War of the Narrow Sea

The War of the Narrow Sea, also known as the Sixth Blackfyre Rebellion, was an attempted invasion and colonisation of Westeros by the Second Triarchy and Euron Greyjoy's Iron Fleet, initially waged under the guise of an attempt to install House Blackfyre and Euron Greyjoy to the New Throne of the Seven Kingdoms and Salt Throne of the Iron Islands respectively. The conflict lasted for around a year and a half, and resulted in the collapse of numerous governments and institutions in the Free Cities, and secured the sovereignty of the Seven Kingdoms in the aftermath of the Great War.

Prelude
By 303 AC, the Free City of Myr had successfully conquered neighbouring Lys and Tyrosh, unifying the three into the Second Triarchy, primarily in the interest of dissuading Daenerys Targaryen from launching a war of emancipation against the region infamous for its slavery. The Triarchy developed close ties with neighbouring Volantis, and by the time of Daenerys Targaryen's death in 305 AC, both states were looking to expand their influence and power.

King Gendry I Baratheon inherited a dire situation upon ascending the Throne in 305 AC. Much of the Seven Kingdoms had been left ravaged and severely depopulated by the actions of the White Walkers and Army of the Dead during the Great War. In addition, Cersei Lannister had indebted the Seven Kingdoms with loans from the Iron Bank in order to hire the Golden Company and the Small Council knew full well that they were in no position to even begin paying back foreign loans, knowing that every last penny would need to go into rebuilding Westeros' countless destroyed castles, towns and cities, the capital among them.

In 307 AC, a represent of the Iron Bank, Noho Dimittis, approached King Gendry I Baratheon asking him to repay the loans that his predecessors had taken out in the name of the Crown. King Gendry coldly refused him, asserting that the loans his father had taken out, as well as the loans that Tywin had taken out in Robert’s name, had all been repayed, and that the loans that Cersei Lannister had taken out should not be his nor anyone else’s responsibility. This quickly led to the Iron Bank withdrawing all official contact from King's Landing, and many feared that yet another war was looming on the horizon. Later that year, Euron Greyjoy's Iron Fleet was offered refuge by the Second Triarchy in Myr, two years after he fled Westeros during the Great War.

Frustrated that their loans were going unrepaid, the Iron Bank was approached by the Second Triarchy and Euron Greyjoy in 308 AC, proposing that the bank fund a joint invasion of Westeros by Greyjoy and Triarchy forces. Euron Greyjoy would create a new Ironborn Empire, including the North, the Riverlands, the Westerlands and the Iron Islands themselves, all ruled directly from Pyke. The rest of Westeros (including the Crownlands, the Vale, the Stormlands, the Reach and Dorne) would be broken up into client states of the Second Triarchy. Within these new southern realms, slavery would be made fully legal and colonisation of the depopulated lands and cities would be carried out, settling citizens from both the Second Triarchy and Volantis in central and Southern Westeros. The alliance between the Second Triarchy, Euron Greyjoy, and Volantis would eventually become known as the Eastern Coalition, or simply the Coalition.

In an effort to temper the response to their invasion from the Westerosi nobility, Triarch Malaquo Maegyr of Volantis presented Aeron and Naerys Blackfyre to High Triarch Asaro Trellos of the Triarchy. The siblings claimed to be the last remaining members of the long-believed extinct House Blackfyre, and possessed the Valyrian steel sword Blackfyre as proof of their lineage. The Coalition reasoned that if their invasion was waged under the pretence of an attempt to overthrow House Baratheon and install House Blackfyre to the Throne, Gendry would gain far less support from his vassals than if they were privy to the Coalition's true intentions.

