The Woe of Wolves

The Woe of Wolves, also called the Northern War or the Second War Beyond The Wall, was a brief period of war between the Iron Throne, the North, the Night's Watch, and wildling kingdom of Quenn Blackmaw, King-Beyond-The-Wall. Dorren Stark proclaimed himself King of Winter and rose in rebellion, after Vaegon Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, spurned Lyarra Stark and instead married Alys Reyne, breaking the word of the Iron Throne and a marriage pact between the two houses. Meanwhile, Blackmaw launched an invasion of the south, striking Bear Island with a makeshift fleet and assaulting the weakened Wall. Robin Penrose met with Dorren Stark and negotiated for the two sides to ally once more in battle against Blackmaw's forces. Upon the destruction of Quenn Blackmaw's forces on Bear Island, Stark would travel south and kneel to King Aerys, becoming the second Stark king to kneel to House Targaryen.

Though no blood was shed between soldiers of the Iron Throne and the North (save for a few sunken ships in the Bite), the Woe was the closest the realm came to civil war since the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion more than a century before.

The Spurning
The Woe of Wolves, as the singers term it, or, more plainly, the Northern Independence Crisis, can be traced to the tumult of a relationship between King and Prince. Aerys and Vaegon were as opposed as any could be in the rulership of the realm, but we do not have the ink nor parchment to discuss their long and discordant relationship, so let us rather discuss the immediate causes of the crisis: the betrothal of Vaegon Targaryen to Lyarra Stark, daughter of Dorren Stark, Warden of the North. The relationship between those who would be goodson and goodfather did not begin well. Vaegon made an ill impression upon the Warden of the North in their initial meeting in 348 AC. The Prince made a jape upon the Lord of Winterfell's grim nature, which led to a remark from Stark, and the discussion escalated until Vaegon left in a huff. This would be the first of many awkward and occasionally aggressive meetings between the two, and it would be impossible to describe the relationship as anything better than cool.

As well, the match was controversial among the lords of the realm. Marrying the heir of the Iron Throne to the son of a Northerner, even of ancient House Stark, was unprecedented. Efforts were made to subvert the betrothal from its announcement. These plots would come to a head when, only a few months before he was to be married to the younger Lyarra, Vaegon fled the court for Dragonstone, speaking with no one as he did so. He would then announce to the realm that he was marrying Alys Reyne, kinswoman to the great Lord Reyne, in clear defiance of both the betrothal and his father's wishes. Aerys, upon hearing the news, immediately called for his son to end this foolish marriage, but by the time ravens had arrived at Dragonstone (or so Vaegon said), the two had already sworn their oaths and consummated the marriage.

It would not take long for news to reach Winterfell. Dorren is said to have gone into a black rage as soon as the words Vaegon Targaryen were read to him by his maester. Dorren ignored the pleas sent to him by representatives of the crown. Instead, he summoned his courtiers to his Godswood, drew the massive greatsword Ice, and ordered the forging of a black iron crown. "If they will not grant us a queen," he said, "Then we will have a king." Cheered by his assembled vassals and witnessed by the Old Gods, Dorren Stark was proclaimed King of Winter, renouncing his oaths to the Iron Throne as they had renounced their oath to him. He called for his banners and prepared for war, to defend the crown he had taken for himself.

On The Eve of War
The realm, including King Aerys III, was unprepared for Stark's declaration of independence. Two factions immediately emerged among the court, one of the King's allies and the other of his son's. Aerys' allies, led by the Hand of the King Robin Penrose, proclaimed the necessity of a trial-by-combat, like Lyonel Baratheon more than a century ago, while the Prince's men demanded immediate action. Vaegon, his new wife by his side, offered to lead the troops personally. Some suspected that this was Vaegon's intent all along: rid himself of an enemy in the realm and an unwanted marriage. This debate took up important time, as the Northerners readied for a defense.

Around a third of their forces were sent to guard the shores, as the Manderlys readied their small fleet. All trade was immediately ceased, as Aerys called for the ships of the Vale to blockade the shores of the North. The bulk of the forces would march to Moat Cailin, preparing to defend the castle from an anticipated southron attack. Dorren wagered that, with the south still weakened from the after-effects of the Red Death and the Iron Throne forces having to brave the inhospitable Neck, he could easily hold the Moat, destroy the southron forces, and then march south.

