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Storm's End 283 AC

Paxter Redwyne

We've been at this for almost a year now. The rebels under the command of Robert Baratheon have truly showed a fierceness that is worthy of respect. They fell on the the loyalists like a tidal wave. The north, riverlands,vale and stormlands have risen in rebellion after the execution of Rickard Stark and his heir. That was a wrong move and even he, as young and inexperienced as he was wouldn't have made. Now half the realm are in open rebellion. And with the west and iron islands sitting and watching. The crown has only the support of two kingdoms plus the crownlands.

Now he's not saying that their situation was helpless. He was a proud Reach lord and he knew that the Reach alone can raise enough troops to equal two other kingdoms. Three if you're taking into consideration the low population of the north and dorne. They can easily crush the whole rebellion on their own with sheer numbers alone. Or so he thought at the beginning.

Before the rebels made contact with each other the plan was for the combined armies of the reach and dorne were to unite and destroy the stormlanders. Then they would meet with the royal army and destroy the enemy host residing in the Riverlands. Simple, easy, and done in a timely manner so they would be at home before the year ends.

Of course none expected the Storm host to move as quickly as it did. Before the banners even unite they discovered Robert Baratheon and thirty thousand stormlanders on their front yard. With quick battles he attacked them and the Martells and they didn't even get their chance to rendezvous. The sheer speed of which the storm gathered their banners was impressive but they believed it. What made them gobsmacked they found that even before they fell on the Reach they had time to stop at Griffon's roost and deal with the Conningtons who stayed loyal to the crown.

They suffered loss after loss and lost a good number of their levies. After they finally got together the situation didn't get much better. His cousin and liege lord Mace Tyrell was not a military strategist by any means. Thankfully lord Randyll Tarly, seven bless his soul took command and countered versus Robert Baratheon. The two armies met in a bloody battle that saw the fields being dyed red. But in the end it was finally their victory. But what a costly victory it was. Their mighty host lost almost half their numbers.

The Stormlanders were vicious that's for sure but they weren't the biggest issue. No that went to house Baratheon's personal men at arms. They would form ranks twice as fast as any other army even in the most chaotic of fields. when They held ground they were as sturdy as a wall and when they marched they moved as one. Lord Tarly quickly ordered the Calvary to charge them but the tough buggers withstood two bloody charges before the line collapsed. But even then they stood in smaller groups of three to five men each. They just didn't know when to give up! That night lord Tarly said he would have liked to have troops such as them. That was the closest thing to a compliment he heard from lord Tarly .

After the battle Robert Baratheon was stranded and went into a fortified position to lick his wounds. They had wanted to pursue but they were stopped by Jon Connington, the hand of the king back then. And he ordered them to continue forward and rendezvous wuth the rest of the loyalists while He and his army will deal with Baratheon.

Mace then decided that the best way to deliver the final nail in the rebellion's coffin was to capture the ancestral home of the Baratheons and by capturing Storm'send he'd secure his place as the only commander to never lose in the rebellion, taking credit for Randyll Tarly's victory. Paxter could only sigh at that. His cousin is making horrible mistakes and honestly, it's a wonder the Reach is still under Tyrell control. Hopefully aunt Olenna can patch things or gods help the Reach.

The army was more than happy to marchon the Storm lands and honestly, they wanted some payback for the bleeding that they suffered at Robert's hands since the beginning of the rebellion. That unfortunately was not to be. When they entered the stormlands they weren't met by villages and unsuspecting population. They were greeted by abandoned villages that were stripped of food and sometimes poisoned water wells that took few unfortunate poor souls. Hells at one point they saw a village that was burned to the ground so they wouldn't be able to take shelter in it .

Worst yet, they were pushed from ambush to ambush. Whenever they slept they were attacked by small number of assailants who would then disappear into the night. Lord Tarly had to setup extra patrols till the enemy finally stopped those cowardly tactics. It took them much longer to reach Storm's End because of that. And apparently the defenders took every possible second to horde food and evacuate the peasants to the castle's safety or other keeps around. They have prepared themselves for a long-term siege . that was obvious and so many lords advised to try to take the walls. But others thought that no matter how much food they stalked they wouldn't be able to feed themselves for long. Adding that to the fact that they took a large number of small folk into the castle and now have to feed them. This opinion actually made sense at the time.

