Second Hammer Uprising

The Second Hammer Uprising was the first of many conflicts that sparked in the period that is now commonly known as the Bleeding.   Chroniclers mark the uprising as the spark that lit all those that followed, laying the groundwork for one of the most chaotic periods since the Second Conquest. It began in the city of Oldtown, with the reformation of the Warsmiths beneath the banner of Ser Duncan Hammer, a proclaimed descendant of the infamous Brynden Hammer.

Unlike their previous iteration, the Warsmiths acted more as a knightly order rather than a band of outlaws. In that same strain, Ser Duncan’s charisma was such that his rebellion came to envelop more than pockets of Starry Rites zealots, and smallfolk who still remembered well the songs and tales of the first Hammer Uprising. Even members of the landed nobility, Houses such as Swann, Fossoway, Ashford, and Cuy, flocked to the Warsmiths’ banner.

The Uprising, given greater organization and support, lasted for several years from the early moons of 432 A.C. until Ser Duncan was slain by Rhaenyra Targaryen in the Battle of Ashford late in the year 435 A.C. All in all, it was the most widespread and devastating conflict of the Bleeding which not only acted as the firebrand for all that followed, but claimed the lives of many great figures, the most significant of which was none other than the king himself, Rhaegar II.

Warsmiths Reforged
The original Warsmiths were destroyed during the first Hammer Uprising after the death of Brynden Hammer in the year 388 A.C. Unbeknownst to many, however, Brynden Hammer had left behind a son and a daughter with his wife, Delena, in the cradle of the Whispering Sound. Their whereabouts, and indeed for a great many years their existence, were kept secret thanks to the protection of Lord Lucifer Hightower. There were many, at the time, who suspected that great families, such as House Hightower, had supported Brynden’s efforts from afar, but of course this could never have been proven.

Though much of the nobility and certainly the royalty disdained the memory of Brynden Hammer, many of the smallfolk held a different point of view. Songs had been written and sung about the exploits of Byrnden Hammer, Thomas Hew and his Warsmiths. Men such as Lord Hightower took note of this, and so he elected to keep the progeny of the infamous outlaw close to hand. In particular he facilitated the education and training of the man’s son, Duncan, who eventually gained sufficient skill and merit to be anointed with the Seven Oils.

Moreover, thanks to the honors placed upon the fallen outlaw’s name by a former Septon of the Starry Sept, the legend of the man was kept alive in the decades that followed his death. When at last a man grown, it was all too easy for Ser Duncan Hammer to latch on to that legacy and begin amassing a following of his own. He was determined, however, to stay true to his training and vow as a knight under the auspices of the Starry Rites.

  Like many of the Southron lords, ladies, and knights, Ser Duncan was an ardent follower of Prince Maekar Targaryen, in opposition to the rule of the Black Queen, Visaera I Targaryen. So trusted was he by the powers that be in Oldtown, that he was among those who were sent out to the corners of the Seven Kingdoms to canvass support for the man the Starry Septon had proclaimed Lord Protector of the Realm. Despite his skill with a blade, Ser Duncan had an inspiring brand of speech, and a charisma that was matched by few of his contemporaries. In the end, Maekar fell to the treachery of the Red Princess in Dorne, and so ultimately the son of Brynden Hammer failed alongside him. Nevertheless, he was able to make many a contact during that period and gather for himself a loyal band of followers from noble houses throughout the Seven Kingdoms.

Such contacts were tended and cultivated for many long years. Ser Duncan, like so many others, expected that another war would come upon them. The true followers of the Seven had never had their day in the sun. The strident rule of the Queen, and her tolerance of the heretical followers of the Red God only served to cement such sentiments, which even began to foment within places such as the Stormlands, where many of the adherents to the Starry Faith had been brutally oppressed by Lady Seryse Baratheon during the height of the Southron Schism.

Despite these sentiments, it was not until the Great Synod of Lannisport in 430 A.C., during the reign of Rhaegar II, that the specter of the Warsmiths was harkened from what seemed bygone age. During the synod many tenets of the Starry Rites had been altered or done away with altogether. In so doing the attendants, including the Starry Septon, brought an end to the divisions within the doctrines of the Faith. This was lauded by many, but for all those that praised the reunification, there were others who felt spurned by those they had trusted to protect their interests, and more importantly, their souls.

So it was then, only moons after the reunification, that the Warsmiths were reformed, but they were not comprised of the petty outlaws that had filled their ranks before. Their ranked were filled with knights anointed in the Seven oils of the gods, with lords and ladies who held true to the primacy of the Father above, and even with Septons who were disgusted, ashamed of the concessions made by the Starry Septon, whom they had once honored and adored. Each and every one were determined to hold back the tides of heresy and concession. Their goal? To act as champions to the disenfranchised who had been so shamelessly thrown aside, and to reclaim the legitimacy that had, for so long, been theirs.

At their head was Brynden’s son, Ser Duncan, and at his side an array of lieutenants who were devoted to a most righteous cause.

Taking of the Tower
In the year that followed the Great Synod, it became apparent to Ser Duncan that if the Warsmiths were to see their influence grow and force the change that was demanded by the gods, drastic moves would needs be made. The Warsmiths had cemented themselves as a body worthy of respect within Oldtown, and though some were wary, they had been allowed to operate unscathed. Their ranks grew with their reputation, but for what Duncan intended, he knew he would require insurance and a proper base of operations. He gathered many of his most trusted allies and hatched a plot to see the Southern kingdoms entrenched a conflict that would eclipse the one that was inspired by his father before him.

The patronage of House Hightower had been integral in facilitating his rise to prominence, and for that he was grateful. Nevertheless, his relations with the house had become distant in the years that followed Lord Leyton Hightower’s death. He was not well acquainted with the household of his widow, and regent for their son, Lord Arthur. Lady Aelora was, no matter how long she had assumed the name of her husband, a scion of House Velaryon. Her heritage had become accepted by many within the city, but among the Warsmiths it was something to be scorned. The Dragon, after all, had seen them shorn from all they held dear, and indeed the woman’s own cousin, Prince Aerys, had been integral in the sundering of the Starry Rites.

