War of Stone and Sky

As the most religiously diverse region in Westeros, Dorne was a fertile ground for an uprising of the faithful. But in the Stone Mountains - where Andal culture and the Faith of the Seven predominated - the Warsmiths struggled to gain any traction. Instead, anti-R’hllor sentiment was channeled into a rebellion of its own making. With many grievances to raise against the Martells, the stony lords rallied around Tommen Blackmont, who took on the storied title of “the Vulture King.”

The houses of Dorne were divided roughly along geographic lines in a war that pitted the east against the west. During the first phase of the War of Stone and Sky, the Vulture King’s army swept across the sands and occupied Vaith, from which it staged numerous guerrilla raids throughout the fertile river banks of central Dorne. Preoccupied with smaller uprisings in the east, it took Lord Trystane Martell nearly a year to mobilize his full strength against the Vulture King.

In the end, it was deceit that allowed the Martells to secure a decisive victory. By feigning a naval deployment of his army to the Torrentine, Trystane made the east appear vulnerable - and lured the Vulture King into a battle at Godsgrace. To the rebels’ surprise, Prince Aerion Targaryen arrived upon his dragon, Vhaegon, and incinerated the stony host. The Vulture King’s insurrection amounted to a complete failure; House Martell’s position was only strengthened in its aftermath. After a few of the war’s key perpetrators were tried and executed, the other rebellious lords were pardoned - and Dorne returned to its status quo.

Origins
Though both usually lived harmoniously beneath Martell banners, the cultural differences between the stony Dornish and their sandy and salty countrymen to the east remained pronounced at the dawn of the fifth century. Nothing emphasized that distinction quite like the rise of the Red Faith in Dorne, which struggled to gain much traction in the west even as it flourished in the east. For most of the fourth century, the lords of the Red Mountains had little trouble tolerating the few R’hllor faithful in their lands, but as the Red God’s strength grew, his followers began to proselytize more aggressively.

Fearful of their influence, the stony lords eventually tried to suppress the Red Faith - much to the chagrin of the Martells, who enforced religious toleration. Their ensuing resentment of the Martells also extended to the most powerful house in western Dorne, the Daynes of Starfall - who, under Lord Aemon, briefly embraced R’hllor. Aemon Dayne’s murder of Leyton Hightower at the Summerhall tournament outraged the lords of the Reach, prompting an embargo that reversed much of the progress that both regions had made toward more peaceful relations. Though this embargo was not particularly long-lived, it greatly disrupted the economy of the Red Mountains, forcing the stony lords to reorient their trade toward eastern Dorne. Even after the embargo was lifted, the economic condition of western Dorne remained permanently crippled.

Both Trystane Martell and Aemon Dayne had blood ties to the Targaryen dynasty, who were ultimately responsible for the toleration of the Red Faith in Westeros. Unable to rid themselves of the zealous nuisances who encroached upon their lands and provoked their people, the stony lords became fearful of the influence the Iron Throne seemed to exercise over Dorne - a region that had always taken pride in its autonomy. But the realm was strong and stable under the forceful reign of Queen Visaera, leaving the stony Dornish with little choice but to begrudgingly accept the status quo.

The Council of Starfall
The chaos of the Second Hammer Uprising, however, presented a rare opportunity. The Warsmiths emerged in reaction to the Synod at Lannisport, and some of their ranks ventured into the Red Mountains in search of recruits. But despite their shared distaste of a foreign god, the stony lords were wary of these zealots, who tended to take what few recruits they gained to the Reach and the Stormlands. Nevertheless, religious tension in western Dorne had become unbearable, and when skirmishes broke out between the two faiths, Lord Vorian Dayne invited other nearby houses to an impromptu council at Starfall at the start of 433 AC.

The Daynes’ attempt to stand by the policy of the Martells only further alienated them from their regional peers, who insisted that both the proselytization and the open practice of the Red Faith needed to be prohibited for the sake of restoring the peace. Without any concurrence from the Daynes, the Council of Starfall ended in failure - but as they grew more embittered with the Daynes, the other houses of western Dorne discovered their shared interests.

Shortly after the Council of Starfall, rumors emerged that a noble scion had taken up the mantle of “the Vulture King”, an informal title historically worn by numerous outlaw leaders in the Red Mountains. Over the course of the year 433 AC, these “vultures” targeted both the R’hllor faithful and Warsmith recruiters, slaughtering the former and driving the latter back to the Reach. Later that year, Lady Cersei Fowler called the stony houses to Skyreach for another council - all except for the Daynes of Starfall, who were deliberately excluded.

