Chapter 9: THE DEVIL WILL BE MY CONCUBINE
'That was... something. I don't know what that is, but it is impressive either way.' - Teneb, June 2016
Blaz was furious. He also accepted that perhaps, he had been a little too harsh on his son, but it was too late to take back these words. The barbarian hill tribe invasion (which had survived the 7 years war), thus presented an opportunity to let off some steam. The first thing Blaz did after the war was finally destroy the hill tribe army. With this task easily completed by his army of scarred veterans, he set about assessing the damage.
The elite gusars were gone. He could begin replacing them, but that would drain the coffers of gold, gold which would not be able to be spent on mercenaries and fanatics in an emergency. His son & heir was now a loyal servant of the enemy, a crushing diplomatic defeat which he had no clue how to undo at all. Much of the Vale was dead and it would take time to retrain the levies to a proficient standard.
Some good news came from the North: Winter was coming. The armies of the dead were marching south and the Iron Throne was sending its forces north to repel the frosty legions of the devil's offal. This would tie up a lot of the Iron Throne's forces, which would be sorely tested, because after the casualties incurred in the 7 years war and the decapitation of the Westerosi leadership, one of the ambitious upstarts had reassessed their contributions to the war effort. The Night's Watch were still, barely alive, far north, trying to escape the White Walkers.
Lord Paramount Alyn Tarly realized now the Reach had the largest army in the realm, larger than any two of the Seven Kingdoms armies put together, and so he launched his bid to become King of all the Kingdoms. With support from the Stormlands, this was now the most dangerous attempt at taking the Iron Throne from the Lannister dynasty the last two generations of Lannisters had ever seen. Amidst this chaos there were proposals to invade Shipbreaker Bay and so recapture Vojislav, but there was no guarantee that Vojislav would not run further West into the Lannister homelands. Thus King Blaz was forced to do what he had to do.
Once upon a time, the Braavosi bank paid Blaz to go to war for the Iron Throne, giving him a claim on the Seven Kingdoms.
This was a claim that was not yet forgotten.
The Iron Throne was not in such good shape after the seven years war, namely beca-
The White Walkers set up a merchant republic?!! What the fuck?
Oh wait nah, the Republic broke apart and reverted to several little genocidal hordes, and one really big one. Everything seems in order.
It seems the White Walkers' experiment in merchantry didn't end well. I honestly can't imagine why humans would be scared to trade with the beings whose end goal was to kill their entire people and resurrect them as walking frosty corpses.
That oddity aside, King Blaz declared war upon the Iron Throne as the Stormlanders and Reach battled the Iron Throne's forces elsewhere. The Vale did not have any troops to spare, thus King Blaz devised a devious stratagem. He would travel covertly by sea and sneak into Blackwater Bay, with a mere 20 men, concealing the dragon Spyrax within. While Blaz did not make it into the city, he made it outside its walls, setting the city's exterior ablaze. The approach to King's Landing was boosted by the surprising defection of many Lords throughout the realm, with the Lord of Rosby and Lord of Dragonstone both joining King Blaz, with Rosby and Dragonstone being some of the key Fortresses protecting King's Landing.
Elsewhere the Reachmen & Stormlanders fought against the Crownlanders, Riverlanders and Westermen, with the Dornish remaining aloof while the Northmen fought to the death against the White Walkers. No one paid much attention to King Blaz, as even with the defections of petty Lords, his forces were so battered he was considered to be a non-contender by the major houses. King Rupert Lannister certainly believed it was a joke when the Lord of Rosby & Dragonstone believed they could take King's Landing with the help of a mere 20 good men; all of that changed when King Blaz and Spyrax wiped out all of the Lannister guardsmen on the banks, single-handedly laying siege to Kings' Landing.
While more warbands joined the Rosby & Dragonstone forces, it was still not enough to successfully siege King's Landing. The enemy garrisons were too large, thus King Blaz had to scorch King's Landing to weaken the garrisons. Thousands burned alive, and in a cruel irony, thousands more fled the city inferno only to freeze to death in the cold. The burning went on and on, with King Rupert Lannister observing from the Red Keep the wasting of his people. Attempting to redeem the House Lannister, attempting to save his Kingdom, King Rupert heroically led his men on the front lines against Spyrax. He would see King's Landing saved.