Lady Aelora, however, was not the only figure to elicit scorn from the ranks of Ser Duncan’s adherents. One of the most hated figures was, of course, the Starry Septon whom many felt betrayed their trust during the Great Synod. Though he had welcomed the Warsmiths, and indeed praised their name, few among them gave credence to his words. He was regarded as natural an enemy as the followers of R’hllor. Indeed, many of the smallfolk began to regard him as a man beset by decadence and greed, a sentiment that had proven integral in the origination of the schism many decades before.

Despite his distance from the regent of Oldtown, and her sons, there were many who had access to the Hightower that had fallen under Ser Duncan’s sway. Chief among them were Ser Benedar Bulwer and Ser Ryman Cuy, both of whom were knights that hailed from prominent families that had been sworn to House Hightower for centuries. They had long been among those within Hammer’s inner circle, and so it was naturally to them he turned. Such was Duncan’s acumen and charisma, that he had even cultivated allies within the Conclave, and these Archmaesters would prove integral to his plans.

On an otherwise peaceful night early in the first moon of 432 A.C., the Warsmiths executed a series of covert acts that would not only facilitate the uprising to come but would effectively see control of Oldtown usurped from the hands of the regent, Lady Aelora. Just as the sun dipped beyond the horizon a crowd, who had been roused by Duncan’s followers, gathered outside of the Starry Sept demanding an audience with its septon. When at last the aged man emerged to addressed them, the mob that had gathered set upon him, and he became lost in the sea of angry smallfolk.

Shortly after the riot about the Starry Sept, there was an explosion within the Citadel. This, coupled with the Starry Septon’s murder, stretched the city watch thin. While this transpired, Ser Benedar Bulwer, who had access to the Hightower, utilized the distraction to abduct Lady Aelora’s second son, Addam Hightower. Her eldest son, Lord Arthur, had long dwelt in King’s Landing within the household of the king. Ser Benedar smuggled Addam from the Hightower, and Ser Ryman Cuy utilized little known passages to spirit the scion from the city.

When order had been restored, and Addam’s disappearance became known, Ser Duncan Hammer requested an audience with Lady Aelora. There he informed her just what had become of her son, and so pressured her into compliance with his demands. After a lengthy back and forth she relented. The Warsmiths had gained control of the city, and in some ways, of the Hightower itself. This divided the populace, but such was their popularity, that a fair few accepted this shift in power.

Ser Duncan’s ingenuity in Oldtown won him great support among certain quarters of the populace. He had the foundation with which to institute his vision, and so began the just war he had nursed for so long.

A Call to Arms
After the Warsmiths’ successful takeover of Oldtown, news began to spread quickly throughout the Southron kingdoms. Talk of the new Hammer, and his mission to see the Faith restored to what it had once been was as a clarion call to many of the disenfranchised within the Reach, the Stormlands, the Riverlands, and even in the Crownlands, where lay the heart of the Dragon’s power. Or, if the words of Ser Duncan Hammer were to be heeded, the Dragon’s corruption. Men and women alike abandoned their fields to flock to the various members Ser Duncan had placed in key towns, and holdfasts throughout the realm.

Smallkfolk gathered in great mobs and rose in defiance of their lords in various holdings throughout the southern portion of the realm. This time, however, there was greater organization to rebellion. The Warsmiths had planned their movement for years. Thus, these men were not driven by the blind outrage that had spurred them on in the first uprising after the death of Brynden Hammer. Their hero was very much alive, and beneath him were a score of dedicated, skilled individuals who understood the need for resistance in the long term.

Among that first wave of uprisings, the most surprising, perhaps, was the fervor of the citizens of Duskendale. Led by a knight who had once squired for the Hammer himself, Ser Bennarion Bywater, the populace rose against House Rykker. The men and women of the Crownlands had ever held to the more traditional, Baelorian tenets of the Faith, and so their anger was fueled not by the alleged degradation of the Starry Rites. Instead their anger stemmed from the practices of religious tolerance that had been promoted by the Targaryens for decades, particularly in regard to the proliferation of the Red God, R’hllor.

Lord Rykker’s men were able to repel the mobs from the Dun Fort, for no matter their fervor they were not equipped for prolonged siege. Even still, Ser Bennarion’s men ruled the city, and brutally persecuted the known followers of R’hllor. The situation reached such a pitch that eventually, contrary to their inaction in other regions during the early stages of the Second Hammer Uprising, King Rhaegar ordered a contingent of the Golden Company be sent to Duskendale to restore order. The mobs were disseminated but Ser Bennarion was able to elude capture in his flight from the small city.

While the uprising spread to the bordering regions, it was within the Reach, the birthplace of the Starry Faith, that saw the greatest amount of conflict. The Warsmiths were able to spread their influence quickly, much to the chagrin of the Tyrells and their loyal bannermen. Ser Duncan had stirred himself from Oldtown very shortly after his successful coup of the Hightower. He was not a man to sit with the reserves. Instead, along with other leading figures of the Warsmiths, he intended to act as the vanguard of the uprisings he had already begun to stir.

After his arrival in Ashford, Lord Joseth, rather than await the assistance of Lord Tyrell, pledged himself to the cause of the Warsmiths. His keep, after all, was not quite as might as others and the man had a reputation for being a pragmatist in all things. Rather than risk the wellbeing of his wealth, and his family, he judged Ser Duncan a worthwhile investment. The Warsmiths, filled with idealists though it might have been, understood the need for men such as Lord Joseth Ashford and so accepted his patronage.

Not all of the nobility who pledged themselves to the Warsmiths were of Joseth’s cast, however. Other great lords and knights of significant stature lent their resources to Ser Duncan and his followers. Chief among those in the Reach were Ormund Caswell, Lord of Bitterbridge and his goodbrother, the fearsome Ser Randyll Fossoway, Knight of New Barrel. Ormund was a particularly devout man who had hoped to become a septon, and thus fancied himself rather an expert on the tenets of the Starry Faith.

Ser Randyll rallied his forces and was integral to the success of the Warsmiths’ campaign in the Northmarch. Randyll, knowing he could not properly challenge Lord Reynard Rowan on the field, devised a series of raids that crippled the supply lines that flowed from Goldengrove to Highgarden. His ingenuity would see the Northmarch fall into chaos, and severely compromise the ability of House Tyrell to properly manage every facet of the crisis that was building along the shores of the Mander.