The Council of Skyreach
The houses of Fowler, Blackmont, Manwoody, Drinkwater and Dayne of High Hermitage gathered at Skyreach and came to an agreement within a single day. All but one of the houses immediately agreed to cease their enforcement of the Martell’s toleration policy, believing that they needed to wield the zeal of the Seven faithful to prevent the Hammer Uprising from spreading into their lands. The lone holdout was Lord Owen Blackmont, sympathetic to the Red Faith practiced by his wife, a woman of House Uller.

Frustrated by his obstinance, the other houses immediately raised numerous charges against the lord and lady of House Blackmont. They were accused of conspiring against their peers, persecuting the followers of the Seven, and supporting the most violent followers of R’hllor. A trial was held, during which Lord Owen’s brother, Ser Tommen, recused himself. Owen Blackmont and his wife were both sentenced to death and summarily executed.

After the execution, Tommen Blackmont revealed himself to be the “Vulture King”, and admitted that the Council of Skyreach had been little more than a ploy between himself and the houses of Fowler and Manwoody to remove his brother and initiate a movement in support of their region’s interests. He announced his plan to seize Starfall, expel R’hllorists from the Red Mountains, and force the Martells to comply with their demands. All but the Daynes of High Hermitage were quick to swear loyalty to the Vulture King, but they were soon won over by a promise to give Starfall to their branch of House Dayne.

The Storming of Starfall
The inclusion of the Daynes of High Hermitage from the Vulture King’s alliance was at first kept secret; instead, they were deployed to exploit the familial trust of their distant kin. When word reached Starfall of the impending host, the former regent Ashara Dayne made haste for Sunspear to seek the aid of the Martells. Before the combined forces of Blackmont, Drinkwater, Fowler and Manwoody could arrive, however, the High Hermitage Daynes appeared at the gates, offering to join in Starfall’s defense.

Lord Vorian allowed them entry, and began making plans for his castle’s defense - but when the Vulture King’s host arrived, he was immediately betrayed. Ser Garibald Dayne, the commander of High Hermitage’s levies, imprisoned Lord Vorian and proclaimed himself the regent of Starfall. Naturally charismatic and persuasive, Ser Garibald easily won the support of the Starfall court and rallied their soldiers to fight beneath Blackmont banners.

The successful seizure of Starfall convinced the houses of Yronwood, Wyl and Qorgyle to join the rebellion. Though the latter had become predominantly R’hllorist in recent years, their animosity toward the Martells outweighed their weak religious convictions. At the brief Second Council of Starfall, the Qorgyles were assured that the stony lords’ campaign against R’hllor would never extend beyond the boundaries of the Red Mountains. The Vulture King’s intentions were reiterated before his new allies, who agreed that they would depose Trystane Martell should he fail to meet their demands.

The Siege of the Tor
The capture of Starfall prompted Trystane Martell to send a call to arms to all of his vassals - including the rebellious vulture lords, despite his expectation that they would ignore his word. None of the remaining houses, however, dared to refuse their prince, and a loyalist host was amassed at Godsgrace. The houses of Vaith, Allyrion, Dalt, Santagar, Toland and Gargalen immediately began marching their levies, but the attention of the Ullers and Jordaynes was diverted before they finished assembling their forces.

With the entire western third of Dorne securely under his control, the Vulture King split his army in half. The Daynes, Manwoodys and Blackmonts were sent through the desert to join the Qorgyles at Sandstone, where they would plan an assault on Hellholt. To the north, the Yronwoods, Fowlers, Drinkwaters and Wyls united at Yronwood and swiftly marched down the road to the Tor.

The Tor was especially vulnerable, as most of Lord Jordayne’s levies were well on their way to Godsgrace - but under the leadership of the resourceful Ser Mathis Jordayne, the vultures were kept beyond the gates. The Jordaynes held strong despite severe conditions, and the Tor proved a frustrating and unexpected obstacle for Lady Yronwood’s men.

The Battle of the Brimstone
The harshness of the desert was little trouble for Tommen Blackmont, who was already accustomed to braving the hazardous mountains of his home. Even reduced by half, his host still greatly outnumbered the Ullers, and as he approached Hellholt, he expected an easy victory.

Though at first tempted to flee to Godsgrace, the Ullers reluctantly decided to defend their holdfast. Desperate for help, word was sent to their nearest loyalist neighbor: the Vaiths, who were already bound for the Greenblood. With some reluctance, the Vaiths honored the Ullers’ call and reversed their course.