Randyll Tarly kept his silence and didn't even bother to speak during the meeting, no doubt still fuming from the fact that Mace stolen his achievements. Himself and the hightowers supported the second option. Other lords wanted to storm the castle but none was louder than ser Raymous Florent. The younger brother of lord Florent lost his first son during the battle against Robert Baratheon and the younger to one of the ambushes on the road. He was absolutely mad with grief. So he went screaming at Mace, demanding they attack so he can pay blood with blood.

The Florents are one of the families with considerable strength in the Reach. But unlike the Hightowers an Redwynes they don't have any blood connecting them the Tyrells. So when the Florent went to demand an action, Mace, being the ….. unique …. lord he is . refused just to spite him, and boasted about his browses as a commander-much to Tarly's irritation- who has greater insight so he's to starve them out . and then the …. Oaf actually there is no other words for it. Rubbed salt into the man's wound by saying how only someone weak could have lost his life in those weak cowardly ambushes.

Then and there ser Raymous roared in anger and attempted to strike Mace down. Only to be restrained by his fellow knights and lords. That knight they had restrain him. That night many of the lords stayed in the Florent camp if only to stop ser Raymous from attacking the keep or worse, Mace on his own.

Aunt Olenna I don't know how you do it but we need you least that oaf dooms the Reach

And so they followed the plan. They closed off Storm's End and waited till the enemy starve, but like all plans they decided on since the beginning of this bloody campaign it turned less than satisfactory. They underestimated the defender's food supplies and a year later Paxter was regretting that decision. The defenders didn't show any signs of starvation. Sure they lost some of the excess fat around their faces but no signs of despair or even Energy loss . and to make matters worse a ship managed to slip pass the encirclement last night to smuggle food to the defenders. word of this already reached the camp. Oh he was not looking forward to tonight's meeting.

And it wasn't just the siege. All the rebellion changed drastically during this time. A year ago they had Robert Baratheon on the ropes and it would have taken just a little push to end it all. But the unthinkable happened, Edddard Stark lead the northern host and broke the Targaryan forces trying to box him in .he then proceeded to Join the knights of the vale. The combined host tore through and obstacles in their path till they reached Robert Baratheon and the remnants of his Stormlanders. Together they defeated Jon Connington and the war was once again anyone to win. And while all of this happened the oaf was happy to feast and have tourneys while relaxing on his ass. Normally he would defend his cousin in front of other lords. But he received a letter saying the iron born joined the rebels and started attacking the coasts of the Reach. Thankfully the shield islands and old town's defenses were able to hold them without significant damage. But then again he has to endure knowing pirates were attacking his home while he had the fleet blocking passage to ship breaker's bay. And even that is not working as a ship did pass through the blockade. He might as well have his men fish for all the good they were doing!.

The meeting was as expected. The lords who were for storming the keep were shouting. Those who were for starving the enemy were defending their option if only to keep the indignity from falling upon them. And Mace was in his own little world where he was the veteran commander leading his lords wisely in the war counsel. All of this was stopped by a thunderous "enough". The y all turned to face the haunted eyes of ser Raymous Florent. The year has not been kind to the old man. He didn't get any better after the death of his sons. If anything he got worse. the man Faced Mace and groweled " it's been a year Tyrell. A fucking year. When are you going to give the bloody attack sign so we can get some payback on those fucking storm shits or are you so fucking blinded by that blubber on your cheek that you can't see what right in your fucking face". Mace's hface turned red at that and shouted " how dare you I'm lord paramount of the Reach and warden of the south. I'm the only commander who is undefeated in this war. I'm the…."."what you are is an oaf who is happy to set hear feasting while the war is decided and my sons' killers watch you making a fool of every Reachman to ever walked this earth" yelled Florent at Mace's Face. "huh, you're just sour because unlike me who brought glory to my house. While yours doesn't have anything to show for their effort other than two cold bodies" 'oh you've done it now you oaf' Paxter thought .

"you son of a whore!" Raymous roared as he charged to strike at Mace. He was quickly restrained by the crowed however. they kept him at bay fearing he'd kill the oaf . Mace deflated immediately, not having realized how close he was to death till that very second. Paxter however had to act quickly, if he doesn't there was a chance the oaf would punish the fox knight and then that could make the Florent forces revolt. The best way to deal with the situation is that they let ser Raymous vent his anger in peace and for Mace to shut his mouth so he quickly made his mind and stepped forward and spoke " do not be insulted by lord Florent's actions my lord. He is grieving his sons and is prone to rashness." It would have been great to just end it there but the oaf had to open his mouth and say "it's not my fault his sons are dead. If he wants to blame someone blame the Baratheons and their men" 'why don't you know when to shut up'" He should be more courteous to his liege lord even in grief" " do not assume to know anything about my grief" ser Raymous roared and silence fell on the tent. ".. but you're right. It was the Baratheons that took my children. And since you're doing nothing I'll take matters into my own hands …. Your insults will not be forgotten lord Tyrell" he said as he turned and lift.