Aerys, after a week's deliberation, would eventually move against his son's proposal. Never a martial man and distrustful of his son, he sent his Lord Hand Robin Penrose to gather a small fighting force and demand a trial-by-combat with the King in the North. Penrose would gather ten thousand men. The old Hand would openly carry a peace banner while marching North, evidently unwilling to make combat, though it seemed strange to many observers that they would send an army at all if that was the case. Ten thousand men would be but a trifling force compared to the combined Northern army, but perhaps the crown anticipated the Northerners to focus more on their coastal defences and tried to seize a land route into the North before Stark could properly defend it.

The Burning of Bear Island
As the kneelers bickered, the free folk prepared. Beyond the Wall, a new King was emerging: Quenn Blackmaw. Named for his hideously-blackened teeth, said to have been stained with the black blood of giants, Blackmaw had consolidated his power for many moons and, hearing through songs and captured Crows of the weakness beneath the Wall, readied his men for an invasion. The Wall was the weakest it had been in generations, manned by old men as the younger generation died or were never born thanks to the Red Death.

As the Northerners marched south and the southerners readied, Blackmaw made his move and proclaimed an invasion of the kneeler lands. The Night's Watch could not properly range Beyond-the-Wall to thin out the Wildling forces, let alone stop them entirely. Lord Commander Dustin was forced to use less proactive solutions, relying upon defending the Wall - but he must have forgotten that Quenn Blackmaw was born of the Frozen Shore, and well-acquainted with ship-travel. Blackmaw had assembled a small fleet - though, in reality, it was nothing more than a dozen or so stolen fishing vessels and some large rafts, accumulated over many years - and trained his men in the craft of piloting them, unbeknownst to the Watch. And, as the Night's Watch readied for an attack on the Wall, the wildlings set sail.

Amid a cold, dark night, the so-called wildling fleet slipped past the sentries of Bear Island, landing their ships upon the shore. All at once, the wildlings let out a battle cry and lit their torches. They moved with full speed in the dark, screaming towards the wooden keep of Bear Island. The warrior-women were well-prepared for a potential assault and readied their defense - but theirs was a scant force left behind by the main army and were outnumbered by nearly twice their size. Though they fought valiantly, they would eventually falter under the onslaught, with the wooden keep of Bear Island being set aflame. Blackmaw would then seize Bear Island as his base of operations and took control of any of the few boats which remained on the island.

At The Moat
Dorren Stark was put into a hard place as soon as word of the Burning reached the Moat. To abandon Moat Cailin could grant the southerners the chance they need to march North, while to leave the far north unprotected would lead to enmity from Houses Mormont, Glover, and Flint, all of whom had heard tales of the reaving of their lands. Stark sent a token force to aid the Watch, but that help seemed to be coming too late. The Watch continued to make desperate moves against the Wildlings, but the force left behind the Wall by Blackmaw was still a sizable one, led by his monstrous lieutenant known only as the Blood-Drinker. Around a third of Blackmaw's forces were ferried across to Bear Island and Blackmaw's fleet, now with more ships and more men, having impressed Bear Island sailors, begin to raid the shores of the far north. The coastal people of the Northern Mountains, the Wolfswood, and even as far west as Sea Dragon Point were made to fear the wildlings once more. The wildling fleet is piecemeal and weak, though, with mutiny and self-caused sinking occurring often enough to lose Blackmaw many warriors.

Dorren considered whether to send a few men from the coastal defenses, having seen no effort made to attack his western shore, but he also anticipated that the fleets of the west were simply waiting for a time to strike. The newly-made king would find his solace from an unlikely source: his enemy. Lord Jon Reed informed the King that Robin Penrose, Hand of the King, marched with a peace banner north. It took Dorren Stark a night to consider his next course of action, but he ordered Reed to let them pass, intending to meet this force in battle at Moat Cailin.

It is said that it rained for seven days and seven nights before Robin Penrose arrived at Moat Cailin and, while this exact number is likely religious fabrication, it can be said that the King's men marched through muck and mud. It is said that a fifth of the men, most of whom were knights dressed in heavy armor, died of disease, ill fortune, or the various other maladies that are part of daily life in the Neck. Old Robin Penrose, under that banner of peace which he had carried throughout, whose seven rainbow stripes had vanished into various shades of brown, called for a parley.