War
In early 309 AC, Euron Greyjoy's Iron Fleet landed Triarchy forces led by King Aeron Blackfyre, and his sister-wife, Queen Naerys Blackfyre, at and around Stonehelm in the southern Stormlands. Following the Battle of Stonehelm, the Blackfyre siblings decried King Gendry and Queen Arya as illegitimate monarchs and stated their intentions to overthrow and replace them, while working in conjunction with Euron Greyjoy's intentions to take back the Seastone Chair and restore independence and the Old Way to the Iron Islands.

Triarchy forces began taking over Cape Wrath and much of the southern Stormlands. As the Coalition predicted, very few in Westeros were willing to mount serious resistance to the Blackfyre invasion. The only Great Houses who initially pledged their support to the Crown and Storm's End were House Stark and House Greyjoy under Yara, but in the North, Lady Sansa was only able to raise and send a small token force, made up mostly of green boys who were too young to fight in the War of the Five Kings and the Great War, while in the Iron Islands, many of Yara's vassals refused to fight for her or went over to Euron's cause.

As the Triarchy forces threatened Storm's End, Lord Edric Baratheon amassed a force at the castle to meet the Blackfyre pretenders. While the Battle of Storm's End initially went promisingly for Edric's forces, the arrival of Euron Greyjoy's Iron Fleet in Shipbreaker Bay led to the walls of the Baratheon fortress being breached while Edric desperately rotated his men to face the new threat from the ocean. Before the castle fell however, Queen Arya Stark rode in from the north with a host of cavalry raised from the Crownlands, and eventually managed to break through to the gates of Storm's End. Inside the castle, Edric met and engaged King Aeron Blackfyre in single combat, killing him by stabbing him through the neck. After Aeron was killed, Edric used the sword of Blackfyre to engage Euron Greyjoy in single combat. However, Edric was exhausted and eventually knocked down by the Ironborn warrior, right before Arya engaged Euron. Euron and Arya exchanged blows on the walls of Storm's End, before the Euron was able to land a hit on Arya's leg, and subsequently ran her through with his pike. Shortly after, Edric and his remaining forces were forced to break out of Storm's End and retreat north along the Kingsroad to King's Landing.

Following the Battle of Storm’s End, much of the Stormlands fell into the hands of the Triarchy, which announced it’s continued support to seat Naerys Blackfyre on the Throne following the death of her brother-husband. However, a grief-stricken Gendry, being fed whispers of conspiracy, became increasingly suspicious of Edric, believing he was responsible for the death of his beloved wife, and that he intended to marry Naerys to take the Throne himself, or that he was secretly being supported by the Triarchy to succeed Aeron as their puppet. This in turn led Edric to become increasingly suspicious of Gendry, as he took his exclusions from state affairs as confirmation that Gendry intended to make peace with the Triarchy by remarrying to Naerys Blackfyre.

The death of Arya Stark was enough to convince House Tully and House Arryn to offer the Crown material support. House Redwyne also went against the wishes of Theodore Tyrell and pledged the Redwyne Fleet to King Gendry. Triarchy and royalist forces clashed again in the Battle of the Wendwater, and despite Triarchy forces outnumbering royalist forces, numerous mistakes on the part of Naerys Blackfyre combined with a very successful cavalry charge led by Edric Baratheon himself resulted in a decisive royalist victory that represented a turning point of the Triarchy's invasion.

As Edric's host approached Storm's End, it was evident that the Triarchy forces still outnumbered that of the royalists, but despite this, as Edric's forces prepared to lay siege to the castle, Asaro Trellos rode out under a peace banner to present Edric with Naerys Blackfyre, gagged, chained and naked. Trellos left without a word as he and his forces departed Storm's End aboard Euron Greyjoy's Iron Fleet. Naerys Blackfyre was executed by Edric the next day, bringing an end to the Blackfyre lineage.