Paxter had a bad feeling about it. He asked the other lords to keep an eye on the Florents, but they all said they wouldn't do anything. He would have stationed his own men had they not been manning the fleet. So with one last disgust-filled look at Mace he returned to the fleet and hoped for the best.

The next morning witnessed an event that would be recorded in history books for the rest of their days. Paxter's bad feeling was true. The skies were covered in black clouds that threatened the coming of a storm. He went out from his chamber in his command ship to a sight that made him want to empty his stomach's content. On the ground in front of Storm's End was a clearing filled with mutilated bodies. Behind them the Florent men-at-arms formed a line that seemed to stop the rest of the Reach ground forces from the clearing. And in the middle of it stood two men, well more like one man and the other was kneeling. From the bloodied fox sigil on the back on the standing man he knew it was ser Raymous. Quickly grapping his far-seeer he look at the other man. He was shirtless, covered in wounds and bruises. When focusing on his face he found it somewhat familiar. He worked his memory the max before remembering who that man was. It was ser Ethan of blackhaven. One of the few knights they managed to capture a year ago when they managed to defeat Robert . he was somewhat memorable cause one of his men told him that he killed at least forty Reach solders before his capture, including five other knights. Suddenly Paxter froze as he realized who those bodies belonged to. "seven have mercy what have you done" he ordered that he's to be brought to land quickly. He raced and raced till he reached the army only to find himself stopped by the Florent men as well. He noticed the rest of the lords ordering and demanding the solders to open the path.

All stopped talking as they heard Raymous shouting at the keep " Baratheon show yourself." And sure enough. At the top the walls stood Stannis Baratheon who looked at the Florent with a stern face that did nothing to cover his anger. "Baratheon I challenge you to duel. Let's see how well you fair at true fighting not your cowards tactics. Now Baratheon, trial by combat, you and me right now". If looks can kill ser Raymous would be dead right there. All the men on the walls were giving him such blood curdling stares. Stannis spoke " you'd dare killing war hostages of noble birth and knights. Then come to us demanding a duel you honorless bastard!" Stannis roared the last part.

"Well I had to get your attention somehow. I noticed how you Baratheons look after your subjects. you wouldn't have used night raids to slow us down if not for wanting enough time for your small folk to evacuate. So I thought to myself what better way for you to take me seriously than gifting you with few lives of your people. Luckily we had few of those with the army I hope you like your gift" Florent said as he slit ser Ethan's throat.

"Well I didn't actually expect you to accept after the unchivalrous methods you used to kill my sons but know this Baratheon, I won't stop till A…." ser Raymous was interrupted by the sound of Storm's End's gates opening. From within emerged a small figure wearing some patched armor that was obviously too big for him and a helmet that sowed nothing but his eyes. It was a kid that couldn't be older than three and ten dragging a long sword that was even longer than him on the ground.

Silence dominated again till Stannis for the first time since the siege beginning lost his composure and shouted " what are you doing, get back here Renly." . so that kid was Renly Baratheon. Youngest of the Baratheon siblings and if rumors spoke true, the brightest of them. Renly ignored the yelling as he made his way forward and said words that shocked everyone that day "I accept"..

Shock… everybody was shocked into silence . it lasted for few seconds before ser Raymous started laughing loudly. It took him a minute to control himself and said "well aren't you precious, and what do you accept little boy, hmm?" if Renly was affected by the manner of speech he didn't show it. He replied with the same tone as before " I accept your challenge to the trial by combat. If I win I take your life and the bodies of my fallen men. If you win you take my life and my corpse after "

" hahahaha. You've got guts boy. But I didn't challenge you. I challenged your brother not you" " you called Baratheon. You didn't specify which one. Don't tell me you backing on your word now " the kid said, never once raising his voice but it was heard clearly by all. Paxter wondered what was going with this ridiculous situation but then something caught his attention. While all lords on the walls were shouting For Renly to come back he noticed Stannis Baratheon was looking distressed but kept quiet. on second inspection he noticed all men wearing Baratheon colors were looking alarmed but quite as well. Some of them didn't wvwn look worried! 'something is not right, but what'

"I will not have people call me a child slayer. Leave boy while I'm feeling generous"

