War in the South

300 AC, Pentos…

Gerold woke up to the sun shining on his face through the window. He stretched his arms and legs while still lying on his bed. He did not want to leave his warm bed as, despite the sun, the weather was a bit chilly. Nevertheless, he left the bed and went to his table. He washed his face with fresh water in the bowl. He had this habit since his time on Earth so every morning a maid was bringing him fresh water.

He left his room and went down the hall, towards the great hall to break his fast. Maids were already running in the palace with boiled snake eggs, human milk and many other things to prepare his breakfast. Maybe it was too much for only one man but he liked the variety at his breakfast.

When he entered the great hall, there were already two other occupants in it. Trios was on a chair gobbling up all he could take on his hands and Kobo was eating a big chunk of raw meat at the far end of the table.

Gerold sighed seeing two of them acting so savagely. He could understand Kobo as he was an animal, literally. However, Trios was a real god and his actions were unbecoming of him.

"Oii, Gerold, come, come! These sausages are amazing!" Trios gulped down the sausage in his mouth and shouted to Gerold.

"Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh!!!" Kobo also made sounds while waving the raw meat in his hands.

Gerold smiled at Kobo and went to the head seat. He broke his fast while talking to Trios about his plans. They were already sending soldiers in small groups into the coalition lands. Braavos was in chaos as most of the high-ups were killed because of their suicide attack. Chaos was reigning the city since the attack as rich and poor were clamouring to become the Sea Lord.

Gerold could feel his hands grasping every Free City in the Western Essos as they were going to fall one by one. Their coalition was based on weak foundations and greed was their biggest obstacle which they couldn't get rid of. He didn't even need to do anything as they were slowly yielding due to the pressure coming from him.

Free Cities were governed mainly by merchants, except for Norvos and they needed trade to survive. Their southern trade routes were already cut because of the blockage put by the Prophet. However, their northern trade routes were also cut due to Gerold's recent activities in the Ibben. Thus, all Free Cities which were in the coalition were in chaos as their only monetary source was cut.

Meanwhile, in Westeros, things were getting ugly as Lannisters and Baratheons were at each other's throats. While Starks fought the wildlings in the North, the South was a hotpot.

Though Renly Baratheon was at great odds at the beginning of the war, he split his forces into too many parts and this thinned his men's power. Amongst his ten thousand men besieging his brother in the Storm's End, there were many houses from the Stormlands. In a timely betrayal during the siege, Stannis rallied his troops out of the gates and defeated them with little losses. He even gained more men then he lost as many joined him after the battle. Of course, the biggest boon to his cause was the capture of siege commander, Mace Tyrell.

Renly's attempt to joke with his brother cost greatly to his cause as his father-in-law and biggest supporter was caught by his rival claimant. However, his losses were not only due to Stannis as Lannisters dealt him the biggest blow.

Upon hearing about the news of raids at Westerlands, Tywin Lannister sent the bulk of his army back to his lands to face the Tyrell army. Though he knew that he couldn't win even against the seventy thousand strong Tyrell and Baratheon army so his target became the commanders instead of the army.

Every day a news assassination was happening amongst Renly's forces as Tywin was stripping them of their skilful commanders, though he would never admit that it was his money that bought them. The biggest blow came when Randyll Tarly died due to his poisoned horse. His horse collapsed onto him while he was riding it and all of his bones on his chest were broken and he died in an instant.

Though Renly was a charismatic leader, his skill in commanding armies was poor. The victories won by his commanders against Tywin's forces at the beginning of the war became meaningless with the death of said commanders. His army fell in a lump against Lannister forces and he suffered great losses so he retreated to Highgarden.

On the night of King Renly's retreat to Highgarden, Loras Tyrell was locked to his own room and Baratheon forces camping outside the castle was slaughtered to the last men. King Renly was captured on the grounds of sodomy and breaking of sacred marriage vows. They declared the marriage void due to the king's actions and threw him into the dungeons.

Acting Lord Paramount of Reach, Lord Willas Tyrell sent a letter to Stannis Baratheon offering an exchange of prisoners. A Baratheon for a Tyrell; though the Tyrell party was not too hopeful their wishes were granted and the prisoners were exchanged on neutral ground between the Stormlands and the Reach. However, Stannis had another demand they had to fulfil and that was their neutrality and ten thousand men that would become his vanguard in the coming battles.