But instead died trying, incinerated for his heroism. While he survived the encounter with Spyrax, the wounds he received had mortally wounded him. The walls were broken, the garrison on the brink of surrender. King's Landing could likely hold for a mere few more days against King Blaz and his allied warbands, days away from putting himself on the Iron Throne and restoring a sort of peace to the realm. News that King Rupert was injured and being transported out of the city sent the allied forces into a frenzy, knowing full well that to capture Rupert would mean the war would be over.
They escaped the Miroslav allied forces, only for the Kingsguard to end up encountering the armies of the pretender, Alyn Tyrell. Fighting to the last to save their burnt and dying King, King Rupert Lannister would be captured and forced to abdicate in favour of Alyn Tyrell, now King Alyn Tyrell, King of the Seven Kingdoms. King Blaz intended to continue with the siege and place himself on the Iron Throne, but with King Rupert's abdication and Alyn's vast armies, the allied Lords switched allegiances. King Alyn promised clemency to those who would submit, and extermination to those who continued to aid the traitor, Blaz Miroslav.
Blaz was confused one morning, waking to find his own camps on fire, his own former allies shouting "CAPTURE THE TRAITOR BLAZ MIROSLAV." Fully two-thirds of his own forces defected, joining the cause of King Alyn Tarly. In an instant King Blaz found himself surrounded by fire, ice, and thousands of soldiers and smallfolk he'd just spent the last few weeks burning, the arrows falling from the skies upon his men.
He and his gusars fought their way out of the trap, a rearguard of brave loyalists perishing to the last, slaughtered by the fickle Lords as King Blaz fed north with haste. In a hilarious twist of fate, it seemed many of the Lords now viewed King Alyn Tarly as a worse usurper than King Blaz. King Alyn had extorted and usurped the throne from the beloved Rupert Lannister on Rupert's deathbed, whilst Blaz was safe from incrimination on the basis of his failed bid at hegemony having yielded no success. Many of the Lords who loved Rupert now backed Blaz, angered at Alyn and seeing their enemy's enemy as their friend.
And for the first time ever, a Lord Paramount had declared their support for King Blaz. Lord Paramount Meliana Karstark would be halted from marching south however:
With the White Walker invasion taking its toll upon the North, there was simply no sane way to send troops south when an existential crisis existed in the North. Yet Blaz appreciated the symbolic gesture of support, as it certainly indicated good prospects for a long term weakening of the Iron Throne.
While King Alyn Tarly was coronated, King Blaz was making it safely home. Once home, King Baz joined the head of his column - 16,000 men strong, levies replenished after 2 years of rest from the 7 years war. King Alyn mustered his forces from the reach, weary from their battles with King Rupert, fortifying King's Landing should Blaz attempt an assault.
King Blaz lay waste to King's Landing for a second time. The Reachmen were desperate to stop the Valemen from taking King's Landing, assaulting the serbian and valeman forces with ferocious disregard for their own lives.
They were even willing to fight outnumbered against the dragon and the warlord. They fought like men who sincerely believed defeat was not an option, thus every time they were routed they charged once more into the fray again, and again, and again until they were utterly ruined as a cohesive fighting force. In the comfort of a likely victory, I began to inspect as to why so many Lords were now declaring their support for Blaz Miroslav, where before their predecessors were only enemies.
Lord Paramount Meliana Karstark of the North did not mind that King Blaz worshiped the Red God, she herself was a recent convert to the faith of the Seven from the old pagan faith of the North. And why should Meliana not support Blaz? Both were just rulers, enforcing justice in these times of chaos. Both were charismatic leaders, brave warriors, and there was something attractive about the handsome and fashionable Knight. As old as he was, his scarred and muscly frame remained impressive.
Such charms would also inspire many men to follow him instead of Alyn Tarly. The sheer beauty and justice of King Blaz was inspiring devotion in those too young to remember his crimes, whose fresh eyes saw only the beauty of a hero.
Surprisingly Prince Vojislav joined the Vale's forces. He attempted to redeem himself, leading his forces to attack the northern rebels in Oldtown, who fought against Meliana and Blaz. In the battles against the Oldtown northerners, Prince Vojislav would be slain.
The High Septon would be captured, dying in the dungeons of King Blaz, shaking the faith of the Seven's resolve.
Towards the final stages of the campaign, enough small Lords were declaring their support for King Blaz that the Reach's numerical superiority began to erode. With even small Reacher Lords and Dornish Lords throwing their support for Blaz, and the Stormlanders of Shipbreaker bay providing 5,000 men, King Blaz was receiving reinforcements he desperately needed whilst the Tyrell armies only dwindled in number.