" yes I suppose you wouldn't fight me. Your more into attacking bound hostages who can't fight back with a group of your men to hold your hands for you so you wouldn't get hurt" and with these words the smile disappeared from ser Raymous's face. ".. of course the mighty ser Florent can't take on a child on his own. What if he got hurt. He might cry himself to sleep and we don't want that do we". Red started to cover ser Raymous's face then. ".. and what if you needed to relive yourself, who will hold your pants and tell you where to aim. You might sully yourself then. No it is too dangerous t send you on your own. You can have a guard with to help you. Ehhm yes, that sounds fair right" the face that was red turned purple after hearing that. But it seems Renly wasn't done " you will not have people call you a child slayer. Why bother, it's not like your reputation can get any worse. After all. All now knows house Florent wouldn't fight unless the opponent is bound, armless and weakened" " I'm at my the end of my patience, don't push me bastard" ser Raymous roared. His face purple and shaking in anger.

" but then again, it might be the only way for a Florent to win a fight. I mean no half-decent warrior would die in simple night raid. Oh, there was that one report about our men coming across a group of solders fucking each other before they killed them. Perhaps one of them was your son?" asked the child with fake wonderment that was more than enough to push the fox beyond the breaking point.

" you're dead you son of a whore" shouted ser Raymous as he charged Renly. Paxter felt a stone drop in his stomach. The knowledge that now the Reach will be known as an army of child slayers was not the reason he lift his home. And sure enough he saw Renliy drop his sword. But just as he prepared himself to see a massacre the kid who was supposed to be shaking in fear simply reach to his back and pulled a weird looking crossbow. It had a barrel-like thing that covered the stringed arrow. He simply aimed it at ser Raymous's leg and the arrow shot. Ser Raymous, not expecting a crossbow bolt in a duel didn't have the time to dodge at such close range. Fortunately the armor held and the bolt didn't penetrate t it, it just hit it before pouncing off it. Unfortunately the hit made ser Raymous stumble and fall face first on the ground. he quickly tried to stand but to his-and everyone's-surprise. Another bolt came towards him. Renly just stood there after he fired the first boltstill maintaining his aim while the barrel thing rotated and the bow was stringed again. He waited till ser Florent was on his knees before releasing again at the downed man's head. Ser Raymous showing extraordinary reflexes managed to lift his shied in the way before the bolt found his forehead. The shield took the bolt but it was pushed above his head by the momentum as he didn't have time to brace himself. It seemed that Renly wasn't finished as he still maintained aim. But just before he released the third bolt, he changed target from the head to the left shoulder. The bolt buried itself if there the the knight's shied arm fell uselessly to his side.

' what kind of crossbow is that' Paxter thought to himself. He noticed Renly finally put it aside before he reached to the sword. And the same sword that was dragged on the floor a moment ago flowed through the air easily as Renly took an unfamiliar battle stance. He was crouching slightly while the sword was held on the same level of his right shoulder and the tip pointing to ser Raymous (see the warden battle stance in the game For Honor). And before any could realize it, the attack came. Faster and stronger than anyone thought a child capable of. The fox knight didn't even have the time to scream from his now useless hand as he moved quickly to block the flurry of sword strikes. But for everyone he blocked, two others got pass his defense. So he was pushed back, barely able to bloke life threating attacks while he was slowly being covered with flesh wounds.

The demon didn't stop as his attacks got faster and faster. Ser Raymous tried to send some counterattacks only for them to blocked or dodged. He even tried to get inside his enemy's defense to gain the advantage against the long reach of his opponent used only to find the Baratheon's left shoulder colliding with his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs and forcing him a few steps back. He couldn't do anything as his opponent spun around himself delivering a devastating heavy attack that broke through his plate armor and left a wound across his chest. The onslaught continued till the Baratheon delivered a heavy strike that sent ser Raymous's sword flying.

The older knight was on his knees. The Baratheon had his right hand on the handle of his sword and his left holding the middle of it as he charged to stab the fox lord in the face when the Florent brought his injured hand to intercept the attack. He got it pierced through but managed to divert the stab away from his face. He used his other hand to quickly draw the dagger he had hidden on his back and proceeded to stab the Baratheon in his left side while he was off balance.

There were many emotions that were conveyed on people's faces then. The horror the defenders. The delight for ser Raymous and the Florents. And unbelieving for the Reach lords who most of them still couldn't comprehend the child in front of them fought like a beast, let alone the final counter of ser Raymous. All those emotions turned to shock as instead of falling to the ground, Renly let out a loud roar and head-butted the Reach knight sending him to the ground on his back. The lightning flashed and thunder was heard in the back-ground. Renly straddled the downed man and proceeded to punch his face with both hands till it was a bloody mess. He then reached for his sword and severed his head.

