War of the Three Thieves

The War of the Three Thieves, also called the War of the Three Kings in the Stepstones and the Free Cities, was a conflict fought from 396 to 402AC between the Seven Kingdoms and the Kingdom of the Stepstones.

Background
The Great Famine in Westeros saw an increase of ships heading through the Stepstones, as merchants in the Free Cities sought to sell their wares at exorbitant prices in the Seven Kingdoms. As always, with the increase of trade came the increase of piracy, and in the Stepstones a king arose, more powerful than many who had come before.

Daarius Ormollen was the scion of the ancient Ormollen family, who had left home, title, and responsibility behind in his pursuit of greater glories. His piracy was a different sort than the usual breed, boasting discipline and strategy such as was taught in the finest halls of the Free Cities. He was clever, daring, and dangerous; made all the more so when Bessaro of Norvos began paying him to prey more strongly upon the ships of his rivals.

In 393AC, Daarius made common cause with Bessaro of Norvos and a smuggler named Alequo Silverband. Together, the Ormollen hoped that they might manage to steal a Targaryen egg, and with it cement their rule over the Narrow Sea.

The Theft
It fell to Alequo to secure the egg, his contacts in King's Landing and skill as a smuggler, coupled with the deep pockets of Bessaro and the powerful sea-presence of Daarius, ideally proving enough to see their cause through. It is generally agreed that it was Alequo's compatriot, a criminal and thief named the Nightingale, who did the actual stealing -- spiriting an egg from the bowels of the Red Keep, through the secret passages and away. How it was that this villain knew the routes, no man or maester yet knows, though the stories vary from sorcery to conspiracies involving Lenore Blackwood.

However it was that it came to be, the Nightingale stole from the treasury of the Red Keep a small egg, pale blue with milk white markings, that had not been given to any Prince or Princess. He handed it over to Alequo Silverband, who spirited it away under the cover of darkness.

The theft would not be discovered for some time, as no one had thought to check the dragon's hoard for daring, audacious thieves. When it was, the Targaryens kept it quiet; but beneath that silence, their fury burned.

The Kings in the Stepstones
Alequo brought the egg back to his compatriots, late in the year 393. At once Bessaro set his wealth to work, buying tomes and magisters, warlocks and wise men, all in hopes of finding a means to hatch the egg, and prove its worth. Daarius, too, bent his abilities towards the task, ambushing ships that bore the markings of Volantis, and securing noble after noble with blood pure enough to reside behind the black walls. Alequo, for his part, kept the egg warm, and sang to it songs he had learned as a child; songs of old Valyria, of R'hllor and ancient days.

After two years of tireless work, what most men deemed impossible came to be; the egg hatched, steeped in the fires of red mages, soaked in the blood of the sacrificed. From it emerged the beast they would name Arranax; his scales a pale, airy blue, the undersides of his wings the grey of a stormy sky. Along his neck ran streaks of gold, so vibrant that many gasped. His first meal was the very priests who had awoken him -- for the Three Kings would often sate the beast's hunger on human flesh.

Most maesters assume that it was Bessaro who first let rumour of the hatchling slip -- bragging no doubt to one of his many courtesans, or letting loose whilst in some drunken stupor. However it was that it came to be, word soon spread of this wonder in the Stepstones; and when King Aenar first heard of the rogue dragon in the Stepstones, he knew at once where the missing egg had gone.

The Wrath of the Dragon
At once King Aenar Targaryen called his banners to King's Landing, gathering up the royal fleet and the fleet of the Stormlands as he descended south. Only Aenar himself went, of the royal family, some strange fire having taken root in his bones. As they set off, near three hundred ships and the mightiest Targaryen dragon yet living, no man who looked upon them thought they would return anything but victorious.

But Daarius heard of the King's approach, and made ready his own preparations. Long had he worked to secure his petty kingdom upon the Stepstones, and in his command he had a fleet that could rival that of any Essosi Prince. As Aenar descended upon Bloodstone, Daarius struck his fleet like a storm -- the Battle of Splinters took place in the shadow of the island, with a pale sun high overhead.