Even though the deaths of both Blackfyre claimants should have heralded the end of the campaign, the Triachy continued to wage war against the Seven Kingdoms, leading Gendry to become even more suspicious of Edric. Around this time, Lys and much of the Stepstones fell to Arryn and royalist Greyjoy forces, but further offensives bore little fruit. Shortly after the Battle of Lys, Triarch Malaquo Maegyr of Volantis offered to host peace talks, specifically requesting Edric Baratheon as the Westerosi envoy, to which Gendry very reluctantly agreed. Edric, along with Devan Seaworth departed for Volantis, but after they failed to make contact with King's Landing, Lady Myrielle, the Mistress of Whisperers, informed Gendry that Edric and Devan had turned their forces over to the Eastern Coalition and pledged themselves to Asaro Trellos. Enraged, Gendry denounced Edric and Devan as traitors before the Small Council, leading to Davos Seaworth's resignation as Hand of the King and his replacement with Lady Myrielle.

In reality, Edric and Devan had been ambushed along the Volantine coast and taken captive by Triarchy forces, before being imprisoned in Myr. While in Myr, Edric and Devan escaped their imprisonment and discovered evidence of Euron and the Triarchy's true plans for the Realm, the fact that the Iron Bank was funding their invasion, and that there were various double agents in Gendry's court working for the Triarchy. Edric learned these spies were being led by Gendry's former lover, Lady Myrielle, and that in light of Aeron Blackfyre's death, they were working to turn Gendry against Edric himself in order to destabilise the Seven Kingdoms enough for them to carry out their plans. Soon thereafter, Edric and Devan managed to escape from Myr and were eventually shipwrecked on the shores of Dragonstone. They found the island completely abandoned but were able to get a message to King’s Landing to be picked up. After arriving on Dragonstone, Gendry confronted Edric alone, and the two duelled in the ruins of the castle. Gendry was eventually forced to yield, and Edric presented him with the evidence of the Triarchy’s true intentions and the traitors within Gendry’s court.

Gendry and Edric reconciled and the traitors in King’s Landing were arrested and convicted in the Great Trial of 310 AC. All those found guilty were executed, with exception to Lord Desmond Crakehall, who in exchange for remaining imprisoned rather than face execution, agreed to publicly admit to the Triarchy’s true intentions. The revelation of the plot caused mass outrage from the nobility and commoners alike, all across the Seven Kingdoms. House Lannister, House Martell and many Houses of the Reach pledged support, while many veterans of the War of the Five Kings and Great War finally chose to take up swords against the Coalition. House Tyrell initially continued to withhold support, but within a moon of the trial's conclusion, Lord Theodore Tyrell died of a winter chill and his son and successor, Lord Luthor Tyrell, quickly pledged support following his ascension to Lord Paramount of the Reach. Davos Seaworth was also reappointed as Hand of the King.

Realising their plans were rapidly falling apart, the Coalition launched one last invasion attempt against the Seven Kingdoms, sending their forces into the Bay of Crabs, landing at the mouth of the Trident, and seizing the crossroads. Shortly after, the Battle of the Crossroads occurred where Baratheon, Tully, Arryn, Stark and Lannister troops successfully drove the Coalition from the shores of Westeros for good. During the battle, Euron Greyjoy was killed in a climatic duel by Gendry Baratheon, Edric Baratheon, Yara Greyjoy, and Brienne of Tarth.

After the Battle of the Crossroads, Westerosi forces engaged in an all out attack on the Triarchy. The Volantine troops defending Tyrosh agreed to surrender the city in exchange that Volantis be allowed to exit the war, while Lannister and Stark troops, led by Jaime Lannister and Sansa Stark, landed in Braavos, looted the Iron Bank, and then razed the bank to the ground for enabling the heinous plots against Westeros. As Westerosi forces from across the Seven Kingdoms converged on the de-facto capital of the Triarchy, Myr, High Triarch Asaro Trellos purchased as many sellsword companies that would accept, including the Stormbreakers, Brave Companions, and the Second Sons under Kieran Redsteel who deserted Daario Naharis in the Bay of Dragons. Meanwhile, Ser Harry Strickland pledged the Golden Company to fight on King Gendry's behalf free of charge, in the hopes of winning the king's favour and gaining some of the Triarchy's spoils.

