Knights of the Cardboard Castle

The war begins with Lord Paramount Edmure Tully, Lord Paramount Mace Tyrell, our own Doran Martell and some other lesser lords supporting Princess Daenery Targaryen’s claim to the Iron Throne. Supporting King Steffon are mainly Lord Paramount Eddard Stark and Lord Paramount Renly Baratheon. At first we were displeased with Lord Edmure for not allowing us more time to discredit King Steffon’s claim to the throne. But it turns out to be fortuitous because less than one month after the commencement of hostilities, King Steffon passes away of illness. His heir Prince Gulian is a much more palatable candidate to most of the realm.

Dorne calls all of its spears of course and march our forces to the Stormlands as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this takes months given how far Sunspear is, near the extreme southern end of Westeros. Our forces are split into two. One is a leading force comprising those of our vassals nearest the Stormlands, led by the so-called Sand sisters, the daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell. The other is a second force out of Sunspear led by Prince Doran Martell himself. In the meantime, House Tully and House Tyrell has already engaged House Baratheon, while House Lannister has mustered its own forces and joined in on the side of Prince Gulian. We are fortunate that House Stark has an even greater distance to cover than us.

Our first battle isn’t actually fought until April 295 when our leading force of about 12,000 soldiers engage with an army of House Baratheon numbering 17,000 soldiers at Nightsong, just north of Prince’s Pass which leads out of Dorne. Though outnumbered, the Sand sisters are able to tie down the Stormlanders until Prince Doran arrives. The Stormlands receive reinforcements as well but we achieve a decisive victory.

Then we move northwards, destroying smaller pockets of Baratheon forces along the way, until we join up with the forces of House Tyrell to defeat the massed army of House Lannister. Lord Paramount Tywin Lannister leads his army personally and at one point we cross swords. We hope that we might actually kill or capture him but he succeeds in slipping away. We are fortunate that with deaths of Lord Kevan Lannister, Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch, House Lannister has already been deprived of some of its best generals. Still, Prince Doran distinguishes himself on the field of battle, which is cause for celebration.

House Tully, together with the forces of other lesser lords, is able to delay the leading forces of House Stark. We are fortunate that the greater part of the Stark host, led by Lord Paramount Eddard Stark himself, takes too long to arrive, giving time for the surviving Martell and Tyrell forces to seize control of King’s Landing and imprison Prince Gulian. With the the capital and the prince in our hands, the war is soon over.

It was a comparatively short war, with the bulk of the fighting taking place over the duration of a year, though there were too many battles involving too many different forces to give a full account of it. Near the end, many of the lesser lords joined in on the side of Princess Daenerys’ claim. House Stark was one of the losers but their forces were relatively unblooded. House Greyjoy and House Arryn chose not to participate at all. House Tyrell, Lannister, Martell and especially Baratheon suffered heavy losses. At one point in 295, Lord Stannis Baratheon was killed in the fighting but it was not in any battle that involved House Martell.

The newly crowned Queen Daenerys Targaryen is suitably grateful, especially since she is bequeathed to Quentyn Martell. Prince Doran Martell is named Hand of the King, Castellan of King’s Landing and serves as Regent to the queen as she is not yet of age. Upon our advice, Lord Eddard Stark is appointed Master-at-Arms of the Iron Throne and given other honorary titles besides to help ensure his loyalty. Prince Doran Martell also decides to do what he must. He proposes a matrilineal marriage between Arianne Martell and Jon Snow. Snow may be a bastard but his father appears to care deeply for him and as a bastard the Starks would consent to release him to a matrilineal marriage, which they would never do for Robb Stark, the heir of Winterfell. Lord Eddard accepts the offer of office at King’s Landing and the betrothal. The crown also arranges for honorary titles to given to Lord Paramount Harold Arryn of the Vale but the child appears indifferent and preoccupied with the internal affairs of The Eyrie.

But we are not the only ones who know that the war is not really over yet and the restored Targaryen royal line is still insecure. Though queen, Queen Daenerys controls only the Red Keep. Even if he is now nominally her vassal and imprisoned besides, Prince Gulian still holds the Lordship of King’s Landing, plus a couple of other lordly titles. Furthermore, though the realm hated King Steffon, they aren’t liking Queen Targaryen either. Over in the Westerlands, we receive the news that Lord Tywin Lannister has married Lady Margaery Tyrell, the 14 year old daughter of Lord Mace Tyrell. We also hear rumblings about factions forming to support two different candidates for the throne, Prince Gulian and the bastard-born Mya Stone, who currently resides in the Tully Riverlands.

But for now we have crowned Queen Daenerys Targaryen and we congratulate ourselves for a job well done.