The kid stood up. Gripped the dagger sticking out of his abdomen and yanked it out. He then took off his helmet and glared at the Reach army intensely with lighting flashing behind him and thunder rumbling around him. It was like facing the full wrath of a storm, and in that moment none were able to move. Not the Reach army, Florents or even the defenders of Storm's End. It was like a spell was cast on them.

Rain started to fall down and people started to come to their senses. Renly glared for a few extra seconds before turning around. He dragged his blade like before, picked up the crossbow and made his way back to the keep. A group of the defenders came out as well and took the bodies of their fallen comrades. no one moved to stop them from the Reach army. All had one picture in mind. It was of a boy killing a knight many times his age. They all knew that they witnessed history.

Few days later news of the rebels victory at the trident and death of prince Rhegar reached them. A month after they were visited by Eddard Stark who told them of the fall of king's landing and death of Aerys. He demanded they break the siege in the name of king Robert Baratheon first of his name.

Mace agreed and so the siege ended. Eddard Stark met Stannis who offered the northern party hospitality at Storm's End but they denied as they had other matters to attend to and that he didn't want to further burden there supplies especially after such a long siege they suffered. Mace tried to curry favor with the new king's brothers by offering to deliver food to the castle but Stannis told him to fuck off.

And like that they returned home. And if there is one thing Paxter learned from this expedition. It is that the Storm Lands not only have fearsome armies, but even more fearsome lords.

Journal Entry 283 AC

Renly

So the siege happened. I don't know if training the men with the Chinese Units system has made a difference in the grand scheme of things or not. I'd like to think it made our forces more formidable but as the only ones who trained that way are the Baratheon forces it's more likely that it was just my wishful thinking.

What really helped out was the early call of the banners. Robert having an army faster than the original timeline allowed him to quickly take griffon's roost and disperse the loyalists before they gather their forces. We lucked out that their arrogance made them complacent so for the first few months they didn't even know what hit them.

I don't know how long the original siege lasted but I prepared enough food to last eight thousand men for two years. I thought even with the small folk evacuation we wouldn't pass that number but ooh and behold; we had eleven thousand camped in our castle. Perhaps a thorough census is needed in the future. Well we were lucky enough the siege didn't last more than a year and few months.

Either way, the food hording and evacuation order won me the favor of both nobles and commoners alike. Good , I'll need that in the future.

On a happy note, I got Davos! The fact we weren't starving didn't put Stannis in a very forgiving mood. So when the smuggler came he didn't feel like sparing him. I intervened to spar his life. So while Stannis still toke from his fingers I gained one of the few decent and loyal men in Westross.

On a not so happy note. We lost ser Luke when Robert lost and ser Ethan to the Florent Bastardry! That family is officially on my shit list.

On an absolutely terrible note. My anger issues have spiraled out of control. I mean why else would I do something do stupid like leaving the safety of the keep fight a duel to the death and sod the consequences. I finally found the reason though … you guessed it :the bloody Baratheon fury. That's actually a thing. Who would have demon thought it huh! I thought it was a berserker like state but apparently many a Baratheon showed a fury that didn't impair their ability of rational thinking and other than wanting an unexplained urge to do something irrational they don't show the berserker signs. Like for example wanting to fight a knight who's stronger and more experienced than you but having the presence of mind to taunt him into a trap.

On the plus side. The crossbow worked awesomely. Also my display won me even greater respect from the lords and commoners. I have to stay in bed for a while but I'm thankful for being alive. I need to up my martial training.

But as I reflect on it that was actually cool as shit! I took a dagger and shrugged it off like a BOSS. I rock. Next time I be sure to remember to through a badass quote like Thanos's 'should have gone for the head' or Dracula's 'you can't kill me. I'm already dead' or …..

…..

…..

…..

Did I just think of what to say the next time I get myself stabbed…. I think I'm going crazy

R.B 283 AC

a longer than normal chapter. hope you enjoy

+ a lot of people are not happy saying that Stannis in the book is not a crazy psycho and he is the rightful king and Renly shouldn't trat him like that and much more. well guys the MC didn't actually read the book. he didn't even the show so his opinion of Stannis is based on TV version.

+ still waiting for someone who is willing to fix the spelling and grammar mistakes in the previous chapters

THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT. HOPE YOU ENJOY THE CHAPTER.