Sack of Duskendale
| Sack of Duskendale | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | Dance of the Dragons | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | 129 AC | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Duskendale | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Victory for the greens | ||||||||||||||||
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The sack of Duskendale took place at Duskendale in the crownlands during the Dance of the Dragons.[1]
Contents
Prelude
Following the assault on Harrenhal, the Battle of the Burning Mill, and the taking of Stone Hedge, King Aegon II Targaryen stripped Ser Otto Hightower of his title of Hand of the King and granted it to Ser Criston Cole, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Criston advised moving against the "traitors" that had bent the knee to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. While House Velaryon and House Celtigar were unreachable, the "black" lords whose land were on the mainland had no protection against Aegon's loyalists.[1]
First they reached Rosby and Stokeworth, whose lords were blacks but had been captured in King's Landing during the initial coup, and agreed to bend the knee in order to spare their own lives. Having secured their submission, Aegon II's host passed bloodlessly through both castles and even added their strength to his own. In addition to dragons, Aegon II and Criston Cole marched out of King's Landing with 100 knights, 500 men-at-arms, and three times as many sellswords: thus about 2,400 in total. The forced addition of men from Rosby and Stokeworth would have increased this to slightly under 3,000 men by the time they reached Duskendale.[1]
Battle
While Duskendale was a walled port town, it was caught completely by surprise and unprepared. It quickly fell to Aegon II's forces and was sacked, while the ships at the harbor were set afire. Lord Gunthor Darklyn was beheaded for treason. Most of his household knights submitted to Aegon, although a few decided to follow Gunthor in death.[1]
Aftermath
After the sack was complete, Criston moved the loyalist forces to Rook's Rest, seat of House Staunton. Unlike Duskendale, by this time they had forewarning of Aegon II's advance and barred the castle gates, leading to a siege while the greens despoiled the surrounding lands. This climaxed in the large Battle of Rook's Rest.[1]
References
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