The Riverlands was a crossroads of war. Over the centuries, the Arryns to the east, the Starks to the north, the Baratheons to the south, and the Lannisters and Greyjoys to the west had all eyed the Riverlands with predatory hunger.
Tywin Lannister, in particular, burned with a relentless, fiery ambition for dominance.
As the premier fortress of the Riverlands, Harrenhal naturally enjoyed the "privilege" of this geography. Whenever civil war erupted, blood invariably flowed like rivers beneath its walls.
Under the sunlight, the Gods Eye looked like a massive, glittering sapphire hammered into the earth.
With no pressing matters today, they went boating.
Arthur Whent, Ser Lucas Dayne, and their squires drifted leisurely across the great lake. Not far off, black swans glided freely across the blue water—a picture of absolute tranquility. As a child, Arthur had swum in the Gods Eye; it was undeniably one of the most scenic spots on the continent.
But Arthur had plans to build a new Harrenhal, which meant he would eventually need land, sea, and air forces.
Gazing out over the blue expanse, Arthur said, "The lands around Harrenhal have seen massive campaigns time and time again. The history of this place is the history of war."
Ever since Harrenhal's foundation was laid, it had been a highly contested strategic choke point.
After Aegon the Conqueror won the Battle of the Reeds near the Gods Eye, Harren the Black's two sons launched an immediate counterattack, mobilizing their longship fleet. However, as the Hoare brothers rowed their longships across the Gods Eye, they suffered a devastating blow from House Targaryen, taking massive casualties. When they attempted to retreat back across the lake, the dragon Balerion intercepted and killed them both. This became known as the Battle of the Wailing Willows.
During the cruel reign of Maegor the Cruel, Maegor personally descended upon Harrenhal and slaughtered its inhabitants.
During the Dance of the Dragons, Harrenhal was once again the eye of the storm. Daemon Targaryen captured the fortress from the sky, a victory that swung the momentum of the entire Riverlands in favor of the Blacks. The Blacks subsequently won the battles at the Burning Mill and Stone Hedge. The Battle by the Lakeshore was fought on the western banks of the Gods Eye, while the Butcher's Ball took place to the south.
"The most famous clashes, however, have to be the two decisive battles over the Gods Eye, both of which were fought between uncle and nephew," Ser Lucas said, his voice thick with emotion. "The first was the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye, and the second was the Dance over Harrenhal. Dragon fighting dragon. A civil war of monsters."
The Battle Beneath the Gods Eye took place just south of the lake, and it was an absolute massacre. Maegor the Cruel, riding Balerion the Black Dread, dove from above onto Prince Aegon and Quicksilver. Balerion's jaws clamped around the smaller dragon's neck, and his claws ripped a wing clean off. Balerion was four times Quicksilver's size, far more vicious, and infinitely more experienced. The nephew was simply no match for the uncle. The young she-dragon shrieked as she plummeted from the sky in a trail of smoke, taking Aegon "the Uncrowned" down to his death. With that act, Maegor became the first kinslayer of the Targaryen dynasty.
The Dance over Harrenhal took place directly above the Gods Eye and was a much more evenly matched duel. Aemond One-Eye's mistress, Alys Rivers, watched the whole thing unfold. Daemon's dragon, Caraxes, was half the size of Vhagar but far more ferocious and agile, whereas Vhagar was massive but relatively sluggish. Daemon's combat experience also vastly outweighed his one-eyed nephew's.
When the two great dragons took to the sky, evening had fallen, and the sun was nearing the horizon. The shrieks and roars of the beasts could be heard for miles around. In the final moments of the clash, Daemon leapt from his saddle, drew Dark Sister, and drove the Valyrian steel blade through his nephew's blind eye and out the back of his throat. Both dragons then crashed into the Gods Eye.
Later, the dragon bones were dredged up from the lake and sent to King's Landing—they were, after all, the property of the dragonlord dynasty.
"It is not we who march toward war, but war that marches toward us," Arthur noted, convinced this was the very philosophy of Harrenhal's existence.
In the center of the lake, Arthur spotted a densely wooded island: the Isle of Faces. This island was one of the extremely rare places in the southern half of Westeros where weirwood trees still grew. Nearly everywhere else, the weirwoods had been chopped down and burned.
At the end of the Dawn Age, the First Men and the Children of the Forest fought a war that raged for centuries. Eventually, the wise leaders of both sides met on the Isle of Faces and forged the Pact, ending the conflict. The sacred order of the Green Men was officially founded to guard this southern sanctuary of weirwoods. Out of respect for the ancient treaty and fear of the old legends, very few people ever dared to visit the island.
"There it is. The Isle of Faces," Arthur pointed out to Ser Lucas.
"The home of the Green Men," Ser Lucas murmured, gazing at the distant speck of land.
"People say the Green Men are there, but rarely does anyone ever set foot on it. They say the place is full of strange magic," Wylis piped up.
