The War in the Pass

The War in the Pass was a conflict between Dorne and the combined forces of The Kingdom of the Reach and the Kingdom of the Stormlands. It stemmed from an incident at Skyreach that left a notable caravan of merchants from the Reach prisoners of the Lord Fowler and their goods and treasures taken.

Prelude
The early years of 86 AD were quiet as they had been, though trouble would arise suddenly in an unexpected way. A trade caravan had made its way through the Stormlands and the Reach and turned south into Dorne, intent on following the Prince’s Pass before making its way to Starfall and eventually to Sunspear and Planky Town. The caravan and it’s guards made a stop at Kingsgrave before moving on to Skyreach, where they were received by Lord Fowler and his family. The Lord of Skyreach was curious about the traders and invited some of them into his castle for dinner. Though what exactly happened during the course of that dinner is not known as there are varying sources, what is known is that one of the traders, a well respected merchant of Oldtown, apparently insulted Lord Fowler and was immediately thrown into the dungeons of Skyreach. When the other men protested, they were also thrown into the dungeons. Outside, the caravan waited when suddenly knights and spearmen emerged from the castle and attacked them. Most surrendered and were taken prisoner, those that resisted were killed. A few managed to slip away into the night and ride back north towards the Reach.

Tales of Lord Fowler’s attack on the merchants spreads quickly through the Reach and reaches the ear of the King Luthor Gardener. He writes to Prince Morgan Martell, demanding that he punish his vassal for the transgressions against the merchants and that he expected all of the caravan’s goods returned along with more gold compensation, as Lords Hightower and Florent had investments that were taken from the caravan. Prince Morgan’s response was not enough for King Luthor, though he stated that he would investigate the ongoing events at Skyreach, Luthor took it as a dismissal of his words and ordered Lords Tarly and Peake to assemble a host at the edge of the Prince’s Pass.

The Lords in the Red Mountains would raise their own men as word reached them of the assembling hosts of the Marcher Lords in the Reach, leading Prince Morgan to order Dorne to a state of readiness. The Tarly and Peake troops would march down the Prince’s Pass and hostilities would commence, with cooperation from the Stormlands, with Lord Caron working with the Reachmen to give their knowledge of the Pass for their campaign.

The First Battle of the Pass
The first battle of the conflict would take place two days into the march of the Reachmen into the Prince’s Pass. They were met with forces of House Manwoody and House Fowler, skirmishing with them for a time before the Dornish withdrew back into the mountains and with only minor casualties on both sides.

The Battle of Kingsgrave
Being hindered by raids by the Dornishmen, the Reach army continued forward towards their first objective, Kingsgrave. Lord Tarly brought his army within sight of the castle where they were met once again by the forces of House Manwoody and House Fowler. This time, as Lord Manwoody was defending his castle, they held their ground against the Reachmen and while they held for a time, Lord Peake managed to break their lines and forced the men back to Kingsgrave. With word of reinforcements marching south from Ashford and Highgarden, the Reachmen left a token force to besiege Kingsgrave while he continued his force south towards his ultimate goal of Skyreach.

The Battle of Skyreach
Lord Fowler’s men retreated south to Skyreach and were met by the spears of Lords Blackmont and Dayne and the Knight of High Hermitage. Fortifying their position, the lords waited for the Reachmen to come while the Knight of High Hermitage led raiding parties hampering their progress even more. Lord Tarly was injured during a raid but pressed forward, meeting the renewed Dornish force in a heated battle below Skyreach. Lord Peake would lose one of his sons in the opening charge while Lord Hunt would be killed by Lord Dayne. The Dornish spears proved too much for the Reachmen and they were forced back north, as more Dornish spears appeared from the desert with the scorpions of House Qorgyle and the flames of House Uller.

Reinforcements and Allies
Lord Tarly’s early success had inspired King Luthor to assemble a host of his own and ride south to attack the Dornish. At the same time, word came from Storm’s End that Durrandon had taken interest in the conflict and wished to aid them, sending men and supplies towards Nightsong for the Reachmen. In the east, the Boneway was fortified by Houses Wyl and Yronwood and Lord Dondarrion reported that it was nigh on impossible to attack that way, thus forcing those Stormlords that wished to fight to have to go through the Prince’s Pass as well, though some skirmishes would take place near the mouth of the Boneway during the conflict.

The Second Battle of the Pass
With more men joining the Dornish army, Lord Tarly’s retreat to the north hastened, though he continued to lose more and more men every day from the guerrilla attacks. The men at Kingsgrave abandoned their siege and rejoined the retreating army as they made their way north. The armies of Dorne caught up with the Reachmen and forced a battle between them, what came to be known as the Second Battle of the Pass. While they forced the Reachmen to continue north, the Dornish failed to rout them and break their formations, losing Lord Qorgyle in the process. The remains of Lord Peake and Lord Tarly’s army would return to Nightsong five days later.

The Interregnum
The return of the Tarly army coincided with the arrival of the Stormlander host under King Arlan VI Durrandon and the host of King Luthor. The two regions would prepare their men, though it would also give the Dornish time to prepare as well, as Prince Morgan and his spears had finally reached the Red Mountains along with Houses Toland, Jordayne, and Vaith.

The Second Push
With King Luthor at the head of the much larger army, the combined Reach/Stormlands host advanced down the Prince’s Pass once again and came under heavy attack from raids during the day and the night. Reports of the lands around Nightsong being raided as well as the lands of House Tarly seeing some farms burned concerned the King but he pressed onward, trying to find the main Dornish host.

The Battle of Salt and Sand
The two armies would finally meet just before Kingsgrave as the sun reached its zenith in the sky. King Luthor ordered his cavalry to charge the Dornish and thrice they were repelled by the spearmen. Finally, the King himself joined the fourth charge just before the sun set and managed to break the front lines of spears though they found themselves subject to a countercharge by the cavalry of the Dornish, lead by Lords Dayne and the Heir of Yronwood. While they withstood the charge, their lines were in a disarray and the infantry under Prince Morgan and Lord Fowler advanced, forcing them back as the darkness overtook the land. The next two days saw the two armies hammer back and forth at one another to little avail. On the third day, a sandstorm blew up out of the south and blanketed both armies and halted all hostilities as the men attempted to shelter for the night. While many died in the battles before, more still on both sides would die choking on sand as the winds howled around them.

The Peace
The morning after the sandstorm, Prince Morgan Martell rode forth under a peace banner to the lines of the allied Reach/Stormlands lines and met with King Luthor and King Arlan. The two men discussed terms and came to an agreement. Lord Fowler would forfeit the stolen goods, at least as much as could be found. The Prince refused to execute the man, as Lord Fowler was his goodbrother, and instead made a pact with Luthor that Dorne would never again harass merchants and traders so long as they continued to do their business in Dorne.