Aenar, King of Westeros, scion of the ancient lineage of the dragonlords, let loose such hell upon his foes that the waters steamed and boiled. Viserion's maw was the gateway to the afterlife, and forth from it spilled liquid death -- but Daarius stood firm, and turned to his men, letting loose bolts of Myrish make. Thrice did they fire, thrice did they miss, until the Ormollen himself took aim -- the bolt carved through the air like lightning, and struck the ancient dragon in the chest.

Down from the heavens did Aenar fall, black ichor spilling steaming from his mount. Viserion brought down three ships as he crashed into the waves, his roars drowning out the cheering of his rivals. The wound had missed his heart and organs, lodging instead in the crook before his wing -- a dread wound, but not fatal, and with much coaxing the royals beat a careful, agonizing retreat. Daarius too withdrew, content with his victory, and set about securing those ships that could be saved. Viserion and brought down some fifty vessels with his flame - but the broken king's retreat saw the Ormollen's navy grow by near three score and ten.

War Upon the Waves
With Aenar and his dragon wounded, the threat of the Stepstones became apparent to all. Immediately councils were held, and banners were called, the lords of Westeros gathering their forces. In late 396AC war was joined in earnest, the fleets of White Harbor, Gulltown, and the remainder of the Crown and Stormlands, joining forces to ferry troops and men.

Daarius knew he stood little hope against the whole of Westeros, and so sought to fight it as a dragon eats; in bites. Banking on the time it would take for the heart of the Crown's naval strength to arrive, he took his fleet north, to engage the remnants of his rivals, engaging the combined fleets of the east coast in the Battle of the Gulf. In a narrow victory, the Crown was successful, forcing Daarius to withdraw from the southern coast of the Stormlands. The Westerosi followed, chasing the Ormollen and his navy back south - only to lose him in the Stepstones, and a rogue, seasonal storm.

Seven Kingdoms, and One
The Second Battle of Splinters takes place not weeks later, when the Redwyne fleet arrives to find Daarius Ormollen and his navy awaiting them. At once battle is joined, the Redwynes outnumbered, but soon reinforced by the Crownlander fleet -- their arrival to the Ormollen's flank turning the tide of what might have been a disastrous defeat. A second narrow victory for the Crown frees up the Narrow Sea, forcing Daarius to retreat once more back into his den of the Stepstone straits. The Ironborn arrive, following not far behind the Westermen, and with all of Westeros united they at once set to work. Hunting through the Stepstones, with dragons flying above, they at last force a portion of Daarius' fleet to battle off the inner coast of Bloodstone. The Kindling, as most men call it, saw many of the vessels destroyed; the dragon-mounted Targaryens unleashing their fury in a maelstrom of fire and death.

The hard heart of Daarius' fleet had slipped past them, to the south -- seeming to skirt the southern Stepstones and head towards the coast of Dorne. The Martells made ready to defend Planky Town, their meager fleets already a part of the royal defense -- but the Targaryens and Velaryons, mounted on dragon back, harried the Ormollen and his forces. Myrish bolts carved the skies, but no dragons fell that day - until at last the Westerosi fleet appeared upon the horizon.

The Battle of the Broken Arm was the bloodiest of the war, both fleets engaging off the coast of Dorne in a brawl that sent thousands to the grave. One hundred and fifty ships of the Stepstone's remaining forces break beneath the Westerosi assault - the survivors, including Daarius, limping back the way they had come.

Three May Keep a Secret
Daarius Ormollen returned to Sunstone in early 398, bringing with them word of the losses at sea, and the approaching royal forces. The dragon, he said, was needed desperately, if they were to salvage the conflict upon the waves.

Whilst Daarius fought, it had fallen to Alequo and Bessaro to keep the rest of the kingdom functioning. Bessaro concerned himself with finance, mostly, making sure that the captains remained well paid and well provisioned, whilst enriching himself horrendously every time his heavy thumbs dared to grasp a scale. Alequo, for his part, saw to the dragon, attempting to get it to fighting weight as swiftly as was possible. The Kings agreed that no one man ought ever be alone with the beast -- it would bond, they feared, with one before they were ready, and thus throw the whole of the plan in disarray. The massive hall wherein they kept it chained was forbidden to all but their own; all others would enter the room only once, and not as guests of honour.

Alequo assured Daarius that the dragon was large enough to ride, but not nearly ready to face battle-hardened Targaryens in the field. Riderless, it would be suicidal, and none of the three had yet managed to tame the beast. Daarius told his companions that they need not worry - merely prepare the beast for riding, and he would see to the Targaryens and their mounts.