The Knight of New Barrel remained one of the more steadfast of Ser Duncan’s top lieutenants during the uprising. His activity would not be halted until near the end of the uprising. Lord Rowan, like himself, was a gifted commander able to adapt to his surgical strikes. He was once even baited into an ambush, but was able to escape with his life and flee to Ashford, where he would take part in the final battle of the uprising, after the Dragons had at last been stirred from King’s Landing

A Tempered Hand
King Rhaegar II was oft criticized for his inaction in the opening years of the Second Hammer Uprising, and in fact, for his inaction in the other facets of the Bleeding. The king’s mother, Queen Visaera, had a much more strident affect in her rule. Rhaegar, by contrast, is sometimes seen as a rather weak king, but in truth he was simply given to heeding the advice of his counselors rather than directing them as his mother had done. Another notable development in the years that preceded the uprising was the death of his wife, Queen Rhaenys, which deprived him of a crucial figure of his reign to that point.

Naturally, the most influential advisor of the king at that time was his Hand, Lord Perceon Vance, whom had served upon the Small Council for decades, dating back to the final years of the Old King, Aenar I. When word of rebellion and war reached King’s Landing, it was Lord Perceon who first cautioned the king, and so dissuaded him from an immediate, visceral response that had ever been the wont of his mother, the Black Queen. Instead he urged that the King simply instruct his sworn vassals to disseminate the influence of the Warsmiths.

Perceon was not alone in this counsel. Other figures upon the Small Council and within the court lent their voices to his. The most notable of these were Septon Bryce, a man who played a central role in reaching consensus at the Great Synod of Lannisport, who had become Master of Laws, and Rhaegar’s natural born daughter, Visenya Silvermoon. Visenya, who had been wed to her brother Aegon the year before, had begun to blossom in her role, and was thus integral to the Hand’s efforts. Their argument was that if House Targaryen were to rain fire and destruction upon the Warsmiths they could well end the conflict quickly but would sacrifice much goodwill that had been earned by the dynasty in the intervening years of Rhaegar’s reign.

Not all within the court and the dynasty agreed with this assessment, however. None were louder than the eldest child of Rhaegar’s union with his queen. Princess Rhaenyra believed in a more pragmatic, and to her mind, realistic approach to the problem. She urged her father to dismiss the advice of his Small Council and unleash all that House Targaryen could bring to bear. Had her mother been alive to supplement her assertions, things could well have been different. As it was, however, King Rhaegar heeded his Hand, and so elected a slower approach to the quelling of the popular uprisings that seem to multiply moon after moon.

In the early stages of the Second Hammer Uprising the King yielded on this policy in only one case, when Ser Bennarion Bywater and a band of Warsmiths fueled a popular uprising in Duskendale in 431 A.C. Rhaegar was quick to order a detachment of the Golden Company to restore order, and indeed the Golden Company continued their efforts in tandem with the lords of the Crownlands thereafter.

Swords and Stars
In 433 A.C. the High Septon who had come to be known as the Gregarious One, the same High Septon who had overseen the Great Synod of Lannisport, perished in the capital. Despite his success during the council he had proven unable to gain sufficient control over the many septons and septas who had begun to support the efforts of the Warsmiths. Even still, among the faithful of King’s Landing, spurred by whispers that leaked from the Most Devout, there was talk that the High Septon, like his contemporary in Oldtown, had been murdered. Some pointed to the more corrupt members of the Most Devout, others lay blame at the feet of the Warsmiths, and some even lay the feet of the blame at the followers of the Red God.

The Most Devout were divided, as many among them were angling to replace the man who had seen to the downfall of many of their contemporaries in his purist brand of leadership. Ultimately, however, they were forced to look outside of their ranks for the new appointment. As fate divined, they needn’t look far, for there was a man who had long poised himself for the role. There were some who said that Septon Bryce, who had once been the Septon of the Faithful in Lannisport, had wielded greater influence than any man of the Faith in over a century. He had proved to be an influential voice during the synod, and thereafter had acted as Master of Laws upon King’s Rhaegar’s Small Council.

Bryce’s public image was such that even his enemies could not do much to dissuade the nomination. The Most Devout bickered and debated as they ever did, but in the end the crystal crown was laid atop his head. In becoming the avatar of the Seven within the mortal realm, Bryce was shorn of his name. He took to his new posting with great vigor, and unlike so many of his predecessors, was fortunate in that he had long whispered in the ear of the King. Prior to his election as High Septon, there had been whispers at court, that such was his relationship with the king that many thought he might supplant his sometimes ally, Perceon Vance, as Hand.

Shortly after his election, King Rhaegar sought out the counsel of his once Master of Laws. The High Septon extended his hand invitation, requesting that the king beseech the gods for their favor in the uprising that seemed to grow day by day. For three days and nights he remained sequestered in the Great Sept of Baelor. Upon emerging, he returned to the Red Keep and made a royal proclamation that once more empowered the Faith to raise their arms. None ever knew what transpired in the Great Sept, but all knew well the High Septon’s gilded tongue.

Rhaegar is said to have claimed he had been granted a vision by the Seven. After making the proclamation, many of the faithful flocked to the city, and the High Septon was swift to see the reaffirmation of the old chapterhouses that had been used by the Warrior’s Sons. When their numbers grew to sufficient levels, the High Septon urged the king to make use of the faithful in quelling the uprising. The Warsmiths, after all, had sought to usurp the role of the proper Faith Militant. In the end, the king gave his blessing.

The Faith Militant did much to undo the influence of the Warsmiths within the Crownlands, and successfully wrested control of the Stony Sept away from Ser Maric Vypren who had been a key figure in sewing chaos in the Riverlands after the Defiance of Fairmarket. Even still, the new fighting force was not without its controversies and setbacks. Though they were able to curb the appeal of Ser Duncan’s followers, they were unable to fully eradicate the threat. Even more, certain elements within the newly reformed orders became unwieldy, even for the High Septon and his ilk.

Throughout the Bleeding there were two instances that threatened their legitimacy and tested the High Septon’s ability to assert his authority over those who had taken up the Swords and Stars. The first was shortly after a significant number of Poor Fellows flooded into the city. Rumors of the hand behind the Gregarious One’s death had persisted, and many lay the blame at the feet of the red priests within the city. Chaos reigned in Flea Bottom, and the Red Temple that had been built was utterly destroyed. Before the Goldcloaks could restore order, with the aid of Prince Baelor, the errant Poor Fellows had begun a purge in the poorest quarter or the city, holding mock trials and dispensing justice.