Stark laughed at that, as he came from the Widow's Tower. The armies of the North loomed behind him, well-over twice the size of the small, harried fighting force which now stood before them. It would not have been hard for them to charge forward and slaughter the royalists, nor to simply let the archers loose and break the southerners as they fled. Yet Dorren, the sword-pointed crown upon his brow, walked forward and parlayed with Robin Penrose. It is not known what they spoke of, properly, but it can be assumed. Penrose had spoken of single combat, asking Dorren to return to King's Landing to end this treason before it began, but Dorren Stark would not let his rebellion die in single combat when he had a chance of victory. Dorren Stark would have asked for this war to end, with either Vaegon putting aside Alys Reyen and taking Lyarra or the crown accepting the independence of the North. Robin Penrose could not accept either.

It must have been Penrose to make Stark consider an alliance. News of the Burning of Bear Island had already come to the attention of the Hand on his march north, as he rested in Seagard. Instead of a duel, they made a treaty. The Iron Throne would end the blockade of the North, assist the Starks in ending this Wildling threat, pardon Stark and confirm him as Warden of the North, and promise to never break an oath with House Stark. Dorren Stark would return to the Widow's Tower and meet with his advisors. It would take him two days to come to a decision, after the long crisis which had preceded it.

Dorren Stark would emerge the third morning, the rain finally halting as he emerged from the Widow's Tower, and agree to the terms, on the condition that Robin Penrose would personally lead the forces North. Penrose, well-aware that the other option would be Vaegon Targaryen, agreed. He sent a letter to the King, informing him of his success, and was openly celebrated for ending the threat in exchange for little to no actual concession from the Throne. Vaegon openly seethed at the message, retreating to Dragonstone with his newly-made bride.

The Battle of the Gorge
This did not end the bloodshed. Beyond the Wall, the Blood-Drinker, the massive, giant-blooded lieutenant of Blackmaw, readied for an assault. The wildlings marched for the Bridge of Skulls. The rangers caught sight of the Blood-Drinker's men marching to the west and understood their strategy. They sought to cross the Gorge and to bring the full force of the free folk across the Wall. Lord Commander Dustin could not allow that to happen. He gave but a single order to the Commander of the Shadow Tower, Ser Forley Fossoway: "Hold". Fossoway had never been an exemplary knight, having been sent here in shame, but he kept to his oaths. The men of the Shadow Tower prepared to meet the onslaught, as the two sides could see the other encampment, both seeing their camps on the other side of the Gorge. The Watch numbered five hundred that day, facing an army ten times their size, but they did not falter or cringe at their duty. To this day, men of the Night's Watch cry "Remember the Bridge!" for their valor. There are other tales about it, but the one that survives in whole is the story sung by singers and acted by mummers.

After a long stalemate, neither taking the initiative, the Blood-Drinker would order his men to ready for the bloodbath. Fossoway, having made his way there first, prepared lines upon the Bridge. The free folk sounded their horns and charged. The men of the Night's Watch held their ground, spears in hand, with Forley Fossoway himself standing in the front lines, willing to sacrifice everything for his men. Arrows rained down from both sides, as it is said the screaming could be heard for miles around. The free folk charged, line after line, but after a dozen charges, the Night's Watch still held its ground, owning minimal casualties. Corpses littered the bridge betwixt the two sides, needing to be thrown off the sides to continue the battle. It was not until the charge of the Blood-Drinker himself, standing well over six feet tall and wielding a massive cudgel, that the wildlings began to gain ground. It is said that the Blood-Drinker himself ripped the shield from Fossoway's arm, and broke his spear with a single crunch of his hand.

But Forley Fossoway did not yield. Instead, the knight of the Reach drew his sword and advanced. The two fought, cudgel against blade, but Blood-Drinker was too large for Fossoway. They fought as the two lines behind them charged past, devolving into bloody chaos. Blood-Drinker is said to have cracked open Fossoway's helm with a single blow, but the commander removed his helm and continued. For every blow Fossoway made, Blood-Drinker would make a worse one. Fossoway, blinded by his own ichor, would make one final stab, piercing straight towards Blood-Drinker, and he would strike true. The giant wildling looked to his chest, the blade running through him, and let his cudgel drop to the ground.

And then he grabbed the sword by the hilt with one hand, took Fossoway's throat in his other, and threw the Commander from the bridge. Upon witnessing their commander's death, a silence came over the men of the Watch, opposite to the cacophony in front of them. Finally, a voice cried out with a single word, the word that had brought them to hold this bridge in the first place: "Hold!"

