As the royal entourage crossed the stormlands, and into the vine lands the change of air was felt, as well as the mood of the travelers, the sun was not something frequently seen in their country, and now clear blue skies greeted them at every turning point, Lord Seaborn seemed rather glad for this assignment, preferring to journery on land than sail two months on sea, some said he was afriad of the sea others said he had gets violently sick at sea, be that as it may Lord Seaborn was good at his job and for years he had made sure that the stormlands had prospered, chanelling their resources into providing portable drinking water for their small folks as well as a steady and cheap supply of bread and meat, with the ten and five years of peace ushered by King Cormac the storm folks where fatter and happier than ever before, "Peharps I shall see the light towers of Vines port, heard the fire burns all day and night, endlessly" uttered Lord Seaborn, despite being of noble birth Oscar Seaborn had never left the stormlands all his life and this was the first time he ventured out of the stormlands, "Every day and night? How is that even possible?" replied Ser Korac, a member of the royal family guard, sent along side Lord Seaborn "I can not say for sure" replied Lord Seaborn "Mayhaps its magic" joked Lady Mertyns, foremost diplomat of House Thoren, prompting a burst of laugh from the entoruage.
Lord Seaborn arrived at Moonstone Keep a fortnight later and is said to have been strucked by its beauty and elegance,speanding two days in its gardens before finally addressing the King of the reason for his sudden visit, king Ryker had warmly welcomed him and had given he and his entoruage two days of rest before seeing them, "Ours is a friendship that have lasted for a century, and would last till the ends of time" King Ryker had said that evening when Lord Seaborn and his travelling companions where given audience by the king, "Thank you for your hospitality your grace, we are grateful for welcoming us into your home, please accept this little gift from our king his grace, as a symbol of his graitude and thamks" Lady Mertyns said, as she handed king Ryker a box filled with coral pearls, very rare and expensive, "The seventh fleet sails to Oldborn islands your grace, as an effort to strenghten your intrest and safe guard your waters" Lord Seaborn said, "I am beyond grateful to my friend king Cormac for all his thoughtful gift and present, how can I be of assistance to the stormlord?" king Ryker had asked, "As your grace is well aware, the triplets were stolen from us years ago and grieve and mourning hindered our desire to take it back, but now his grace has ordered the blockade of those islands as he seeks to starve the foreign criminals occupying our islands, and he is requesting your aide in the doubling of grains and meat as we seek to begin a military campaign agaisnt the so called mountain kings and we are also requesting the tempoary halt of shipments going to the mountains as a blockade would be moving into place in the coming days" King Ryker thought for a minute, stopping trade to the mountains would not have any major push back and would not cause any significant damage to its trade and revenue and doubling the grain and meat supplies to the stormland seemed like an easy trade for twenty and five ships, "Alright then my Lords and Lady, it will be as my friend desires, but I also have one request, that the seventh fleet fight if war was to break out with those golden smug bastards of the west", "As you wish your grace", Lord Seaborn had replied.
