Chapter 17 (Revamped)

(Erlend Mudd, Mountains of the Moon)

Yelling and howling could be heard from outside the tent as men rushed towards their deaths, followed by anguished screams as they swiftly met their end.

Giving no reaction to it, aside from a snort of annoyance, Erlend had long since gotten used to the suicidal raids sent by the surviving clansmen.

It's been nearly two months since the 'Battle of Valley's End'. Having arrived a week later, Erlend using his aura was able to uncover all the clansmen settlements. However, he had to subtly influence scouts to stumble or come across the settlements discovered, to justify knowing their locations.

Admittedly, a troublesome method of doing things if he had to be honest.

Speaking of scouts, they've become one of the highest-paying positions at the moment, due to the ridiculously high death rate associated with the job, they were prone to be ambushed, trapped, or killed by clansmen, and most deaths were not quick.

As the settlements that had been discovered were promptly besieged, those that refused to surrender were decimated, in response the clansmen became more brutal in the way they dealt with his forces. 

Of the five major clans besieged, only three had surrendered and that was only after the first two were wiped out by the Valemen. It was cruel, but that was the nature of war and it was one he had become used to for a long time.

The remaining clans had chosen to link up and fortify themselves within the largest cavern settlement, which made besieging them quite difficult.

Normally Erlend would've just brought the whole cavern down on them, yet the issue lay in the fact that it would be quite suspicious, at least not without a proper catalyst to justify such an event.

This was one of the main issues he had with operating within Westeros, it was difficult to use his most powerful abilities without giving himself away.

This directly contrasts with the way he did things in Essos, after all, no one cared enough to investigate how the Dothraki were dealt with.

While the Westerosi Nobility was somewhat willing to tolerate magic should it benefit them, the same couldn't be said about the smallfolk who could easily be manipulated to turn on him.

Though he had the utmost confidence in protecting himself, there was no way of knowing if any of his children would inherit his magic till after they were conceived.

If they did inherit it, they would be vulnerable for at least a decade before they would be properly able to protect themselves, leaving them somewhat easy targets for their enemies, should they get around his guard.

On the other hand, if they didn't, they'd likely be called products of foul magic and his dynasty would more than likely face turmoil for centuries before the sheep decided to collectively assume it was just myth and tales.

Each dynasty faced great resistance during the beginning of its reign, and Erlend saw no reason to add to it. Revealing he held magic could also end up ruining quite a bit of his plans in securing the loyalty of his future vassals.

No, there was little to gain from allowing his magic to become public knowledge, it would be best to keep on the low for now.

At the least, he'd have to get the faith under his thumb before anything concrete could be done.

…

'They have spirit at least.' 

Dodging a swing from an axe heading his way, Erlend promptly threw a dagger at the offending party, resulting in a grunt and the thud of a corpse falling to the ground. 

He found himself blocking another blow from a particularly hairy woman carrying a bronze axe. The woman was then cut down by an irritated Raymond who looked unamused by his decision to fight at the front.

Another raid was sent to the encampment, and considering the materials their weapons were made of in the most recent attacks, they were running out of castle-forged steel.

A soldier quickly arrived and dragged the body away to be burned, as had become the norm, since he sent the order to burn all of the dead. One can never be too careful when dealing with the dead in Planetos.

The explanation given to the Valemen to avoid any correlation being put between the Mudd and the mad Targaryens was that it was started by one of their ancestors during the second exile.

More precisely it was used to counter Valyrians, should they seek to use the body of a dead Mudd to locate living ones.

Given, the red priest's habit of resurrecting the dead and the Valyrian's use of blood magic. Burning the dead to ashes seemed an apt and ironic way to deny an enemy from using it against them. 

As far as they were concerned it was a necessity-turned-tradition that ended up being adopted by the Banners, hence why they weren't all that opposed to it.

The clansmen's attempt to raid the camp had been an ongoing issue for quite a while, though they failed to achieve much of anything of note aside from scrounging a minor amount of supplies.

Turning towards the man in charge of this particular patrol, he looked exhausted, "My Lord." Andar Royce voiced, making a salute, standing firm, despite his tiredness and awaiting further instructions.

"Any issues?" He asked.

The Royce heir shook his head, "None my Lord, it seems the raids have been decreasing but are now timed during the dead of the night."

"Have you managed to capture any prisoners?" 

"Aye my Lord, though I suspect that one of the prisoners might be someone of importance within the clans."

"During the raid, the other clansmen deferred to her judgment, not to mention they sought to form a ring around her." he stopped.

While it wasn't uncommon for females to be part of the Raiders, they were never given priority by their fellow clansmen, unless they were the significant other.

On the other hand, the fact that the raiders gave her priority and made the effort to create a ring around her highlighted her importance.

Either she was a Clan leader or was related to one, which made her a valuable prisoner.

"My Lord?" Andar said, awaiting further commands.