Treachery, Thy Name is Ambition
Daarius departed from Sunstone without a dragon, but carrying with him the secrets of those mages and alchemists that had first awoken Arranax from his egg. Wildfire, the man intended to use, along with his Myrish scorpions, to make up the difference in number and skill betwixt his fleet, and that of the Andals. While he set off to defend his fledgling kingdom, Alequo and Bessaro were left alone on Sunstone.

Late in the evening, in the hour of the wolf, when all was dark and silent, Alequo Silverband murdered his co-King, strangling Bessaro of Norvos in his chair. The Norvoshi fought, but Alequo was strong, and near tore the man's head clear with his garrote. With Bessaro dead, and Daarius gone, Alequo was left to rule Sunstone.

Creeping to the chamber that housed their prize, Alequo approached and mounted Arranax. Whether this was the first time, or the hundredth time, no man but the Silverband knew - but whatever the case, it was clear; the dragon had chosen its rider.

The Hammer Falls
As the fleet of the Seven Kingdoms closed in upon Sunstone, Daarius Ormollen met them at sea. In the battle known as Ormollen's Pyre he bent his art towards one final victory. Feint and counter-feint, charge and false retreat, wildfire and red magic and Myrish bolt. All failed, in this, the final hour, every cunning stratagem and bold tactic made naught. As his fleet burned around him, Ormollen too was cast down - over the side, and into the blackened waves.

The dragons moved on, chasing the fleeing ships, and Ormollen drifted aimlessly in the sea. He floats for hours until he's picked up by men looking for survivors, and from thence he is taken to Sunstone.

Arriving at his castle, sick with defeat, Daarius Ormollen finds it nearly empty and abandoned. The soldiers have gone, ordered off to fight elsewhere, and though the treasury and caches were full of strange and wondrous things -- the coffers themselves were empty.

In the throne room, the great hall, where upon a dais three thrones stood -- Daarius finds but one remaining, and Alequo seated upon it. At once, the Pirate King knew what had occurred, even as the men that had once been his own took hold of him.

Daarius Ormollen would be the Arranax's final meal upon the island of Sunstone. From there, Alequo Silverband, and the remnants of the Stepstones army, would retreat to their old haunt at Grey Gallows.

The Scouring of the Stepstones
With the fleet destroyed, the royals set their army loose to find the missing egg. Rumours of dragons had reached them, of course, but through all the fighting they had yet seen no sign. It was possible, then, that the creature had not hatched, and might yet be restored to the Targaryen dynasty.

Sunstone was all but ripped apart, the castle that had once housed three kings rendered a haunting black ruin. Many of the other islands suffer similar fates, until word arrives of Grey Gallows, and its King. A dragon rider.

The Gallows
The forces of the Seven Kingdoms close in on the island, and they break the meager resistance of its fleet. They land upon the island proper, besieging its castle and fighting through its halls - until at last Alequo Silverband rises to challenge them, atop his dragon Arranax. He carves a red swathe through the ranks of the Westerosi, until Prince Maekar Targaryen answers his challenge - they meet in the sky above the island, in a dance both haunting and fatal.

The last King of the Stepstones, the young Alequo Silverband, is cast down from the skies. Arranax, too, is slain in the fighting, their charred corpses falling from the heavens and into the sea. Their defeat signals the end of the war, and the Crown returns home, victorious.

Results
The wound that Viserion took early in the fighting continues to haunt the beast to this day - though by all accounts healthy, and still rather hale, he is slower and more irritable than in years past. Aenar, despite his advanced age, seemed to recover, taking no major injuries in the fall. Both dragon and rider remain in the city, though the days of them flying together now seem long past.

The Stepstones, though still a haunt for pirates and corsairs, still bears many of the scars of the war. After seven years it is only just beginning to return to normal, though no man yet dares name himself its king, and reawaken that wrath that so scorched the isles once before.

In Westeros, many were slain the fighting, and many more proved their valor and won renown. Knights were made in the score after the war, and heroes by the handful. The Prince of Summerhall, in his duel above the Gallows, is now the main article of several songs - though the loss of a dragon, even one stolen and subverted, yet causes some of the royal family grief.