The sudden apperance of House Thoren warships at Oldborn islands rattled the nerves of King Marcellus Aurum, king of Aurum Terra, an aclaimed wise and just ruler, King Marcellus had acended the throne at only eight years and had ruled for over twenty and four years, and although he had focused on expanding trade with the northern kingdom and Tesria, west of Tenria, King Marcellus council had warned of the rising strength of their age long enemies the Vine kings, ignoring calls from his brother by law, Lord Jasper to move into the two sisters and start a war with the Vine kings, King Marcellus decided to reign in peace and ignore the Vine lands, peharps he thought if he left them alone, they would in turn ignore him to, but with the coming of House Thoren fleet, they no longer controlled the western sea and their edge over the Vine kings at sea seemed to have been destroyed completely, and as his consellors feared that they might seize the twins bringing them closer to Larkspur, the largest port city and commercial heartbeat of the country, "Should we begin readying the army your grace?" asked Lord Jasper Merigold, "We must be ready to meet this threat both on land and at sea, we can send an envoy to Pentrish requesting its assistance with some warships to help in the case of a war" Lord Argus Argentum said, whose castle, Larkspur, was more vunerable than any, "Your grace, we need to deploy the third and fourth armies to the border with the Vine lands, showing rediness to meet this threat, I believe if we remind those grape picking, boy loving, so called kings of the true strenght of the westernlands, they would be forced to reconsider any sort of military campaign at sea", said Ser Baron Flintforge, commander of the royal army, "The commander is right your grace, if we remind them of the true nature of our strenght and might, they would be forced to reconsider any foul idea of any form of military campaign at sea" replied Lord Merigold, King Marcellus was visibly perplexed and unsure of what to say or do, having never fought a single battle all his life the king was a babe in the art of warfare and strategies, "Lord Argentum" the king finally spoke, "how large is our fleet?", "About one hundred and fifty ships your grace", "Is that enough to meet the Vine and Storm kings in open warfare?", "From all indications your grace, the Thorens seemed to have sent only its seventh fleet, but we suspect there are more to come, and if they do, and with the combined naval might of the Vine kings, I doubt it would be possible to deal with them your grace", replied Lord Argentum, "Hmmm" was the kings only reply, seeing the uncertainty on the kings face, Lord Fabius Flintforge, the kings first hand asked him not to bother about how to respond to this new threat but to leave the planning of the defense of Aurum Terra to his council, an invitation Marcellus quickly took, excusing himself from the council and leaving the preparation for the defense of his kingdom to his first hand and members of his council, "Ser Baron, how quickly can you ready the army for the march to the borders with the Vine lands?", "In less than a week my lord" replied the young commander, "Begin preparations, and begin the conscpriting we must begin preparation for a protracted war, send an envoy to the Pentrish, Lord Argentum, let us see what good would come from the pact made with them" Lord Flintforge had said.
The journey made by Lord Seaborn had proved fruitful for before he had departed the Vine lands, shipments of all grains and produce initially sent to the mountains had been rerouted to the Dunes, Riverlands and the Stormlands, the Riverlords seeing the increase in their supply all but tripled the cost of the grains to the Mountains and up North, while the first, third and fourth fleet seized any vessel big or small making its way to the islands the second, fifth and sixth navy stayed at open sea detering movement of vessels from the Mountain ports, their prescence at sea also detered any movement from the mountains navy, and with the recent halt of supplies from the Vine lands and tripling of prices of grains by the river lords, the mountain king was all but cut off from trade with the rest of the continent, "They would sooner starve us to death, whilst we sit here waiting for them to make the first move, and now, those fish loving smugs are refusing to lower the prices of grains, our merchandise rot in the ports because my able admiral and first hand are scared of losing their precious fucking ships!!!" King Thayer yelled at his council, "Are we to stay idle while our people starve to death? , Are we?!!!!" yelled again the King, "I have had enough of this charade and foolishness, my people starve and my ships stay put at harbour because we are too scared to lose them", "We must thread carefully your Highness….." Lord Vorgath had said " Fuck that, Lord Arkon ready the navy and leave as much as you can spare for the defence of our shores, Ser Fregborn, begin readying the knights and the army, and as for you Lord Vorgath you are to journey to the Riverlands and treat with those fish loving bastards, to see if a concession can be made about the prices of grain and see if its flow can be doubled, Lord Arkon I want your ships at sea as soon as possible, I am tired of this nonsense of a blockade" King Thayer roared commands to his council, war was looming and they were outmatched more than ever, as each of his counsellors left the council halls, moving to obey the commands of their king.
House Kyre, the mountain kings had ruled over the rugged peaks and valleys of the Dragon Teeth mountains for generations, founded by the legendary Arin the Unyielding, who was said to have united all the warring houses and clans of the mountains under his iron fist, House Kyre has ever since then been synonymous to strength and resilience. Throughout its history, the mountain kings expanded their domains forging a strategic alliance and conquering neighbouring territories until they became the powerful house they were, Queen Lirien II was perhaps the most ambitious of House Kyre rulers, expanding the house domain to the shores of the eastern narrow sea and even brokered a peace treaty that saw to years of peace with their only neighbour securing the River-Kyre trade route, however, this high mountain king was not without turmoil, the devastating war of the depths, a civil war between a prince and his uncle for the crown tore the mountains in two and for seven years clan slaughtered clan and houses vying for dominance slaughtered each other, in the end, King Thayer III, the rebuilder, restored stability and ushered in a golden age of prosperity and cultural flourishing.
