Post by The Stranger on Aug 6, 2008 10:25:49 GMT -5
Rhaegar continued to pace the battlements of Dragonstone every morning, looking out to sea. In the distance the enemy ships of Redwyne’s blockade continued to patrol Dragonstone’s waters. Rhaegar knew the ships were full of soldiers, but so far they had made no move to land on the island. That meant of course that his men were free to use the resources of the island as much as they liked. And used them Rhaegar had. Everyday the piles of stockpiled stone quarried from the side of the Dragonmont...basalt and obsidan (or dragonglass as it was also known) within the citadel grew higher. Even as it was stockpiled it was used almost immediately
A small army of stone masons and other assistants worked day and night. Rhaegar had spent hours reading his late cousin’s Avery’s notes. He had had copies made and distributed to his stone masons and carpenters. Rhaegar had spent hours with Avery learning and discussing the art of fortification. To his regret Rhaegar remembered that he had quickly become impatient and bored when Avery had animatedly discussed architecture and fortification with his masons, much preferring to be out on a boat the wind whistling through his long hair and the sea spray in his face. However since he had assumed command at Dragonstone and since the blockade had begun he had thanked the Seven daily for what Avery had taught him.
Rhaegar had been even motivated to read some of the books in the Citadel library. The Strength of Armies by Maester Cui had been one of Avery’s favorites. Rhaegar thought it ponderous, but at last he could see what the Maester was talking about when he applied it to Dragonstone.
Dragonstone's masons and engineers, personally supervised by Rhaegar himself, had long completed a thorough survey of the most probable routes of attack for an invading army attempting to land on Dragonstone island. While an individual person could potentially cross anywhere, an army of thousands of men attacking the citadel had only three feasible paths of entry through the steep terrain up to the walls of the castle. Clearly any attack from the direction of the smoking Dragonmont was out of the question, but the opposite direction was far more vulnerable.
His cousin Avery had spent hours studying the the advanced, Valyrian techniques of masonry the written records of which, had been largely lost in the Doom. Luckily for Rhaegar, Avery had had his scribes make copious notes and there were old notes in the library dating from Aegon the Conqueror's days. Despite the loss of many of these ancient works, the techniques of Valyrian masonry was very evident in the walls of Dragonstone causing it to look unique among all the castles in Westeros. Now Rhaegar read his cousin’s notes and gave copies to his stonemasons, asking them to act upon the comments and improve the defences where they could, based on his cousin's recommendations and plans.
Before his death, Avery had designed an innovative solution in defending the approaches to the Citadel. Using the rocky terrain as a natural wall, three small stone hold fasts close to the sea, one on each of the main paths that would allow the easy access of an enemy. One of them led straight from the harbour to the front gate of the castle. However the chain had negated the need for this holdfast to be defended. The rocky outcrops of the cliffs surrounding the low lying beaches had been utilized whenever possible to reinforce the holdfasts stone walls and maximized the height advantage of the defensive position.
Now at each location, Rhaegar had his men gather large rocks and stack them against a series of wooden boards which were reinforced with wooden supports. If needed the men could cut the supports releasing an avalanche of large rocks down to block the path of, or crush a marauding force. A sortie from the defenders would then follow. If it became too heated or too willing a very clever defensive ring could allow the defenders to retreat to the main Citadel, but not before the defenders had maximized the casualties of the attacker. Each holdfast Avery had built a tall observation tower where guards were posted both day and night with a continually burning fire. In the event of detection of a landing force the tower would sound a horn during the day and extinguish its light at night to warn the other holdfasts and the main citadel of the enemy’s approach. Rhaegar now further strengthened the holdfasts and constructed tunnels that would enable the defenders to retreat safely against overwhelming force to the Citadel, but also be quickly blocked.
Meanwhile the stone stockpiles in the Citadel were put to good use. Since the blockade, Rhaegar had continued strengthening even further Dragonstone Castle’s defences. Mangonels had been set up on the walls to bombard any attacker with large stones. The base of Dragonstone’s curtain walls had been further bolstered and thickened to prevent possible mining attempts, if the castle was ever brought to siege. The fosse outside the walls was further deepened, as a further protection against sappers, who not only now would not be able to attempt to mine the castle without digging into the trench and revealing themselves, but would also make it difficult to bring up any siege engines close to the walls. The outer part of the fosse had been fronted with stone palisades and thorn hedges to further slow down the enemy advance, as the defenders rained down a deadly avalanche of arrows, bolts, and rocks. The inner part of the ditch was further protected by stone outworks beyond which were artillery emplacements of further mangonels and bolt throwing engines, just under the walls. The mangonels here were protected by further mangonels atop the Citadel’s walls as well as the defenders arrows, rocks and crossbow bolts.