Near the end of the period, the captain of a chapterhouse dedicated to the Warrior’s Sons in Gulltown, Ser Daryn Shett, fomented an insurgency against Lord Gerold Grafton. He was able to take control of the city, and slaughtered Lord Gerold, his family, and others who claimed allegiance to either the Warsmiths or the foreign god, R’hllor. Ultimately the Arryns were able to restore the Graftons to power, but at the request of the High Septon, Ser Daryn Shett was transferred to King’s Landing for justice.

The High Septon went to great lengths to distance himself from these allegedly isolated incidents. In both instances he advocated for harsh measures to be exacted upon the culprits. The more cynical of bystanders at the court whispered that he had planned for what had taken place and had utilized the opportunity to rid himself of dangerous rivals in the web of influence he had cultivated. Some grew to doubt the fidelity of King Rhaegar’s decision to allow the reformation of the Faith Militant and were wary of the High Septon’s ultimate goals. After this the man who had once been known as Septon Bryce was dubbed the Cunning One.

The Defiance of Fairmarket
In the opening year of the conflict, it seemed as though the Riverlands would pull through without partaking of the Chaos that seemed to plague their neighbors to west and south. Religious tensions, however, did eventually creep their way up the banks of the Trident. One of Ser Duncan Hammer’s chief lieutenants, Ser Maric Vypren, had been dispatched prior to the abduction and subjugation of the Hightower. His goal was a simple one. He was charged with gathering support for the Warsmiths and encouraging the general uprisings that had sprouted up in the days and weeks following the taking of the Hightower.

His work was aided by a score of traveling, austere septons who had come to support the cause of Ser Duncan, seeing this as an opportunity to see the Faith armed in a manner it had been before. These septons remained faithful even after Septon Bryce’s ascension and reformation of the Faith Militant proper. They saw the new High Septon as nothing but a pawn of the Dragon, and it was under their reign that heresy had grown rampant throughout the southron kingdoms.

While the nobles remained in their keeps, the pious smallfolk, emboldened by Ser Maric and his septons, grew restless. A key point of contention among them was the decades of proliferation of Red God worshippers. This served to sew dissent beyond the holdouts of the Starry Faith that had long been dwindling in the lands of the Trident, so devoted had so many of their lords been to the Black Queen’s cause in the Mummer’s War.

The first great gathering of smallfolk was in the town of Fairmarket, one of the greater population centers of the Riverlands. A gathering of lords confronted Ser Maric and the swelling ranks of the Warsmiths who had effectively taken control of the town. When the lords demanded they return to their harvests, the situation escalated. The lords were set upon, and expelled from Fairmarket. Thousands had risen in defiance, and their revolt spread across the lands of the Trident like wildfire.

This incident became widely regarded as the Defiance of Fairmarket, and there were even travelling bards who claimed to be present that turned it into a rousing song. It marked the first real uprising in the Riverlands, where hundreds of armed men were taken down by the peasant crowds, and men of noble birth were dragged from their horses. What followed was a series of skirmishes throughout the region that saw several thousands recruited to their cause.

Lord Damion Tully was swift to respond to the growing crisis, managing to gather a force within weeks of the Defiance. Many of his bannerman followed suit, but there were some that were slower than others. House Tully’s relations with a select few of his more influential vassals had soured in the intervening years since his legitimization by Queen Visaera. Harrenhal sent only a token force, as their lord, Perceon Vance, was so occupied with affairs in the capital. The Lady of the Crossing, Elana Frey, was also slow in responding, if only because the unrest was far from her lands in the northern portion of the Riverlands.

There was a notable turn when the Swords and Stars established their presence. The legitimate military orders of the Faith were able to shatter the Warsmith’s powerbase that had grown around the Stony Sept. The Lord of Pinkmaiden, Stannis Piper,  had proved an integral supporter of the Warsmiths activity in the region, as he hoped to avoid the fate that had befallen the lords who had gathered at Fairmarket. Led by Ser Abelar Waxley of the Warrior’s Sons and Arstan the Pretty of the Poor Fellows, the Faith Militant were able to slaughter the Warsmiths in Stony Sept and reassert a traditional base for their respective orders. Thereafter they besieged Pinkmaiden Castle until Lord Stannis finally surrender late in 434 A.C.

Several battles were fought upon the banks of the Trident, and slowly but surely Lord Tully and the loyalists were able to push back the rebels. Eventually, Ser Maric was obligated to abandon his position in Fairmarket, retreating to the ruins of Oldstones. There he gathered his strength. The battle that followed was the greatest that had been seen thus far. A host rallied by House Stark had finally crossed the Neck and came upon the force from the North with a token force provided by Lady Elana Frey, whom had permitted the Starks crossing after, as ever, exacting a parsimonious toll.

This last stand came to be mockingly known as the Siege of Oldstones, where the last remnant of the Warsmiths force were put down by a force led by Lords Tully and Stark.

Betrayal at Stonehelm
Leading up to the Second Uprising, the Stormlands had found itself in a decades’ long state of slow, fermenting turmoil. Due to the divergent efforts of Gwayne Baratheon, Lord of Storms’ End, and his sister, Lady Argella Connington, a battle of wills was being waged over the proliferation of the R’hllor Faith. Outside of Dorne and the capital, the Stormlands housted one of the most significant populations of Red God adherents in the realm. One of the Black Queen’s former counselors, the late Lord Rodrik Connington, had been among the more famous followers of R’hllor. He had been integral to his wife’s efforts to cement the religion within the heart of House Baratheon’s territories.

The diversified regions of the Stormlands proved to be prime breeding grounds for the Warsmiths’ ideologies, with their activity in the region spiking shortly after Ser Duncan’s coup in Oldtown. In the zealots’ eyes, the normalization of R’hllor worship was just as great a sin as the sundering of the Starry Rites, and many across the schismatic divide agreed. While few from the Starry Faith had survived Lady Seryse Baratheon’s harsh pogroms during the first schism, one notable member had thrived in Stonehelm. Lady Ravella Swann, like Ser Duncan Hammer, had been associated with Prince Maekar during the Mummer’s War, and had once been a lady-in-waiting to his wife, Lady Leona Tyrell. She had long maintained contact with Ser Duncan, having laid the groundwork for the Warsmiths’ campaign in the Stormlands since the conclusion of the Great Synod of Lannisport. She was a fiercely faithful woman. Like many of her more zealous peers, she felt disenfranchised by the actions of the Targaryens, the High Septon, and the Hand of the King, and also alarmed by the proliferation of Red Faith in the region. Though she had appreciated Lord Gwayne’s efforts, she believed his touch too soft to defend the interests of the truly faithful.