The Vaiths arrived just in time for a pitched battle, situated near the Brimstone River due south of Hellholt. A prolonged and bloody clash erupted, inflicting heavy casualties on both sides - but the Vulture King ultimately prevailed. As the Vaiths and Ullers retreated, the Qorgyles remained at Hellholt to maintain their new foothold and protect the rebellion’s supply lines. The rest of Tommen Blackmont’s forces pursued their enemy to Vaith, where they had little choice but to surrender.

The Qorgyles anticipated the capture of Nymeria Uller’s three bastard children, born of an affair with Prince Laenor Targaryen. They intended to use these prisoners as bargaining chips, but after the battle, two were were nowhere to be found - and the third, Aegis Sand, was beaten to death in his cell by disgruntled guards.

The Burning of Planky Town
The early success of the Vulture King’s uprising rapidly exacerbated the religious tension that divided the smallfolk of Dorne. Followers of R’hllor feared that the rebels would soon come to slaughter their kind, while worshipers of the Seven saw the war as a unique opportunity to reassert the traditional faith.

At the port of Planky Town, a mob attempted to destroy a red temple, but the Red God’s believers were well prepared to resist. Though the mob was dispersed, the R’hllorists were not content to let their persecutors flee. The next day, they orchestrated a series of targeted reprisals, slaying anyone they suspected of taking part in the mob. An opportunistic priest known by the name of Red Reynard united his angered brethren under his leadership and seized control of Planky Town, establishing a religious regime. Believers of the Seven were persecuted, and Reynard wrote to Lord Martell demanding that he grant special privileges and protections to the R’hllor faithful.

The turmoil at Planky Town inspired another uprising in eastern Dorne’s second-largest settlement, the “Shadow City” of Sunspear. There, it was the Seven faithful who took control of the town, exploiting the absence of the Martells. Only the Santagars were close enough to quickly react to the situation, but they had little trouble retaking the Shadow City on their own. The Sevenist rebels surrendered, and were spared on the condition that they aid the Santagars in the fight for Planky Town.

As they moved south, the Santagars wrote to Trystane Martell to confidently assure them that they would soon restore order to Dorne’s most important port. However, Red Reynard and his supporters were surprisingly fierce in their resistance. The Santagars only managed to retake one half of Planky Town, stopping at the northern bank of the river. A ceasefire began at sundown, but in the middle of the night, the R’hllorists set the northern half of Planky Town ablaze. In the midst of the chaos, red zealots ambushed the Santagars and reestablished their control over all the smoldering ruins that remained.

The River Raids
Numerous small-scale uprisings emerged in villages along the Greenblood, some of which were incited by zealots of the Seven and others by their R’hllorist counterparts. None faced as much danger as the elusive Orphans of the Greenblood, who were persecuted by both sides of the conflict. Many of them fled further up the river, taking refuge in the most remote parts of central Dorne.

After House Santagar’s failure to capture Planky Town, Trystane Martell reluctantly withdrew the host at Godsgrace to the east, intent on swiftly bringing an end to the uprising. With his absence, the rivers of Dorne were left vulnerable - but the Vulture King was still unready to march on Godsgrace. Instead he allowed his son, Quentyn Blackmont, to orchestrate guerrilla raids throughout the region.

For this method of warfare, Quentyn Blackmont proved even more adept than the Vulture King himself. Small detachments harassed villages all along the Vaith, Scourge and Greenblood rivers, compelling Trystane Martell to send some of his forces west. However, Quentyn Blackmont easily eluded the loyalists, retreating to the nearby desert before they could intercept him. Ambushes were staged at opportune moments, disrupting supply lines and inflicting moderate casualties on the loyalists.

Awakening the Dragon
Sheer numerical superiority overwhelmed the red rebels in Planky Town, and within a few hours order was restored to the port. Capable lieutenants ensured that Trystane Martell’s soldiers refrained from excesses as they cracked down on the insurrection; only the chief instigators were punished harshly. The loyalists’ next priority was to move west again and confront the vultures in full force, but such an encounter seemed increasingly unlikely.

Instead they devised an unusual strategy: what remained of Dorne’s already minimal fleet was deployed west as a diversion. Plans were drawn out for an invasion of western Dorne through the Torrentine, purportedly to retake Starfall and eliminate the source of the Vulture King’s supply lines. The loyalist army stayed at Dorne’s eastern tip, bolstered by the return of the detachments who left the river valleys at the mercy of Quentyn Blackmont’s raiders.

