The battle for Armory - Lord kingraghnar does not give in

It is the year 305, after Aegon's conquest. Strictly speaking, it is the 14th day of the second moon. The day is slowly coming to an end, but there is still another battle ahead of us. On the towers of Pyke we gather our warriors once again for another round of Siege of Winterfell. Our 5th round in the Super League and I have to say we're not doing too bad. We have already achieved 3 wins and thus secured the season's rewards. Everything that came now was just a little bonus. The atmosphere was relaxed and our warriors now felt almost as comfortable on Pyke as they did in their own castles. And today the God of the Sea also meant well for us. Although it was still cold because the winter just didn't want to go away completely, today it wasn't raining and the wind was only a light breeze. From the airy bridges I glanced over the battlefield. Winterfell rose majestically in the center, bathed in beautiful colors by the setting sun. And a little further, but no longer visible, was the Black Fortress. Our today's opponent prepared there. Actually not unknown.

Tdr was not entirely unknown to us. Let me tell you a little bit about it: A few years back, in a kingdom not too far away, I met a really impressive warrior. His name was Clark and we spent many evenings together around the campfire, went hunting together or met in the tavern. He even joined our team a few times, but his heart was always with his alliance: Tdr.

It was on a similar evening like today when he approached us with a bold proposal. However, we had already had our battle behind us and were narrowly defeated. We were only able to get a small number of warriors into the round and this has been happening more and more frequently lately. We sat depressed in the tavern after the battle, the beer didn't really taste good and an oppressive silence hung in the air. Only Lord Clark looked nervous. He shifted in his chair, taking breaths as if he wanted to say something, but then didn't. After a while I was so annoyed that I actually hissed at him: “Clark, spit it out or keep it to yourself, but stop fidgeting around here like a 5 year old.” He looked at me with wide eyes, but he wasn’t one, who allowed himself to be intimidated and so he burst out: “We should merge with Tdr!” He immediately had the full attention of all the warriors around us. He took a deep breath and then spoke: “Tdr and TgL are so similar. Both have great people, fighting for the team and respect is more important than victory. But those kind of people are rare in Westeros and so both alliances are lacking the people to perform better. The last battle has shown that and you all know it, that is why you are so sad right now. We have been stronger and better organized. Only 5 more warriors and we would celebrate a victory right now. And exactly the same is happening in Tdr, so it is just logical!”

Silence again. Yes he was right, but I wasn't in the mood to think about a merger. So my answer was simple: “I’ll think about it.” With these words I got up, left the tavern and went to my castle. Yes, Clark was right. For months we tried to find warriors who  fit into our ranks, but either they wanted to achieve more than we could or they were selfish and only interested in their own gain. A merge was necessary if we wanted to continue to assert ourselves in Westeros, but we had tried it many times and almost always failed. Too different views or too many leaders, none of whom were willing to give up their position. I spent almost as many hours at the negotiating table as I did on the battlefield and didn't feel even half as comfortable there. And yet, the next morning I set out to pay a visit to the Duchess of Tdr.

Lady Lyianne received me warmly in the great hall of her castle. Of course, Clark had already informed her too. We discussed various options over a good glass of wine. In fact, we were both in very similar situations. The two of us had a long-standing alliance. Neither of us had the warriors to fight the big battles, both of us had been having problems recruiting new warriors for our ranks for months. And neither of us were willing to give up our alliances. And so I rode back home that same evening. Although we hadn't found an agreement, new contacts never hurt in Westeros. So there was no merge, but Lady Lyianne and kept in touch for a while until we completely lost touch.

I was very much looking forward to seeing her again on the battlefield this evening, but unfortunately I found that Lady Lyianne was no longer to be found in the ranks of Tdr. Really unfortunately? Humanly, yes, but our chances of winning today increased enormously. Because as I learned, Lady Lyianne ultimately agreed to a merge with a heavy heart and joined the BuN alliance just a few weeks ago. Some of the strongest fighters have changed with her. Although Tdr still brought a good number of warriors onto the field, we were hopeful that they wouldn't simply overrun us. Shortly before the battle a raven from Lord Clark reached me:

So eagerly we awaited the start. The sun was setting and the battlefield was plunged into shadow. We knew our goals, every warrior was highly focused. The horses pranced excitedly. First destinations Hot Spring and Armory. On the one hand, to get the blessing that our troops will recover more quickly, and on the other hand, to give them more attack power. Finally, the signal. We rushed off. With half an eye I tried to see where Tdr was going. They also divided their forces and more torches were on their way to Hot Springs. But how wrong should I be here...

We reached Hot Springs first, but resistance from Tdr was massive. They kept sending new warriors, so we were neither able to advance to the base nor could our warriors make their way to Winterfell. Steel struck steel, dragon fire rained down on us, arrows flew through the air. This doesn't feel like a walkover at all...

But what I didn't know at that time was, that things looked even worse on the other side of the battlefield. Although there were fewer warriors heading towards the Armory, they were extremely well trained and it takes 3 of our warriors to defeat one of them. It was a massacre. The earth turned red with the blood of the soldiers. But there is a warrior in our ranks who cannot be discouraged by defeat.

kingraghnar came to us a few months ago, through, of all things, a merge. I have the utmost respect that he chose to dissolve his alliance and join us, knowing that many of his comrades did not speak the common tongue and we will always need help in communication. But our cooperation got better day by day and we are now a family. From the beginning, I entrusted king to cast Armory and he has never disappointed me. He didn't shy away from any fight, faced every challenge and today he showed again that he was exactly the right person for the job.

After the first defeat, king reassembles all the warriors assigned to him. No running headlong into the middle of the enemy's ranks. No, king knew we had to face him as one, but he also knew that we couldn't spare a warrior on the other side. So he set off again, his armor shining in the torchlight, the hooves drumming on the ground. Of course Tdr heard us coming, but they didn't expect such a targeted attack. King did not send our soldiers head-on against the enemy, but rather we surrounded them and attacked from all sides at the same time. Once again there was a sound of steel on steel, the war roar of the soldiers echoed up to us and the dragons lit up the night with their fire. King didn't know what the battle was like on the rest of the field. For him there was only this one fight. He had his job and he would do it. Warrior after warrior was surrounded and attacked. king was extremely deliberate and ensured that the targets were isolated from each other. Despite the cool weather, sweat ran down his forehead. He always fought in the front row. He does not expect any sacrifice from his warriors that he would not make himself. A role model that only a few exist in Westeros.

The fight dragged on. While we on the other side continued to try to secure the healing blessing and another squad collected the resources by all possible means, king continually repositioned his soldiers and rode determinedly out onto the battlefield. He blocked out the memories of lost battles, he ignored the soldiers who had already fallen, he only had one goal. And his strategy worked. Tdr sent fewer and fewer soldiers towards the Armory and the number of opponents on the rest of the field also became smaller. King and his army had inflicted massive damage on the enemy and fewer and fewer soldiers were willing to ride onto the battlefield again. But it's best to take a look at it for yourself.

In the end, not only did we win, but we also got the maximum number of points of 80k. Rarely have we had to fight so hard to achieve this goal and even though we could only do it as a team, we knew that a very special part in this victory belonged to Lord Kingraghnar. Modest as he was, after the battle he praised his comrades accordingly and credited him with all the success. And yet I saw a flash of pride in his eyes. For as humble as he was, he knew as well as I did that this success would not have been possible with another commander on the side. And so after our 4th victory in the Super League we moved back to our kingdom. With the certainty that we didn't have to hide and that everyone in our family has an important role and is responsible for everyone's success. No matter what awaited us in the last match, we belonged in this league and would hold our own.