After reports of Warsmith activity in the Marches and the Weeping Town had spread across the region, Lady Ravella invited Lord Baratheon to attend a lordly gathering at Stonehelm that would discuss how best to stop the rebellion from spreading into the region. It had been Ravella’s hope that the Lord of Storm’s End would personally attend, but he instead sent a delegation led by his eldest son, Robar Baratheon, and his brother, the Castellan of Storm’s End, Davos Baratheon. As their party entered the passes that lead to Stonehelm, they were set upon by unknown assailants. The Baratheon party was slaughtered down to the last man, barring the two members of the House, whom their attackers returned to Ravella as prisoners.

Ravella had many great allies among her peers, chief among them Lord Byron Selmy, Lord Vortimer Caron, and Ser Lucas Dondarrion, the Lord of Blackhaven’s brother. It took little to sway them to her cause, and with their aid she was able to spread not only the Warsmith’s influence, but her own as well. By the close of 433 A.C., Ravella effectively controlled the entire southern half of Lord Baratheon’s domain. For his part, with his son and brother held prisoner, his response was initially muted. To his credit, however, he took a chance on the threats to his kinsmen’s lives and began to rally his forces to confront the Warsmiths.

There was a great deal of skirmishes across the Stormlands, and there were losses to be had on both sides. Ravella had focused on cementing her hold and rooting out the Red God’s followers. Blood ran down the streets of the Weeping Town and countless lives were lost in a series of impromptu trials held by the Warsmiths and their supporters. The uprising in the Stormlands did not reach a pitch, however, until midway through 434 A.C., when the Warsmiths grew emboldened by their unanswered successes.

Lady Ravella dispatched her eldest son, Ser Meryn Swann, to besiege Griffin’s Roost, the seat of House Connington. House Connington had been among the most prominent Red God supporters in the Stormlands, and so were natural targets of the emboldened Warsmiths. And emboldened they were, for the Lady of Griffin’s Roost was Gwayne’s sister, Argella. Such a risk paled in comparison, however, to the risk taken on by Ser Lucas Dondarrion, whose task it was to seize the royal estate of Summerhall.

Both men emerged triumphant from their missions. Ser Meryn, who commanded a vast force, was able to storm the fortified Roost, suffering no more losses than had been expected. Summerhall, in comparison, was a lightly fortified location that had been protected more by its status as a royal holding than anything else. Many regard the storming of Summerhall as having been the song that soured the dragon’s slumber, for it gave Rhaenyra and her allies all the cause they needed to spur King Rhaegar into action.

Within a fortnight of the Warsmiths’ occupation of Summerhall, Rhaegar’s eldest son, Aegon Targaryen, the Prince of Dragonstone, was dispatched to the Stormlands upon the great Viserion. He was joined by Laena Velaryon, Gwayne’s eldest, and her own dragon, Moonfyre, with a force from Massey’s Hook and half the Velaryon fleet. Their arrival was swift to Storm’s End, where Lord Baratheon, reinvigorated by the support of House Targaryen, had gathered an even larger force of his own. With newfound resolve, the combined host made their way south and began a fierce campaign to shatter the Warsmiths’ hold over the region, deliberately disregarding the risks to Lord Baratheon’s captured kin.

Fortune favored Gawyne, for he was able to overcome Ser Meryn’s defenses at Griffin’s Roost, wrest back the castle, and take Ravella’s eldest son captive. Seizing on the opportunity, Lord Gwayne was able to negotiate the exchange of his son for Ravella’s, for Ravella, in spite of her son’s capture, was not wiling to lay down her arms. While her initial treachery still hung foul in the air, the exchange was completed without complication, though not without warning. Ravella swore by the Father that if a dragon’s shadow ever fell upon her keep, she would return Gwayne’s brother to him in pieces.

What came after the hostage exchange was a long, arduous campaign that tested the mettle of all those involved. Viserion was the eldest and greatest dragon in the known world, and Moonfyre among the nimblest; even still, they were incapable of wholly protecting their riders and incapable of swiftly concluding the conflict. The Warsmiths adopted tactics similar to those employed by the Dornish during Aegon’s Conquest. There were few great battles and instead a series of small, calculated skirmishes.

In one such skirmish late in 434 A.C., a quarrel struck Prince Aegon in the shoulder. It proved to be a near fatal blow, with Aegon surviving solely by the grace of the army’s travelling maester. Rather than return to King’s Landing, however, Aegon remained in the south. After he had sufficiently recovered, he vindictively had Viserion set a section of the Rainwood ablaze, dislodging the Warsmiths from their hidden footholds and forcing a defensive retreat from the area. Victories continued as the Velaryon fleet secured the coast around Cape Wrath and as Lord Baratheon’s host expelled the Warsmiths from the Weeping Town.

By the dawn of 435 A.C., many of Ravella’s allies, including the Lords of Nightsong and Harvest Hall, had abandoned her. True to her word, when Moonfyre and Viserion were sighted beyond Stonehelm at the head of a great host, Lady Ravella ordered Ser Davos Baratheon drawn and quartered. She had his remains delivered to Lord Baratheon with the conditions of her surrender. Despite her sheer sense of defiance and zealousness, she did not wish to consign her men and smallfolk to certain immolation.

Ravella, along with a bevy of others, was taken into custody and brought at Prince Aegon’s insistence to the capital for trial. Several highborn rebels, such as Lord Vortimer and Lord Byron, were pardoned following the turning of their cloaks before Ravella’s surrender.

Rhaegar's Fall
After holding back the might of House Targaryen for a number of years, Rhaegar was finally driven to act. Midway through 434 A.C., a series of events forced his hand and the conflicts that plagued the Southron kingdoms of the realm forced a marked shift of policy. Even the Hand of the King, Lord Perceon, relented that the time had come, at last, to see the dragons of the royal dynasty take wing. Each of Rhaegar’s sons were dispatched from the capital, barring his youngest, Prince Daemon who remained in the capital along with Lady Visenya, Princess Naerys, and Prince Aerys Velaryon. Lord Perceon, given his position, should have accompanied the King to aid in the leading of his forces, but he was left behind to govern in his stead along with the rest of his Small Council.

