gawen Lannister resolved to intercept the reinforcements before they could reach the island of Guardian. Farwynd and Goodbrother, however, had long since lost confidence in their commander, and argued that they should instead attack the island of Lys itself. Only with great reluctance did they agree to comply with Gawen Lannister’s latest plan.

The fleet moved east and patrolled the sea between Lys and the Stepstones, awaiting the approach of enemy reinforcements. Many captains’ patience ran short, however, and the ironborn conspired to abandon Gawen Lannister’s plan in favor of their own. In the dead of night, every ironborn ship defected from the fleet, leaving the ships of the West and the Reach to battle Lys’ sellsails alone. Where they should have held the numerical advantage, they were instead outnumbered - but losses were minimal despite their defeat. Gawen Lannister retreated northward, seizing a rare opportunity to cross the Stepstones’ central waters unopposed and adjoin his fleet to the King’s host.

The Spring Harvest
The ironborn defectors first sailed south to the island of Lys - though they wisely avoided the city itself. A surprise attack was staged at the fishing town of Canahs, where an undermanned and unprepared garrison was helpless against the reavers. News of the raid quickly reached the Lysene fleet massing at Guardian, and the admirals became convinced that eliminating the ironborn threat was their highest priority. The same ships that had just arrived from Volantis were thus ordered to turn east in pursuit of the ironborn.

Ironborn longships, however, had little trouble evading the sellsails - though they allowed them to remain close enough to persist in their pursuit. Further raids were staged along the southern coast of the Disputed Lands, most notably on the ports of Liy and Achissa. Though both lacked strategic importance in a war for the Stepstones, the ironborn were able to seize much of the wealth intended for the payment of Lys’ mercenaries. These lucrative raids ultimately served the mutual benefit of the Iron Islands and the Iron Throne, as a distracted and divided Lysene navy was unable to challenge the Westerosi at sea.

The Battle of Bloodstone
Free to cross the water unimpeded, Vaegon moved his main host from Highwatch to the Isle of Serpents, where not even a token garrison waited to oppose him. At the same time, his control of Scarwood had at last become secure, and were likewise moved to the Isle of Serpents. With nearly all of Lys’ armies amassed nearby on Bloodstone, the King resolved to seize an opportunity to pitch a decisive battle.

The Lotus Company and the Black Fork stood ready at the beach, and Vaegon’s landing proved a bloody affair on both sides of the battle. Nevertheless, Lys’ most formidable mercenaries were pushed back into the island’s interior, and a foothold was secured.

On the high seas, the ironborn were at last chased back west. Initially intending to return to Dustspear, their scouts discovered that the island had since been retaken by Lys. Content with the treasures they’d seized from Lys’ colonies, their leadership decided that further participation in the war was no longer worth the risk. Instead they continued their westward course and returned to their home islands.

Sargaeno Saan was finally unopposed in the Stepstones’ southern waters, and his two fleets at last merged together at the island of Guardian. They were further accompanied by sellsword reinforcements from both Volantis and Lys, and under Saan’s personal command the full might of Lys sailed for Bloodstone. A brief naval engagement ended in his favor, and on the opposite shore of Bloodstone, Saan unleashed his reinforcements. They combined with the Black Fork and the Lotus Company to form numbers that rivaled those of the Iron Throne, and like King Vaegon, Sargaeno Saan prepared to fight a decisive battle.

Each army moved toward the island’s center, eager to take an advantageous position on higher ground. Instead that advantage was given to neither, as the two armies encountered each other on opposite sides of the same hill. The long anticipated battle commenced, with even greater casualties than the previous engagement. In the thick of the fighting, the young Joffrey Clegane boldly chased after Malko Greenhand, the Captain of the Lotus Company, and slew him in single combat. Inspired by this example, a knight from the Riverlands sought out his old acquaintance, Captain Agramore Rivers of the Black Fork. Although Ser Agramore won the duel, he suffered mortal wounds that eventually took his life.

Midway through the battle, an intense storm swept over the island of Bloodstone, rendering the terrain equally hazardous for both of the opposing armies. Vaegon and Saan almost simultaneously withdrew their forces, and the King decided to seek a better position from which he could resume the battle.

Vaegon moved his host through a narrow mountain pass, hoping to outflank an unsuspecting enemy. Saan caught wind of his movements, however, and sent his soldiers through the same pass at its opposite end. The two met again at an even more forbidding field of battle, where each had little choice but to clash with equally sized lines of infantry. The fighting was intense from the outset, but a forceful push from the Westerosi carved a wedge into enemy lines, bringing them close to Sargaeno Saan himself.

The brave Ser Leyton Hightower dared to challenge Saan to a duel, which the Lyseni confidently accepted. Men on each side stood back per their wishes, respecting the sanctity of single combat. The clash seemed to go on without end - by some accounts, lasting several hours - but in the end Ser Leyton emerged victorious. Sargaeno Saan was slain, and with his death ended any guarantee that his mercenaries would receive the fortunes they were promised. Chaos erupted in Lys’ ranks; the forward lines attempted to retreat, only to be cut down by more resolute men in the rear. The last surviving lieutenants of Saan and his hired companies surrendered, bringing an end to the war.

The Treaty of Bloodstone
The war had ended in the Iron Throne’s favor, and after fully occupying the island, Vaegon remained on Bloodstone to oversee negotiations for the ensuing peace. Diplomats from Tyrosh were sent to entreat with him, as were representatives of the houses Rogare and Ormollen, who had assumed control of Lys after receiving news of Sargaeno Saan’s defeat.

Vaegon agreed to recognize the Stepstones as Tyroshi territory, as it had nominally been before Lys’ resurgence under Sargaeno Saan. This decision was vocally opposed by many of his vassals, who insisted that the King should annex the islands himself. The lords of Dorne and the Stormlands were especially outspoken, as their men had witnessed firsthand the unreliability of Tyrosh. Vaegon, however, was disinterested in the administrative tedium needed to adjoin the Stepstones to his realm. Eager to enjoy a triumphant return to King’s Landing, the King was content with Tyrosh’s promise to allow the free passage of Westerosi ships through the Stepstones and ended the deliberations prematurely.

Just as the lords of Dorne and the Stormlands had predicted, Tyrosh’s feeble attempts to assert its authority over the islands ended in abject failure. The islands quickly reverted to the anarchic state they had been in before the Lysene conquest, with petty pirate lords scrambling to each claim a rock of their own. Nevertheless, Westerosi ships were seldom harassed thereafter while passing through the Stepstones, and the outcome of the war proved an economic boon to every major port in the Seven Kingdoms.