Meanwhile on Dragonstone’s high, thick walls, Rhaegar in consultation with his masons and carpenters had made further improvements. In the most vulnerable places, the crenellated battlements had been replaced by screen walls with shuttered artillery ports and loopholes. Each was filled with a new machine Rhaegar had seen in some of his tomes, contructed out of wood that could shoot large arrows bolts that could pinion three or four men with one bolt if fired into a densely packed body of enemy troops. Rhaegar had read that the action of this machine had been dubbed the scorpion due to its’ resemblence to a large stinging tail of a scorpion. Rhaegar had laughed when he had been told. Very well then… the ‘scorpion’ it would be called.
Thousands of bolts, arrows, crossbow bolts, rocks for the mangonels, arrows bolts for the scorpions had been made and were strategically placed for easy access by the defenders. The massive gates of the Citadel had been re-inforced by metal bands, as well as another layer of wood. The underside of the drawbridge was made of metal bands to resist fire throwing missiles and when raised would face outwards towards the attacker. Defended by an artillery battery of several scorpions and other bolt throwers of various sizes and trained on the entrance to the drawbridge, Rhaegar hoped that any attempt by the enemy to force their way through the main gate would cost many of the enemies’ lives. With the Dragonmont at their back a natural defence, Rhaegar hoped that by shutting off the other access points from the shoreline to the Citadel, a small body of men would be to hold off a much larger body successfully.
With food and water which had been slowly stored for over a year and several wells dug in various secret locations close to, and indeed, inside the Citadel, the defenders of Dragonstone were well victualled with food and water. Food continued to be collected and stored away.
While his small army of masons and carpenters worked feverishly to further improve their defences, Rhaegar himself spent hours training his men on siege defence tactics, driving and extorting them until they understood exactly what had to be done in the event of an assault. The number of fighting defenders had swelled to just under two thousand, as Rhaegar recruited actively amongst the people of Dragonstone. Rhaegar also pulled 500 men, from the crews of sell sails that Vortimer Rivers had brought to Dragonstone harbor, to further re-inforce the walls of Dragonstone Citadel. The sell sails were useless now…so their men could help. They too were trained, well paid and well fed.
The days passed and as they did, the number of enemy ships in the distance appeared to be growing. Rhaegar stared up at the red and black three headed dragon flag flapping in the wind atop the Stone Drum. The Targaryens would not return in his lifetime...measured as it was now in weeks...perhaps at the most a couple of months.
“Valar morgulis”..thought Rhaegar. It would end soon..this waiting. And when it did, they would make an ending worthy of a song.
Results:
Rhaegar Velaryon improves to Expert in Fortifications (Engineering)
Rhaegar Velaryon improves to Master in Command
Dragonstone Citadel is further improved in its defences by the stregnthening of walls, the fosse and defensive artillery, as described.
Food and water continues to be stored in various secret locations within Dragonstone Castle.
The sell sail crews in Dragonstone Harbour, numbering 500 men, are moved to help defend the Citadel against assault. The number of defenders in the Citadel swells to 1,800 men
A small army of stone masons and other assistants worked day and night. Rhaegar had spent hours reading his late cousin’s Avery’s notes. He had had copies made and distributed to his stone masons and carpenters. Rhaegar had spent hours with Avery learning and discussing the art of fortification. To his regret Rhaegar remembered that he had quickly become impatient and bored when Avery had animatedly discussed architecture and fortification with his masons, much preferring to be out on a boat the wind whistling through his long hair and the sea spray in his face. However since he had assumed command at Dragonstone and since the blockade had begun he had thanked the Seven daily for what Avery had taught him.
Rhaegar had been even motivated to read some of the books in the Citadel library. The Strength of Armies by Maester Cui had been one of Avery’s favorites. Rhaegar thought it ponderous, but at last he could see what the Maester was talking about when he applied it to Dragonstone.
Dragonstone's masons and engineers, personally supervised by Rhaegar himself, had long completed a thorough survey of the most probable routes of attack for an invading army attempting to land on Dragonstone island. While an individual person could potentially cross anywhere, an army of thousands of men attacking the citadel had only three feasible paths of entry through the steep terrain up to the walls of the castle. Clearly any attack from the direction of the smoking Dragonmont was out of the question, but the opposite direction was far more vulnerable.
His cousin Avery had spent hours studying the the advanced, Valyrian techniques of masonry the written records of which, had been largely lost in the Doom. Luckily for Rhaegar, Avery had had his scribes make copious notes and there were old notes in the library dating from Aegon the Conqueror's days. Despite the loss of many of these ancient works, the techniques of Valyrian masonry was very evident in the walls of Dragonstone causing it to look unique among all the castles in Westeros. Now Rhaegar read his cousin’s notes and gave copies to his stonemasons, asking them to act upon the comments and improve the defences where they could, based on his cousin's recommendations and plans.
Before his death, Avery had designed an innovative solution in defending the approaches to the Citadel. Using the rocky terrain as a natural wall, three small stone hold fasts close to the sea, one on each of the main paths that would allow the easy access of an enemy. One of them led straight from the harbour to the front gate of the castle. However the chain had negated the need for this holdfast to be defended. The rocky outcrops of the cliffs surrounding the low lying beaches had been utilized whenever possible to reinforce the holdfasts stone walls and maximized the height advantage of the defensive position.