By royal command the Golden Company marshaled beyond the walls of the city, and there Rhaegar, along with his eldest daughter by the late Queen, Princess Rhaenyra, led them south to war. For years, Rhaenyra had beseeched her father to act, often pointing out the cowardice House Targaryen conveyed by their ambivalence and delegation. It was only appropriate then that she accompany and aid the king in striking into the heart of the Second Hammer Uprising. Their host moved swiftly, but Rhaenyra would often act an eagle’s eye atop the back of the exquisite, magnificently scaled Silanax, whose beauty rivaled even that of Starfyre, who had long been lauded as the most elegant of dragons.

As they entered the reach the sight of the dragons and of the great company of men that moved in their shadows, spread news of their coming like wildfire. The conflict had been ongoing for some time, and a number of the smallfolk in the northern parts of the Reach had grown tired of the fires of war. This, complicated by the fact that dragons would once more make their influence known, saw the king’s host grow by the day as men and women alike rallied to his royal banner to herald him forth on his quest to lay low the Warsmiths and their vile rebellion.

Among those who joined the King’s Host was young Addam Hightower. He had been a captive of the Warsmiths for more than two years within the custody of Ser Duncan’s lieutenant, Ser Ryman Cuy. The young scion had always been an exceedingly clever boy, and his time with the Warsmiths had not been an altogether cruel experience. Ser Ryman had, at times, taken to tutoring the boy in the ways of the sword. Nevertheless, when the young man saw his opportunity he took it. During his attempt to flee he was intercepted by Ser Ryman, who he slew.

Whether by chance, or by fate, in his flight from his captors, Addam met up with the royal host and was even given an audience by the king. He had mistakenly fled North, rather than south, and so recounted his tale for the King and Princess Rhaenyra. King Rhaegar was deeply impressed by the boy’s ingenuity and natural skill. The king gathered his daughter, his officers and his lords and knighted the boy there and then. He was given the choice to be escorted to the capital, but despite his trials, his tribulations, the newly minted Ser Addam Hightower chose to remain with the host to serve the royals in the battles to come.

The first great stronghold held also happened to be of great strategic value. Bitterbridge had long acted as a haven for the Warsmiths and their followers thanks to the patronage of Lord Ormund Caswell, who had been among the first to give answer to Ser Duncan’s call to arms. It was here that the royal host first crossed swords with the enemy, and it is a battle that few would ever forget. In the face of dragons Lord Ormund knew holding up in their castle was ill advised, and so he elected to send a great force to meet them on the field.

This was seen as suicide by some, but Lord Ormund was not above sacrificing men to achieve a greater goal. Within the ranks of the army he had hidden a number of scorpions that he had commissioned, and he intended to use them to devastating effect. Only after the opposing armies were fully engaged and the dragons had taken wing were the scorpions employed. Deadly bolts littered the sky, as again and again, the soldiers sought to fell the beasts that embroiled their comrades in flames.

Midway through the battle, Nightwing’s scream tore through the air when a bolt, at last, found its mark. The swift, lithe dragon had directed her flames time and again at the deadly weapons as Rhaegar accepted the risk of neutering the enemy’s chance at resistance. The bolt had not only struck her wing, but in so doing had nicked the elaborate saddle. This coupled with the sudden need to descend unbalanced Rhaegar, and those below watched in horror as the king fell from the sky.

True to her heritage, Rhaenyra did not allow herself to fall in despair. Had she and those who had so faithfully followed the king done so, the battle could well have been lost. None could have survived that fall, all well knew, and so rather than retreat in misery, the host was fueled with an incandescent rage. Upon Silanax Rhaenyra was able to rally her father’s men and so the battle continued. Landed though she may have been Nightwing had torn through the enemy forces to stand as sentinel over the man who had been her companion for the entirety of both their lives.

In the end, the Royal Host had decimated Lord Ormund’s forces, and left little quarter in the taking of the town where they had fled when routed. Street by street a toll was exacted in payment for the death of their king, a toll that was to be paid in blood. The Lord of Bitterbridge had abandoned his people and fled. Rhaenyra could well have pursued him upon the back of her dragon, but in the end, she deemed such a pursuit to be unwise. Instead she took hold of the town, and the castle where she ordered all ravens but one to be slaughtered. The maester obliged her, and by her command sent a missive to Lady Aelora detailing her son’s presence within the Royal Host.

Nightwing had not pursued the shattered force, but instead remained standing over the king’s lifeless corpse. A day and night passed before she would permit even Rhaenyra to approach. It is said that two of the Silent Sisters lost their lives when they sought to extract the King’s body, so stricken was the dragon at the loss of her rider.

The battle at Bitterbridge had been King Rhaegar’s first engagement in the chaos that swept across his realm, and the last.

Aelora's Revenge
Upon the return of her son, Lord Arthur Hightower, early in 433 A.C., Lady Aelora had slowly but surely been wresting control of the Hightower away from the Warsmiths. She was a clever woman, whose stewardship had earned her much respect through the years of acting as regent after the death of her husband, Lord Leyton. Her moves were slow and methodical, as she was careful not to provoke the anger of Ser Duncan’s followers, or alert Ser Benedar Bulwer to her machinations. The taking of Addam had forced her capitulation, but Aelora had never been a woman to go quietly in the night.

Having tended that foundation for so long, Aelora set long laid plans into motion after she received word of Addam’s escape. She had been a woman of the Starry Faith, but even under the rule the Black Queen, whom she had abhorred, she had remained a loyal subject of the crown. The Warsmiths had judged rightly that, under no circumstances, would she have given them her support without the means of coercion they had resorted to.

The Warsmiths had been popular in Oldtown for a time, but their loyalty, in the end, rested with the great house that had heralded their great city through the ages. It was almost a simple thing then, when the Hightowers were free to stir from the tower that had been their prison for three long years, for the influence of Ser Benedar and Ser Jacelyn to be sundered. The very night after reading Rhaenyra’s missive, the City Watch turned on the Warsmiths. There was blood to be had, but it was not as terrible as it might have been. Ser Jacelyn was killed as he sought to resist being taken into custody, but seeing that the cause was hopeless, Ser Benedar willingly surrendered.