The interesting thing about House Kyre is the assumption that the history of the Dragon Teeth Mountains started with their conquest, a fool handy thing to assume. The men of the mountains were never like the rest of the continents, from their pale skin to bright red eyes and golden silver hair, magic was said to have been practised in this rugged terrain and dragons were said to have roamed its skies, the lost city of Eldarath and histories of old, magical royal houses, of which their descendants still live in the mountain islands, House Nyxoria, had always claimed to be from such royalty, and when they were finally forced to bend the kneel to King Arin, it was said the king terrified of what he saw their men do on the field outlawed any form of magic from his realm, the twist of this is that the entire lands of the dragon teeth mountains are filled with magic, as some would claim, but diamond is all that is found in these rugged unforgiving lands, mayhaps one day we would witness the rise of magic again, mayhaps it is all a story they tell themselves to account for their ungodly appearances.
"He is making a mistake" said Ser Fregborn to the first hand as they left the council halls, "Then tell him or hold your tongue" Lord Arkon told the young knight, "He is right, we can not remain idle as we watch those Thoren salt licking bastards take our islands and starve us all to death I would rather die killing them, than die from been starved" the bold admiral had said,"The ships at the habour would be ready soon, I would sail to meet this Thoren threat myself" the bold admiral said, " We need that supply and those gready riverlords would do anything to put us in a chockehold to destroy us", "We can not afford a conflict on sea and land, we do not have the numbers and the resources, but his highness does not see things this way, he is blinded by the zeal and hotheadedness of youth, he fails to see the bigger picture" Lord Vorgath said "And what is that my good lord" retorted Admiral Arkon, "You all might have forgotten the last time we went to war with the Stormlords, they destroyed our navy in three battles, THREE!!,do you think there would be any difference now? The only reason we won was due to the death of their crown prince, if all their attention is on the triplets we would never win not on sea and definetly not on the islands, their attention needs to be divided, and the western sea is one of our chances of diverting their attention, we could also hire pirates to raid the shores of Dune as navies of Thoren, without a divided navy, we can not possibly win any conflict with the Stormlords, this is the picture he fails to see" Lord Vorgath said his fruastration clearly heard, he had served on the triplets over twenty years ago and saw first hand how deadly and ferocious the Stormlanders can be when motivated and led by capable officers, but now the king wishes to plunge the entire realm into war because of his lack of patience, mayhaps he would treat with the king later in the evening to make him see his point of view, with a divided navy the Thorens can not possible fight on three fronts especially if the Desert kings are to engage them both on land and sea, and with growing tensions in the western narrow sea, and reports that the crown prince had been seen in the waters of the Vine land , war between the Auric kings and the Vine kings must be looming, if he can only persuade the king to show restrain and not go to war just yet, but the King would not listen to the words of Lord Vorgath, he even declared to lead the expedition on sea agaisnt the Thorens if need be, "We would destroy them" he had said, it would be to late for him to notice what he had done, and by the time he did, the entire continent would be at war.
Lord Vorgath rode his horse faster, prefereing to ride rather than travel in the royal carriage, moving faster with his royal guards escorting him, he had crossed into the riverlands only two nights ago, and was already four days ride from Riverhollow, sit of House Lyrax, journeying through the heartland of a strange country, drawing attention to himself, "What kind of creature has skin as pale as that?" the small folks had said at every spot they stopped on their journey, words got to the King Kem, who had ordered a royal escort to meet the envoy of house Kyre, but Lord Vogarth had prefered to ride to Riverhollow getting to the castle before the third day, exhuasted and tired from the long ride, Lord Vorgath had retired to bed, to rest and gather his strenght, but the good Lord never woke up, he was found dead the following morning when the gaurds burst into his chambers, panic set in the halls of the keep as all who had attended to the Lord were arreseted and questioned but by the time the maesters discovered the cause of his death, his body was swollen and had bursted, river worms, had taken the life of the most important person in the royal council of the mountain king and King Kem was visibly unsure of what to do, quickly he had arranged for the transport of the Lords body back to his country with a royal escort along with the rest of his envoy, but none of them would ever see the mountains, as three out of the five royal gaurds would die from the same cause before the body of Lord Vorgath was ready for transport back to the mountains, and by the time message got to Moonstone about the death of his first hand and his royal gaurds King Thayer had sworn a harsh oath refusing to believe the reports and cause of his trusted advisers death , blinded by grief and anger he had declared that until every member of House Lyrax was dead, and their castle and kingdom on fire, he would not rest.