"It's strange because the weirwoods are still there. The Green Men uphold the Pact, but no one has actually seen what a Green Man looks like," Lucas Roote added.
Someone had to have gone up there, and the "Green Men" were definitely real. But it seemed they rarely interfered in mortal affairs; even Harren the Black hadn't dared to provoke them. Ned Stark's closest friend, Howland Reed, had spent time on the island. Arthur guessed that, aside from the noble knight Addam Velaryon, the Lord of the Neck Howland Reed, and the witch-queen Alys Rivers, the Child of the Forest known as "Leaf"—currently hiding Beyond the Wall—had also visited the isle.
Arthur's boat was slightly larger than an Ironborn longship, about a dozen meters in length. The sail bore the black bat of House Whent. The oarsmen rowed with practiced strength, their strokes timed to the rhythmic beat of the rowing master's drum. It looked a bit like a dragon boat race—one drumbeat uniting the strength of many.
Yes, House Whent had its own navy: the Gods Eye Fleet.
It was a miniature fleet, consisting primarily of longships designed to patrol the lake. Because the river mouth leading into Crackclaw Point was winding and narrow, trade there was relatively light. As a result, House Whent hadn't built any major seaports at the estuary, and their fleet remained a collection of longships and smaller vessels.
While the Gods Eye Fleet technically served a military purpose, it spent most of its time ferrying passengers and making money. The lake was safe; there were no river pirates, and the waters were usually calm. Profit was the primary objective.
The shores were dotted with farms and fishing villages—mostly thatched cottages, with a few stone-roofed houses mixed in. All the inhabitants were vassals of House Whent. Furthermore, settlements like Harrentown and Harrenhal on the northern shore, Gods Eye Town on the southern shore, and the Third New Whitewalls on the eastern shore relied heavily on the water routes for communication and transport.
It wasn't just House Whent; almost any Westerosi lord whose lands touched the sea or a major river maintained some kind of fleet, though their sizes varied wildly. (Setting aside the two most notorious ship-burning houses, Stark and Martell, of course.) Even Bear Island and Tarth had their own fleets, though compared to a behemoth like the Redwyne Fleet, they looked like toys, often padded out with simple longships to make up the numbers.
"House Whent's fleet is on the smaller side, mostly consisting of longships," Arthur explained to Ser Lucas.
Longships were primarily associated with the Ironborn, but other houses used them too. After all, not every river was as massive and deep as the Rhoyne.
"I noticed. They're all longships, but they're more than sufficient for rivers and lakes," Ser Lucas replied.
House Dayne possessed its own port, merchant vessels, and warships, putting their naval power significantly ahead of House Whent's.
Longships were characterized by being long, narrow, and light. Their wooden hulls had incredibly shallow drafts, designed specifically to optimize speed. A longship could travel twice as fast as a standard flat-bottomed merchant barge. Because of their shallow draft, longships could navigate waters just three feet deep, allowing them to make amphibious landings on almost any beach or shoal. Their light weight meant they could be picked up and portaged over land, much like a kayak. And because the bow and stern were symmetrical, a longship could reverse direction instantly without needing to turn around.
"Wylis," Arthur tested. "Tell me, how are the fleets of Westeros ranked?"
Wylis laughed. "You can't stump me with that, Arthur. The big three are the Royal Fleet, the Iron Fleet, and the Redwyne Fleet. The Iron Fleet's ships are smaller than the war galleys of the green lands, but they're three times the size of a standard Ironborn longship. Below the big three are the Lannisport Fleet, the Oldtown Fleet, and the Gulltown Fleet. Word has it White Harbor maintains a few warships, too."
Aside from White Harbor's somewhat negligible navy, those made up the "Big Three and Small Three" fleets of Westeros.
However, Tywin Lannister wouldn't be laughing much longer; the Crow's Eye was about to deal him a savage blow.
The Riverlands, the Reach, and the Vale were incredibly well-rounded regions, boasting both major port cities and substantial naval forces.
Arthur smiled. "Warships follow the deepwater ports. Here, we only have longships."
He lacked the conditions to build a true seagoing fleet at the moment. He didn't have the coin or a major port, and navies were notorious money pits. Robert had burned through a staggering amount of gold rebuilding the Royal Fleet.
But for preparing against the upcoming Greyjoy Rebellion, longships would do just fine.
In the past, the Ironborn had dragged their longships overland to raid the Riverlands. Now, Arthur was plotting a reverse-sweep to hit the Ironborn using the exact same method.
Arthur was accumulating coin rapidly. But honor and glory? That required blood, fire, and opportunity. If you wanted to make a name for yourself, you had to do it early.
For Arthur, the Greyjoy Rebellion was a ready-made buffet of military merit just waiting to be claimed. He absolutely could not miss out on the kills and the prestige.
The Ironborn were the mortal enemies of the Riverlands.
And Balon Greyjoy was an insufferable lunatic, hopelessly drunk on dreams of the Old Way.