Lady Aelora intended to see Ser Benedar and the other ringleaders who had remained behind in Oldtown executed, but Lord Arthur stayed her hand. Such a swift trial and execution was a mercy far too great for the once wardens of House Hightower. He predicted that after so many years of conflict the crown’s justiciars would grow rabid in their quest for justice. A process that would be long, arduous, and painful for all involved.

In expelling the Warsmiths from Oldtown, their power base in the southern Reach was shattered. After full control of the city had been restored to House Hightower, Lord Arthur departed the city with a sizable force to scour their lands for remaining pockets of Ser Duncan’s followers

Queen's Gambit
Rhaenyra Targaryen set off from Bitterbridge with a detachment of six-thousand soldiers, all drawn from the ranks of the Golden Company. The remainder of the Royal Host was left to defend Bitterbridge and ensure that supply lines were intact. By this time the Warsmiths were hard pressed. They had suffered a number of defeats in the Northmarch, and after their expulsion from Oldtown, were beset on all sides. Nevertheless, Ser Duncan Hammer remained at large, and after the death of King Rhaegar his ranks had grew. He was even able to retain some of his noble allies, such as Lord Joseth Ashford, convincing them that with King having fallen, his daughter could be dealt with, and thereafter the Warsmiths could regain the ground they had lost.

To some it may have seemed that the great knight thought little of Rhaenyra’s skill, but in truth he had organized parties to harry and shepherd her to the town of Ashford, which remained a stout, defensible stronghold. Rhaenyra had spent her life preparing for the fields of war and had no intention of relying upon brute force to achieve her goals. On her march she made a series of calculated mistakes that any amateur leader of men could have made, in order to lure Ser Duncan into a sense of security. A feat in which she found some manner of success.

The Warsmiths engaged Rhaenyra’s host in a number of small skirmishes on her march to Ashford, and though some of these raids found a measure of success, her losses were carefully minimized.

It became apparent that Ser Duncan’s force was greater than even the reports had said when Ashford, at last, came into view. Nevertheless, Rhaenyra, who had since been hailed as queen upon the battlefield by virtue of being the wife of Rhaegar’s natural successor, had long since committed to her course of action and so set her gambit into motion. She had intention of storming Ser Duncan quickly, and her father’s fall kept her, at least at first, from soaring into the sky. Under the cover of darkness, on the eve of the battle, Rhaenyra dispatched a sizeable force of men, all of whom had been organized into squads, with orders to infiltrate the city and lay the groundwork for its capture.

The following day Rhaenyra had rallied her forces and begun her march to the city. As she suspected, Ser Duncan’s force moved to cut off her advance and shortly thereafter the battle had begun. The Golden Company was outnumbered by five men to one, but they were the greatest fighting force in all of Westeros. Their task was a simple one, they were to entrench themselves in pitched battle with the Warsmiths’ army and endure until reinforcements could arrive. For after departing Bitterbridge, Rhaenyra had sent a rider to instruct aid from Lord Gareth Tyrell who had recently returned from a successful campaign with his uncle, Lord Rowan, in the Northmarch.

Lord Gareth heeded her call, and much to Ser Duncan’s surprise, the Warsmiths’ Host found themselves pressed upon both sides. It was only then that Rhaenyra to the skies, and Silanax’s gilded flames wrought havoc upon her enemies. At the sighting of Lord Tyrell’s army, Lord Ashford raised a flag of surrender, and sometime afterward, sent a portion of his garrison to aid Rhaenyra’s operatives in culling the Warsmiths from the fortified town. The men of the Golden Company had been hard-pressed, and despite the perceived competence of Rhaenyra Targaryen, their morale had begun to erode. With the coming of their allies, however, they fought with renewed vigor and it became apparent that Ser Duncan’s greatest army would fall.

Rather than lay down his arms, and seeing his men surrender to await the gallows, Ser Duncan Hammer stayed true to his namesake and fought ever on. He raised his standard high and put himself in the thick of the battle. Beyond being a charismatic figure, he was a powerfully built man and did not hide behind his men in reserve. Bold as he was, when at last Rhaenyra descended, he issued a challenge to the queen. A challenge that she accepted, and so wielding the Valyrian steel blade, Dark Sister, she became locked in a fearsome duel with the man who had been a firebrand of war.

It was a fierce contest, but like Ser Duncan, she was well versed in the ways of the sword. There was a certain finesse to her dance with the blade. Ser Duncan, by contrast, wielded a great hammer, relying upon greater size and strength. The duel was a long one, and near its conclusion Ser Duncan shattered Rhaenyra’s shield arm. In the histories it is said that Rhaenyra refused to succumb to the sickening pain and proceeded to overcome Ser Duncan. It is true that, in the end, it was Rhaenyra’s blade that was lodged into his chest, but this was not a feast she accomplished alone.

When Rhaenyra fell before Ser Duncan’s blade, he was taken from behind by none other than Ser Addam Hightower, whom had once been captured by his command. With the battle as it was this was an act that was witnessed by few, and so there were very few who ever became aware of Addam’s timely interference.

The Warsmiths’ army was thoroughly routed shortly after Ser Duncan’s death. Ashford was taken, and in essence, the uprising ended with the hero that had forged their ranks. The battle outside of Ashford was among the bloodiest and marked as the last true clash of the Second Hammer Uprising. Afterward the loyalists made short work of the Warsmiths’ remnants, and Rhaenyra was honored as one of the greatest heroes of the war.

Aftermath
The Second Hammer Uprising marked the beginning and end of the period known as the Bleeding. Conflicts had reigned south of the Neck, and there few left untouched. Even the blood of the dragon had been drawn, and the death of King Rhaegar II shocked the realm. The royals gathered in King’s Landing to lay the embattled man to rest in the same fashion as those that had come before. He laid in state before the Iron Throne before being set upon his pyre in front of the Great Sept of Baelor. Some within the court had argued he should have been taken to Dragonstone, as his mother had been, but in the end, they struck a compromise. Born as he may have been on the isle, King’s Landing had ever been his home.

Only days after observing the king’s pyre, as was custom, grief turned to celebration as the city prepared for the coronation of Aegon and his queens. It was an elaborate affair and utilized to bring an air of joy back to the city. For fourteen days and nights there were feats, entertainments and other such affects of celebration. King Aegon VII Targaryen was crowned in the Great Hall of the Red Keep by the High Septon during the Eleventh Moon of 435 A.C. The following day Aegon crowned both his queens, beginning with the battered Rhaenyra, an honor that was hers by right.