The Battle of Myr ensued. While initially promising for Westerosi forces, the landing fleet was engaged by the remnants of Euron Greyjoy’s Iron Fleet, the Triarchy Fleet, and sellsail Ferrego Cithien’s fleet. Lord Edric’s forces were cut off as they breached the city walls, forcing him and his men to fight to the High Triarch’s palace in an attempt to capture Trellos and end the battle and war. Retreat and abandoning his brother and his forces seemingly looked inevitable for Gendry, until from the east, Drogon flew in and destroyed the High Triarch’s fleets, and every one of his soldiers and sellswords immediately surrendered.

Despite this, nearly every one of Edric’s men were killed before the surrender, and an injured Edric was forced to take cover in the palace, losing Blackfyre in the process, before coming face to face with Asaro Trellos himseslf. After exchanging a few words in Myr’s Throne Room, Edric was shot several times by Trellos. Edric held out long enough for Gendry's forces to storm the palace and aprehend Trellos, before dying in his brother’s arms.

Aftermath
Following the execution of Asaro Trellos, there were calls across Westeros for the Triarchy to be directly annexed into the Seven Kingdoms as retribution for attempting to do the same to Westeros. The Small Council however, decided not to do so knowing that keeping control over cities as large as Myr, Lys and Tyrosh would be hard, and defending the territory from foreign invaders would be even harder. Instead, in order to placate their vassals, the Small Council ordered for the three conquered cities to have their vaults emptied and treasures looted, with much of it distributed among the Westerosi nobility as spoils of war, while the rest went to the Crown's treasury.

Despite deciding against the direct annexation of the Triarchy, the Small Council still wished to abolish slavery in the area, and ensure that piracy and the slave trade could never dominate a region so close to Westerosi shores again. After petitioning the Small Council and King Gendry himself, Ser Harry Strickland was permitted to oversee the Second Triarchy be reorganised into a feudal regency with slavery abolished, aptly renaming it the Three Daughters Protectorate. Harry Strickland self-appointed himself as the Lord Protector of the Three Daughters, and said office was made hereditary. Finally, the Golden Company was reorganised from a company of sellswords into the Protectorate's new peace-keeping and defence force, and an elite branch was established to serve as the Lord Protector's personal guard. Despite the size of the Golden Company rapidly growing to it's pre-Great War levels, a five-year long occupation of the region by Westerosi forces was deemed necessary to keep the peace to ensure a peaceful transition of power and government.

With a friendly regime now installed in Tyrosh, Lys and Myr, the Seven Kingdoms were finally able to bring an end to the scourge of piracy that had dominated the Stepstones for centuries, and the strategic islands were annexed into the Seven Kingdoms. A total of nine outposts were founded, one on each major island, each outpost was to elect a Commander, who in turn elected a Lord Commander who deferred directly to the King, more specifically, the Master of Ships. Owing to the fact that their primary purpose was to control the entrance to the Narrow Sea, keep the region free of piracy and slavery, and nobility and commoner alike could run for and participate in the elections, the Stepstones Guard quickly became known colloquially as "The Night's Watch of the Sea", and effectively became it's replacement after it was officially disbanded.

Edric Baratheon's son, Orryn Baratheon, succeeded his father as Lord of Storm's End at just two years old. Edric's widow, Alynne Baratheon, ruled the Stormlands as regent for the next fourteen years until her son came of age. Despite eventual pressure from his Small Council to do so, King Gendry never remarried and mourned Arya for the rest of his life. In the east, Drogon returned to the Lands of the Long Summer in the ruins of Valyria. Years later, Orryn Baratheon, Jaime Lannister, and Bronn Blackwater finally tracked down Noho Dimittis and killed him by throwing him into the Sunset Sea near Casterly Rock.