"Wake her up. She might be useful in ending this siege early, if not, then we can use her to draw out whichever clan she belongs to." Erlend wanted this siege to end, though he wouldn't say no to getting rid of one of the clans hiding within the cavern, it should at least destabilize whatever semblance of order they have.

…

Amusingly enough, the woman Andar captured happened to be none other than Chella, the Daughter of Chief Cheyk, the leading figure behind the clansmen uniting.

She was also the Clan Chief of the Black Ears within the canon timeline, one of the mountain clansmen that followed Tyrion Lannister to both the Riverlands and King's Landing.

Quite the colorful character they've gotten ahold of.

The war had effectively reached a point where if it continued, the southern 'wildlings' would go extinct. A significant portion of the clansmen were either killed in the battle or were wiped out as part of the pockets in the rest of the vale.

There was also the fact that his army had already slaughtered their most fearsome tribe the Burned Men and the Stone Crows.

Chella, seeing the writing on the wall, had agreed that if her people were spared, she would do her best to convince her father to agree to an unconditional surrender.

The Black Ears had surrendered, interestingly enough Cheyk sought to submit specifically to Uncle Lorimas, wanting to show some sort of respect towards his uncle for the loss he handed him in battle.

The withered old man strode forward toward their group, dressed in a simple tunic, to show that he was unarmed.

Behind him followed two similarly dressed men, a pained look on his face. Showing resignation and grudging acceptance of what was about to occur.

Cheyk's eyes looked sunken, his body was beginning to show signs of withering away, but there still was a fire in his eyes. The old Chief spoke. "I.." pausing for a few seconds to get ahold of themselves, "We The Black Ears offer ourselves, to the elder Mudd."

The men behind him moved to do the same towards Erlend, having recognized him as the victor of this battle. 

It was a surrender that opened the floodgates, as the armed clansmen who had looked ready to spring to action at any moment, begrudgingly dropped their weapons and shields.

The Valemen had vicious grins, yet they made no move to harass the surrendering clansmen, simply taking them into custody and awaiting further orders from their lords and assigned commanders.

There was no denying the satisfaction they felt at finally humbling their loathed enemy.

…

That had been a few hours ago.

Now Erlend watched as his men marched into the Caverns, towards the Moon Brothers and Painted Dogs settlements, both had refused to surrender and instead holed themselves up within their areas.

These caverns were remarkably large, big enough to fit a small city inside it, there were clear divides within it, as each prominent clan had its specific area from which they settled.

The two resisting clans had placed archers all around their settlements, hidden carefully either behind large rock formations or within subtle holes made into them, shooting arrows at his men.

Using their shields, most of his men managed to defend themselves, though some failed to shield themselves on time and fell prey to the arrows.

As his forces neared the settlements, they became more desperate, some rushed out of their hiding spots and attempted to stab his men with bronze daggers.

They had split into two, one targeting the Painted Dogs led by his Uncle, and the second after the Moon Brothers, led by himself.

Erlend could see Jasper slashing a woman across the face while Andar blocked a blow meant for him from an axe before cutting the offender's arm off and sending him to the ground screaming in pain.

Hours of fighting commenced, as he slashed, stabbed, and blocked all attacks onto him as he joined the fray. The two remaining clans slowly but surely found themselves pushed deeper and deeper into their settlements. 

His forces hunted down and killed any clansmen who carried a weapon, only the children and the elderly were spared. Many women died alongside the men, fighting to the last breath.

Finally, his force made it into the settlement, slaughtering anyone who got in their way.

Within the center of this particular settlement, stood a longhouse where the Chief and his family usually lived, as Erlend entered the courtyard with his men, he could see the blood dripping off the body of a freshly made corpse, the Chief he supposed.

"Well," Addressing the woman he suspected had done the deed, huddled behind her what he could only assume to be her children. "I suppose now… you're willing to surrender?" Erlend said.

======

The Peace of Moons Pass would be achieved after nearly half the major clans of the Mountains of the Moon and a significant portion of the minor ones were wiped out. A bloody affair that many saw as a necessity at the time and this would be proven true as it paved the way for true peace within the Vale of Arryn.

Wanting to avoid creating discord among his vassals and future infighting within the Vale, Lord Erlend Mudd had invited Lord Benjen Stark to discuss potential solutions to deal with the mountain clans.

An agreement would be made, in exchange for House Stark and the North taking in the clansmen, House Mudd would fund the movement of the Clans towards the North and would also sell grain and harvest for an even lower cost for a century.

Secondly, funding from House Mudd would be provided to the Night's Watch to better facilitate the influx of men received from the leading clansmen who were allowed to take the black instead of being executed outright for their part in the devastation that beset the Vale. There were of course other minor details discussed and ratified, yet those two decisions would make up the core of the agreement.

While there were more than a few detractors towards this agreement, both from the North and the Riverlands, it could be agreed by historians that this would be the move that ensured the Vale's loyalty towards Erlend Mudd and his descendants for the coming generations.

Excerpt from 'A Tale of Mudd and Steel' by Maester Alyn Feld