The coronations were a welcomed respite for the capital, but across the realm royal agents had been preparing for a series of reprisals that were to take place in the wake of the varied conflict, most particularly the Second Hammer Uprising. The Seven Kingdoms had first mourned their king, then celebrated his successor, and now the time had come for them to express their rage through the cold facet of justice.

The Queens’ Justice and the Judgment of a King
In the days that led up to the coronation of Aegon VII, as was often the case during a transition from one reign to the next, intrigues ran rampant within the walls of the Red Keep. Small Councilors sought to secure their positions, and so seek favor of the new king or his queens. Rhaenyra in particular, enjoyed a surge of influence during this period. She was haled as the single greatest hero of the Second Hammer Uprising, and her duel with Ser Duncan Hammer was swift becoming a thing of legend. Never before had the strident, exacting first wife enjoyed such popularity within and without the court. The smallfolk cheered when her procession made its way through the city, and their voices were collectively raised in prayer in the hopes that she would make a swift recovery from the wounds she had endured within the theatre of war.

The newly minted Queen took heed of this popularity and wielded it as she did the Valyrain steel sword Dark Sister. There was much she might have accomplished in those days, but she knew well the dangers of allowing her reach to grow beyond her grasp. Thus, her attentions came to focus upon the Hand of the King. Lord Perceon Vance had been a fixture of the court since the final years of King Aenar’s reign. He was, without doubt, the eldest of statesman within the realm, who had served ably. Nevertheless, this reputation proved insufficient to withstand the ire of the senior queen.

To Rhaenyra’s mind, Perceon was to blame for the length of the conflict, and thus, for her father’s death. Had they assailed the Warsmiths sooner, she reasoned, their position would not have been quite as strong as it was when the dragons had at last been given to stir. Such was the force of her argument that even the support of Visenya could not hold back the tide. Aegon’s first act as king was to remove Lord Perceon from the Small Council. There were toxic whispers that suggested he could have been a silent patron of Ser Duncan, but this was regarded as little more than idle gossip. Sundered as he was from the power he had enjoyed for little more than three decades, Lord Perceon Vance departed the capital and returned to Harrenhal.

The returning armies of House Targaryen had been accompanied by a train of prisoners, and other persons of interest, who were all destined to be tried before the king. Many of Ser Duncan’s lieutenants had died in battle, and a few, such as Ser Maric Vypren, had seemed to vanish. Nevertheless, there were a number of high profile figures that were summoned to the capital to face the king’s judgment. Chief among them his old rival and enemy, Lady Ravella Swann.

Trials were held in King’s Landing, and in many cases, Aegon VII empowered his justiciars to act as magistrates for those of lesser status who had been brought to King’s Landing. He personally oversaw others, however, with both of his queens sitting at his side. During these trials the key differences between the two women were highlighted again and again. Rhaenyra was a cold scion of justice, who believed only harsh punishment would serve to dissuade future such rebellions and acts of treachery. Visenya on the other hand, counseled her husband to curate instances of mercy to convey the magnanimity of the crown.

The push and pull of these modes were prevalent within all that came forward. Given Visenya’s timidity following the failure, more often than not, at least in this period, it was to Rhaenyra that Aegon often turned. Nevertheless, in some instances the Silvermoon prevailed. This was most poignant when it came time to pass sentence upon Lady Ravella and her sons. Through Visenya’s insistence, Lady Ravella’s youngest son, whom had not taken part in the upheavals in the Stormlands, was spared both execution and revocation of his inheritance. Her eldest sons had been sentenced to death. They were as guilty of treason as their mother, and in this, all agreed.

Their executions, however, would be private and bloodless. On the matter of Lady Ravella, however, Aegon would not yield. During the conflict a personal enmity had swelled within him in her regard, and despite the sympathetic figure she had cut among certain quarters of his subjects, he insisted that she would be beheaded beneath the cold eyes of Baelor the Blessed before the Great Sept. Ravella’s tongue had been removed through the course of her interrogations, and so enterprising bards began to sing the song of Ravella’s Lament, a song that was popular in select taverns and brewhouses throughout the realm.

Ultimately execution was reserved for the ring leaders of the wide spread insurrection. Many of the nobly born were pardoned, and those who were neither pardoned nor executed were sent north to the Wall.

The Highgarden Tribunal
A series of tribunals had been set up throughout the realm, but none of these tribunals were quite as poignant or as long lasting as the one that was held within the idyllic holding of House Tyrell. By all accounts it lasted more than three moons and involved dozens of trials of those of both the nobility and smallfolk. Its panel consisted of five men of sufficient and influential status. Overseeing the affair was the Master of Laws, Prince Aerys Velaryon, who acted as the royal advocate amongst the magistrates. The other four were all of the Reach. Among them was Lord Gareth Tyrell of Highgarden, Lord Arthur Hightower of Oldtown, Lord Reynard Rowan of Goldengrove, and Septon Mallador of the Starry Sept, whom had replaced the Starry Septon sometime before despite never having been associated with the Warsmiths.

The proceedings were long and arduous, but more often than not the five men came to agreement upon all who came to stand before them. Men from across the Reach made their way to Highgarden to present evidence against the Warsmiths and their sympathizers. Many of those accusations with merit, but so too were there those made out of expediency. In the early days, the Tribunal erred on the side of caution, and so condemned scores of men to execution, exile, or the Wall.

During the course of the tribunal the crown’s justiciars within the region had been on an exhaustive search for Lord Ormund Caswell, who had abandoned Bitterbridge after King Rhaegar’s fall from the sky. Midway through they were able to apprehend him, and rather than ferry him to the capital, Lord Caswell was brought to Highgarden on the orders of Prince Aerys. This gave some pause, for everyone had expected that King Aegon VII would be the one to pass judgment upon the man who had ordered his men to assault the Royal Host, but in the end, they did as they were bid, and ferried Lord Ormund where the tribunal awaited him.

Many of the highborn sympathizers were pardoned, as in truth, the majority of Ser Duncan Hammer’s lieutenants had fallen in battle. Others, as was in the case in the capital and elsewhere, were sent to the Wall. Only four men of significant stature were ordered to be executed by the tribunal. Among these men were Lord Ormund Caswell, Ser Benedar Bulwer, Ser Randyll Fossoway, and the maester who once tended the Hightower, Lucamore.