Now at each location, Rhaegar had his men gather large rocks and stack them against a series of wooden boards which were reinforced with wooden supports. If needed the men could cut the supports releasing an avalanche of large rocks down to block the path of, or crush a marauding force. A sortie from the defenders would then follow. If it became too heated or too willing a very clever defensive ring could allow the defenders to retreat to the main Citadel, but not before the defenders had maximized the casualties of the attacker. Each holdfast Avery had built a tall observation tower where guards were posted both day and night with a continually burning fire. In the event of detection of a landing force the tower would sound a horn during the day and extinguish its light at night to warn the other holdfasts and the main citadel of the enemy’s approach. Rhaegar now further strengthened the holdfasts and constructed tunnels that would enable the defenders to retreat safely against overwhelming force to the Citadel, but also be quickly blocked.
Meanwhile the stone stockpiles in the Citadel were put to good use. Since the blockade, Rhaegar had continued strengthening even further Dragonstone Castle’s defences. Mangonels had been set up on the walls to bombard any attacker with large stones. The base of Dragonstone’s curtain walls had been further bolstered and thickened to prevent possible mining attempts, if the castle was ever brought to siege. The fosse outside the walls was further deepened, as a further protection against sappers, who not only now would not be able to attempt to mine the castle without digging into the trench and revealing themselves, but would also make it difficult to bring up any siege engines close to the walls. The outer part of the fosse had been fronted with stone palisades and thorn hedges to further slow down the enemy advance, as the defenders rained down a deadly avalanche of arrows, bolts, and rocks. The inner part of the ditch was further protected by stone outworks beyond which were artillery emplacements of further mangonels and bolt throwing engines, just under the walls. The mangonels here were protected by further mangonels atop the Citadel’s walls as well as the defenders arrows, rocks and crossbow bolts.
Meanwhile on Dragonstone’s high, thick walls, Rhaegar in consultation with his masons and carpenters had made further improvements. In the most vulnerable places, the crenellated battlements had been replaced by screen walls with shuttered artillery ports and loopholes. Each was filled with a new machine Rhaegar had seen in some of his tomes, contructed out of wood that could shoot large arrows bolts that could pinion three or four men with one bolt if fired into a densely packed body of enemy troops. Rhaegar had read that the action of this machine had been dubbed the scorpion due to its’ resemblence to a large stinging tail of a scorpion. Rhaegar had laughed when he had been told. Very well then… the ‘scorpion’ it would be called.
Thousands of bolts, arrows, crossbow bolts, rocks for the mangonels, arrows bolts for the scorpions had been made and were strategically placed for easy access by the defenders. The massive gates of the Citadel had been re-inforced by metal bands, as well as another layer of wood. The underside of the drawbridge was made of metal bands to resist fire throwing missiles and when raised would face outwards towards the attacker. Defended by an artillery battery of several scorpions and other bolt throwers of various sizes and trained on the entrance to the drawbridge, Rhaegar hoped that any attempt by the enemy to force their way through the main gate would cost many of the enemies’ lives. With the Dragonmont at their back a natural defence, Rhaegar hoped that by shutting off the other access points from the shoreline to the Citadel, a small body of men would be to hold off a much larger body successfully.
With food and water which had been slowly stored for over a year and several wells dug in various secret locations close to, and indeed, inside the Citadel, the defenders of Dragonstone were well victualled with food and water. Food continued to be collected and stored away.
While his small army of masons and carpenters worked feverishly to further improve their defences, Rhaegar himself spent hours training his men on siege defence tactics, driving and extorting them until they understood exactly what had to be done in the event of an assault. The number of fighting defenders had swelled to just under two thousand, as Rhaegar recruited actively amongst the people of Dragonstone. Rhaegar also pulled 500 men, from the crews of sell sails that Vortimer Rivers had brought to Dragonstone harbor, to further re-inforce the walls of Dragonstone Citadel. The sell sails were useless now…so their men could help. They too were trained, well paid and well fed.
The days passed and as they did, the number of enemy ships in the distance appeared to be growing. Rhaegar stared up at the red and black three headed dragon flag flapping in the wind atop the Stone Drum. The Targaryens would not return in his lifetime...measured as it was now in weeks...perhaps at the most a couple of months.
“Valar morgulis”..thought Rhaegar. It would end soon..this waiting. And when it did, they would make an ending worthy of a song.
Results:
Rhaegar Velaryon improves to Expert in Fortifications (Engineering)
Rhaegar Velaryon improves to Master in Command
Dragonstone Citadel is further improved in its defences by the stregnthening of walls, the fosse and defensive artillery, as described.
Food and water continues to be stored in various secret locations within Dragonstone Castle.
The sell sail crews in Dragonstone Harbour, numbering 500 men, are moved to help defend the Citadel against assault. The number of defenders in the Citadel swells to 1,800 men