The first one was easy as they couldn't continue to support any sides anymore due to the lack of men they suffered. However, the second demand was hard to fulfil as no one wanted to die for nothing. Thus, with a great dent in their treasury, Tyrells sent ten thousand men to Stannis's army.

Hearing about Stannis's addition to his army, Lord Tywin Lannister decided to retreat to the capital and wait for the siege. He knew he couldn't win against Stannis in an open field so his best chance was using a city with great defences. He could only bring five thousand men with himself while retreating as the bulk of his army was still in the Westerlands.

Thus, Stannis sent his brother to Storm's End with men who could be trusted and decided to attack the capital as soon as possible before Lannister forces in the Westerlands could come to help. There was already a blockage at the Blackwater Bay so sea invasion was possible from the port. However, Stannis wanted to thin out the enemy's forces between sea and land so he also planned to attack from land. Mud Gate was not a possible option as Blackwater Rush was cutting their path so he built a temporary bridge and laid siege to the city from the northern side. His target was the Iron Gate as it was the closest gate to the Red Keep. He left five thousand men near the Mud Gate to support his naval attack so he had twenty thousand men and that was a number including Tyrell vanguard.

On the second day of the siege, Stannis attacked both from land and sea. He first sent the vanguard which had ten thousand men. Many of them fell quickly but there were occasionally one or two successfully climbing up the ladders and fighting at the walls. However, his biggest obstacle was the darndest weapons put on the city walls. The Essosi machines were raining arrows upon his men, though they all came from the Reach.

Meanwhile, his ships entered Blackwater Rush and with the troops waiting on land they attacked to the gate. The battle lasted until the morning and Stannis's forces were close to breaking the gates and entering the city. The Lannister forces that were coming from the Westerlands were still two days away so he was sure of his victory. However, a strange thing happened to come by the morning, the men on the city walls began pouring a green liquid down the walls.

By the time the news of the green liquid reached Stannis, barrels upon barrels were poured and both Mud Gate's and Iron Gate's front was covered in the green liquid. All it took was one arrow with fire and green fire rose high to the sky. Stannis ordered a retreat to his men as he knew that passing the wildfire was not something a mortal can do.

Stannis knew the fire was not going to extinguish for at least two days and to the fortune of the Lannister, in that time the forces that were coming from the Westerlands could arrive at the city.

Stannis thought about attacking from another gate but the time he would need to breakthrough again was not something he had. Thus, he made his decision. Though some might call him coward, he decided to retreat.

He sent word to the remaining ships of his fleet to retreat Dragonstone and continue to blockade in the bay. He was not going to the Dragonstone as with this little amount of men he could not hope to win the war. Thus, he decided to go to Riverlands and hope that Lord Stark's return would be a boon to his cause...

…

After breaking his fast, Gerold met the leader of his shadows to learn the news about his projects. Trios and Kobo were visiting the city so he was alone in the meeting with the leader of shadows.

"That was what happened, during the siege of King's Landing, Your Holiness." The man was wearing completely black clothes and his head was covered by a similarly black scarf. The only thing visible was his eyes but they were also black so it could be said that his appearance was a bit demonic.

"What about Lord Stark? Did he return to Winterfell?" Gerold asked.

The shadow leader nodded his head, "Yes, he did. He also requested food to feed the children sent by the wildlings and we sent them from the temple's reserves."

"Good, so how many children the wildlings sent?"

"Approximately thirty thousand, the oldest of them is thirteen years old and Lord Stark guaranteed that they shall be instructed in the right path and be advised to listen to the "rightful" orders."

"That is good to hear, we were a bit cautious after seeing his behaviour during the meeting but his exemplary performance in the Wall showed us that he could still become a useful subject. Send a word to him about Stannis and tell him to not outright reject the man. With the right initiative, he can be useful in regards to weakening the realm." Gerold said.

"It will be done, Your Holiness. Also… there is another matter…" the shadow leader was a bit anxious as he spoke.

"Speak," Gerold said.

"One of the subjects that were sent to the Island of Aegon has died due to the influence of the black stone. Though the others are still persisting, we are doubtful of their ability to resist the stone."

Gerold frowned and rubbed his holy ring, "Continue the experiments but be careful to not reveal the location of the place. Though the islands are inhabited, there are still people who would wish to explore them. Also, prepare a ship for me. A moon later, we will be sailing to Westeros…"