Twenty thousand men alongside two thousand knights descended from the golden plains of Aurum Terra onto the Wysteria forest on the borders with the Vine lands a week later, their apperance not surprising and anticipated, the Vine men had being moving its soldiers along the borders also, with the commander of the army Ser Baron leading the royal host, the castles and lands of Houses Sunstone, Goldencrest, Goldenhaven, bordered the Vine lands, each Houses gatherring its strenght to meet the royal army, Lord Sunstone rallied about one thousand men at arms and about smne hundred knights, Lord Goldencrest rallied about three thousand men at arms and seven hundred knights riding to Goldbridge, a garrison castle closest to the Vine lands, Lord Goldenhaven musttered about a thousand five hundred men at arms and about two hundred kinghts, Ser Baron divided his army into three sending each one to Sunedge and OldHaven manor with Lady Scarlet Emberfell commanding the host that marched to Oldhaven, while he rode with the largest host to goldbridge to join his forces with Lord Goldencrest, at about the same time Lord Flintforge gathered the royal navy to sail south to Larkspur to meet up with the war galleries of House Argentum. As Aurum Terra readied for war, so did the kings of the Vine.
Prince Ronan burst into the chambers of his commander and cousin, Prince Jamac, with dire news from Moonstone, the Aurics had assembled their navy and were now sailing into the shores of the sisters, stunned by the swiftness of their response, Prince Jamac ordered the immediate sail from Oldborn to meet the Aurics, the navy of the Vine lands had been reported to be sailing to the sisters as well to meet the Aurics, and if they could join their allies on time, they would overwhelm the Auric fleet.
The Wysteria forrest is the largest in Tenria, spanning the Riverlands, Vine lands and the Westernlands, it had always served as a buffer between the Vine lands and westernlands and had witness all their wars, for many young men and women are buried under her trees and beneath its soil, and now the Vine soliders encamped within it, the lands and domains of Houses Hilltop, Nightshade and Silvermist bordered the westernlands, and they had rallied their forces to aide the royal armies, which where slipt into three, with Ser Barain of Emberwood commanding the royal army northern flank in the lands of Lord Silvermist, Lord Krain Cregan, commanding the royal army at the southern flank in House Hilltop lands, while Lord Vinecrest the first hand of King Ryker IV led the royal armies center at the holdings of house Nightshade, it was said that the total host of the royal armies plus those of the lords had amounted to twenty four thousand men with nearly four thousand knights, a large host by all accounts.
The hatred that the Vinelanders have towards the Auric kings was not born out of mere expansion or for control of the western trade , but the sacking of Moonstone and the destruction of the temples of the gods of the Vine lands, for as the maesters had recorded in their annals, the year the Auric's sacked this majestic city, the armies of the Auric kings had been led by Lord Ravenswood Sunstone, after decimating the fleets of the Vine lands, the western men laid seige on Moonstone, and for more than four months the defenders of the city fought with their all , but in the twenty second day of the fifth month, the walls of Moonstone were breached, and in poured the westerners killing, maiming and raping, not even the temples were spared, for they put the priest to the sword and sacked the temple carting away with sacred artifacts, its priestess raped and killed, not even the castle was spared for they burnt down the walls and put the king to the sword, by the time they withdrew from the city, the streets turned crimson from the blood of men, women and children had also turned the narrow strait red, the Vine kings did pay back in kind for just four years after the sacking of Moonstone, Aurum Terra was thrown into chaos and mourning, with the murder of the crown prince and his brothers, the alliance forged with House Thoren had prevented the Aurics from landing once more at the bay of the narrow strait, preventing a second sacking of Moonstone, and so the seeds of hatred were sown, spanning generations and unending bickering of constant war with each other.