And so the Watch did. The Blood-Drinker attempted to stomp forward, but all he found was a spear to the throat. The half-giant would stagger off the edge into the Gorge, never to be seen again, falling with dozens of other corpses. The wildlings would charge and charge again, always into the spears of the Night's Watch line, and then they would falter. The wildlings would retreat, their charges unable to pierce the reformed line of the crows. So ended the Battle of the Gorge, and so began the downfall of King Quenn Blackmaw. The Night's Watch would lose four hundred of their five hundred men sent there, but they would be victorious.

The forces that remained north of the Wall were shattered with the death of the Blood-Drinker. The free folk would be unable to mount another major assault, not without the support of Blackmaw's main force. Blackmaw would never hear the news of the Blood-Drinker's death and, from his makeshift throne in Bear Island, would decry the man as a coward who failed to take the Gorge and meet with his forces in the Northern Mountains. He began doubling his efforts in raiding but found more and more of his ships vanishing into the sea, captained by unworthy men.

North and South
It would not take long for the combined forces of House Stark and the crown to make their way north, encountering a scant number of wildling raiders. Dorren had sent around half of his force home, leaving around sixteen thousand, evenly north and south. They would arrive in Deepwood Motte, with ships from House Dustin and numerous other western Houses arriving to meet them as well. Blackmaw, his scouts having sighted the Stark banners, realized that they were unlikely to defeat them in a proper battle. He ordered his fleet to end their crossing and prevent them from even reaching Bear Island, or perhaps to simply try and stop the bulk of the force.

Quenn Blackmaw was no coward, but he was a fool. The naval battle between the Northern forces and the makeshift wildling fleet can hardly be called a battle. Inexperienced wildling commanders, having done nothing besides ferrying men to and from the shore and terrified of the legends of House Stark, turned their ships north back Beyond-The-Wall. A few were mutinied by the sailors they had impressed, who raised the banners of House Mormont and joined the fight on the Northern side. Not a single ship of the Northerners sank as half the wildling fleet collapsed into the waters. Only two would ever return to the Frozen Shore.

Quenn readied the remainder of his forces, a good five thousand men and women that he had managed to ferry across to the island, and prepared Bear Island for an assault. An attempt from Blackmaw to parlay with Stark went unheeded, with the King of Winter sending back the man's corpse, now riddled with arrows. Blackmaw buckled in for an assault, hoping to cut down the southerners where they stood.

He would not do it. The wildling forces were weak, starved, and outnumbered. Quite a few were elderly or otherwise unfit for combat. The combined armies of the Iron Throne and the North slaughtered them with no mercy, as Lord Mormont himself slew Quenn Blackmaw. The wildlings were defeated and Bear Island would be liberated. The victory was not without cost, however, even as the Northerners faced minimal casualties. Robin Penrose, infirm and injured from a wound sustained in the battle, would get a chill. Before the next morning, he would die of it, slipping from the world at the age of two-and-sixty. The realm feared once more that, now with Penrose dead of a wound in the far north, that Dorren Stark, whose crown remained atop his brow, would ride south and declare war once more.

Dorren Stark did ride south - but no army was at his back. Instead, it was a couple dozen loyal retainers, his youngest son, and the bones of Robin Penrose. Stark would be jeered by the people of King's Landing on his arrival, but the sound in the court of the Iron Throne was a dumb silence. Vaegon Targaryen was, notably, not among the crowd. Dorren Stark, still crowned, drew the massive greatsword Ice to audible gasps, its black blade glittering in the light. He raised the sword - and pointed it to the earth, falling to a knee. On that day, Dorren Stark became the Second King Who Knelt.

He swore his family's everlasting loyalty to the Iron Throne and offered three things: a hostage, his head, and his crown, ending the war. Dorren pulled the crown from his brow, offering it to the King. Aerys stepped down the crooked steps of the massive throne, whose swords pierced out in a thousand directions. He took the crown from Stark's grasp - and then took the Northerner's hand, beckoning him to rise. Dorren Stark was half-gray, though only in middle-age, but he still stood taller and more proud than King Aerys.

Aerys asked for none of these concessions, save the crown. He pledged the same things that his Hand had promised: a pardon and a confirmation as Warden of the North. Stark thanked him for his mercy and it is said that Aerys embraced him, then. Stark would leave King's Landing, his offerings rejected, and he would return North, but he found no solace, there. The scorning that had that started this remained. Stark remained in Winterfell for a day and a half, but he left after then. With two thousand men, loyal retainers, soldiers from the war, and other men who had sworn their everlasting loyalty to him, Dorren Stark rode to the Wall and took the black, where he would serve, for the rest of his days, as a member of the Night's Watch.