In a letter to the Iron Throne, Trystane Martell invoked his kinship with House Targaryen, requesting the aid of a dragon to bring the war to an end. He suggested, however, that the rider arrive discreetly, keeping his presence unknown to the rebels. Aerion, the Prince of Summerhall, readily complied; he traveled south only under cover of the night and landed at Ghost Hill, where he awaited Trystane’s next directive.

The Battle of Godsgrace
Scouts reported the deployment of the loyalist fleet to Tommen Blackmont, who steadfastly opposed the notion that his army should return west to defend Starfall. He accepted its imminent capture and instead resolved to push the line east, further down the river toward Godsgrace. The Fowlers and Drinkwaters were recalled from the Tor, where the Yronwoods and Wyls were sufficient to maintain the siege, and reunited with both regulars and raiders along the Vaith river. Rumors reached the Vulture King of both a loyalist host moving west and the arrival of a royal dragon rider. He was dismissive of both rumors; the former, he anticipated, would be smaller than his own forces on account of the deployment to the Torrentine, and the claims of dragon sightings were few and from disreputable sources. The stony lords marched on Godsgrace, putting its castle under siege - but a few days later, they turned their attention to a Martell army that had arrived sooner than anticipated.

Their enemy proved much more numerous than expected; at this moment they realized that the fleet bound for Starfall was merely a ruse. As two Dornish armies clashed, Aerion and his dragon arrived from the north and laid the rebels to waste. Dragonfire killed an overwhelming majority of Tommen Blackmont’s soldiers, terrifying the few who survived. This devastation earned Aerion’s dragon, Vhaegon, the epithet of “the Black Scourge”, in part a reference to the river at which the battle was pitched.

The Vulture's Last Flight
Though most of his men had been slaughtered beneath dragonfire, Tommen Blackmont and his principal lieutenants managed to escape the battle unscathed. News of his defeat reached their allies at the Tor before the survivors could cross the desert, and the Yronwoods and Wyls immediately ceased their siege. They returned to the safety of Yronwood’s well-fortified keep, where Lady Ashira Yronwood welcomed the Vulture King into her gates.

Accepting his defeat, Tommen Blackmont openly proclaimed his plan to escape the Seven Kingdoms, intending to travel to the Stormlands where he might find passage across the Narrow Sea. Seemingly sympathetic to his plight, Lady Yronwood offered to send some of her own men to escort him through the mountain pass. Unlike his father, however, Quentyn Blackmont refused to give up. He was convinced that the vultures could still bide their time in the Red Mountains until another opportunity emerged. After an intense argument, Quentyn parted ways with his father, taking the last fifty of his raiders with him.

Near the border, Martell men ambushed the pitiful remnants of Tommen Blackmont’s army - and as the enemy rushed down the mountainside, Lady Yronwood’s men turned cloak. Flanked on both sides of a narrow pass, the vultures plead for their lives as each was mercilessly cut down - including their leader, who was slain by an ordinary soldier with little fanfare.

Aftermath
Despite their blatant treachery, the great majority of the vulture lords were pardoned by Trystane Martell. Dorne had been severed in two by the unprecedented scale of the war, and the victors were eager to restore peace and order to a land that was already struggling before the conflict. Three houses, however, were singled out as the key instigators of the war. Lady Cersei Fowler and Lord Benedict Manwoody were captured and taken to Sunspear, where the Prince of Dorne and the Prince of Summerhall presided together over a trial.

Lady Fowler and Lord Manwoody were sentenced to death and unceremoniously executed; the same sentence was given to the late Vulture King’s son, whose whereabouts remained unknown. Embittered by the suffering inflicted upon his kin, the venerable Ser Robert Uller - a retired justiciar - offered to personally track down Quentyn Blackmont. Both of the princes accepted, and Aerion Targaryen restored Ser Robert to his former position solely for this purpose.

In the Red Mountains, the young vulture’s few dozen men resorted to banditry to sustain themselves. Expecting their defeated countrymen to sympathize with their plight, they instead found the populace hostile. Two of the raiders surrendered to the justiciar, led him to Quentyn’s hideout, and aided in his capture. He was taken to his home, the castle of Blackmont, where a public execution was held. A distant relation was installed, promising unconditional loyalty to House Martell.

Little ultimately changed at the end of the War of Stone and Sky. The region remained rife with religious tension, albeit with the faithful of neither side eager to resume open hostilities. Dorne’s prosperity continued its gradual decline, and even the stony lords who were spared continued to resent their liege. House Martell’s position was strengthened, if only because the wrath of a dragon proved that none could afford to defy the Prince of Dorne.