They arrived in time to fight the Tyrell's last, desperate engagement at the dragon gate. True to its name, Spyrax soared and flamed the Tyrell army, naming the dragon gate well.
Long live the King! Long live the King! With the routing of the Tyrell army at the dragon gate, taking the Iron Throne was as simple as walking into King's Landing and beginning the coronation ceremony. It was over. King Blaz was now King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, King of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. The Iron Islanders were still independent, and somehow amidst the wars for the Throne, the Westerlands and Riverlands had already attained independence. King Blaz was no fool, and knew at once that his powerful subjects would all seek to take the Iron Throne. Thus he granted the Reacher Lords independence, the Dornish Lords independence and continued to dismantle the Seven Kingdoms, waiting for the right time to set the North and Stormlands free. He would make Seven Kings and Queens out of the Seven Lord Paramounts. As independent monarchs it would be considerably harder for them to claim the Iron Throne, as it would be the throne of a foreign King. Blaz would also not have to worry about their backstabbing antics, as the Lords would instead have to worry about protecting their own crowns. It would keep the Seven Kingdoms divided, so the White Walkers could continue eliminating all of Blaz's enemies, and when the time was ripe for reconquest - he had the legal right to reunite the Seven Kingdoms, by whatever means necessary.
Lord Meliana Karstark at once petitioned the Iron Throne for support, as the armies of the dead were overwhelming. The Iron Throne didn't send anyone North, there was no use in doing so. While it may seem cold, there was a logic behind it. King Blaz lacked in money & manpower, sending his armies North would result in the loss of both in significant numbers
before a single battle took place, with a march through the long winter being a painful thing. Once at the North, what could he do with his surviving armies? The North was a large frozen expanse of snow, the armies of the dead vastly outnumbered his own men, they would be surrounded and slaughtered. Thus the only logical thing to do was guard the Vale, holding the mountain passes, where the armies of the dead could not surround the valemen forces. Occupying the Neck would have stopped the White Walkers from making it South, but by this point the Neck was ruled by the Riverlanders, and so Blaz thought it best to let them die first. Anyways, Blaz was certain the White Walkers couldn't make is past the Neck, with or without Iron Throne intervention.
The armies of the dead proved him wrong when they assaulted the northern valley pass at Stonekyme. Blaz was prepared; he had mustered 22,000 levies and mercenaries, led by Dornish spear captains. Their task was simple: hold the pass, and let no dead through. By the end of the battle the armies of the dead retreated into the North, curiously giving up the attack despite 10,000 of their number remaining. King Blaz was confused and arrived to inspect his armies, only to receive news that his forces had captured one of the White Walkers (at great expense in life). One of the sorcererous, murderous, fiendish ice-demon things had been captured!
Now it is worth mentioning there was a little tradition started by Blaz's father, Lord Vojislav, and continued by himself. In order to really infuriate the White Walkers and ensure their attacks on the Iron Throne were encouraged, the White Walkers were sent insults every now and then, delivered via raven. Lord Vojislav called them craven, cowards and shriveling fools, and after this insult the White Walkers broke through the great Wall of the Night's Watch. What was more insulting than calling the immortal frost demon enemy, the incarnation of death and winter, cowards?
King Blaz knew: It was to make Death his concubine.
This continued for a long while through the long winter, the long night was dark and full of terrors. The fell White Walker, the slayer of all life, was subjected to King Blaz's mighty, supernaturally hardened Valyran steel all throughout the night. A few old men and women to this day still scare their children with the mere insinuations of what went on in Blaz's dungeon to the captured White Walker. The White Walkers had never shown any hatred to any humans they had killed before, but Blaz was an exception. King Blaz was a man unique in Westeros, for being the only man hated by every single White Walker.
Decades later, long after King Blaz had died, a group of White Walkers would successfully break into the Vale and free their comrade under the reign of King Nikodim Miroslav. Unlike Blaz, Nikodim was no deviant, and did not make a saltwife of the White Walker. Yet the damage had been done. When the imprisoned White Walker finally regained his freedom in the daring jailbreak, returning home to the northern wastelands of ice and dead men, the King of the long Night found an all too human shiver crawling up his inhuman spine. If a White Walker could cry, the frozen rivers would run freely once more.
The White Walkers sent their legions of the dead to kill every living thing left in the world. But deep down, King Blaz knew they knew. The Serbians were ready to fuck death, and they were going in dry.
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Topic: The Miroslav Dynasty, Paradox Interactive AAR (Read 24179 times)