Horn Hill's War Room

[Ser Jayk Redwyne]

Jayk nodded. "Certainly, although to my knowledge no one but ourselves and the Stormlanders will be confronting Rodrick in the coming battle, while he will be hoping to gather more armies and allies to himself.

"I do not know Dondarrion well, but might it be difficult to convince him to relinquish many of his vassals' castles? He will have to make a stand at a relatively early point, or lose their support."

[Sam]

"He does not have many choices left to him. He has called for almost twenty five thousand men, and less than half that came to his banner. Even if Lord Justin takes a crown, that does not mean we cannot buy friendly good-will with the stormlands by helping Dondarrion retake his realm. If our forces took Felwood, we could isolate lord Errol in Storm's End, to prevent the six thousand men he has there from meeting up with Rodrick. If Dondarrion chose to besiege Storm's End, he would have our men protecting his back along the Kingsroad, if Rodrick came south to fight us. The Mandermen will be completely unreliable until someone who is not the spawn of Tallahar Tyrell is in charge."

[Ser Kenneth Coyn]

"It is a precarious situation, to say the least, why couldn't Rodrick have relinquished his throne like a good tyrant," Dorian said with biting sarcasm.

[Sam]

"What if we sent the fleet, or part of it, to Old Oak? If we helped Lord Rowan, who is already marching there according to our information, to rescue Lord Tyrell, he would be in our debt, and we would secure the Mander as a more reliable ally. There are only a few men in Old Oak, and none of the Shield lords have yet called their banners so we could sail past them before they could manage to do so."

[Ser Jayk Redwyne]

"Yes, I like that plan. The navy would then be well positioned to strike up the Mander at Highgarden, should it prove necessary.

"So, the army draws Rodrick South to a confrontation, while the navy watches closer to home for trouble from the Mander?"

[Ser Kenneth Coyn]

"Lord Tyrell is not the problem, its his half wit relatives from Dawnrose keep that are erratic. I think it would be worthwhile to help put down Oakheart but the messenger sent from Highgarden worried about our forces at Horn Hill on our own terrirtority. The Father only knows what they would think with our men on their soil and our ships menacing," Loren said.

[The Flint]

"I have no doubt The Dawnroses have a knife they are waiting to stick in our back. It was always the way with them. Their Lord father, The Thrice Traitor, taught them nothing of honor. Better 50,000 Dornishmen against me, than 60,000 Mandermen for me." Cyrus said, chuckling grimly.

[Sam]

"Do you think any manderlords can be convinced to remain on our side, or will they all fall into line behind their cowardly leaders? I remember something about Lord Rowan's sister or daughter or something being raped by a Tyrell, so there certainly can be little love lost between those two houses. Perhaps Rowan can be convinced to fight for us?" Samuel suggested, furrowing his brow as he thought.

[The Flint]

"I know not Samuel. Perhaps." Cyrus says, "Perhaps that could work, will you undertake to write a letter on our behalf?"

[Sam]

"Certainly, my lord, although I might require Pylos' assistance with the wording," he said with a wink, referring to Horn Hill's maester, who was among the men that had drafted the Far Reach's proclamation against the King.

"On another note, our Ironborn allies seem to be sailing towards the North; there is nothing really up there for them besides Bear Island, since they do not have the strength to seize Moat Cailin. I think, that it would be beneficial for us to sail part of our navy past the shields, and wait Old Oak, and perhaps we should send a message to Lord Harlaw requesting his aid in such an attack. Once I write to Rowan, we will be placed to strike at Old Oak, and we will either be reinforced by allies from the Shields, or else we will seize those islands if they prove to be hostile to us. From there we can threaten Highgarden and neither Dawnrose nor Oakheart have the backbone to attack us while we threaten them like that."

[The Flint]

"The enemy has over 2000 men at Oakheart, we'd be bringing in only 5,000 in our naval landing. We'd lose too many lives taking it. If the Ironborn joined us than perhaps we'd have the strength to take it. But i do not know their intentions. I shall have to speak to Justin and see if he can sound them out."

[Ser Jayk Redwyne]

"A hasty attack could be costly - but a show of force might win Mandermen to our cause. Forgive me if I'm being foolish, but we could crush Oakheart with our entire navy. Do we truly fear any immediate threats from the East?

"I understand that we might want to use the fleet as transport for our army, but frankly it is not far from the Oakheart to the River Mander. It would barely take any longer than if the army had to march to Oldtown to meet the fleet."

[Sam]

"We couldn't storm Old Oak with only 5,000 men from our ships, even though its walls are not particularly formidable. However with the aid of Lord Harlaw's men we would be able to do so, although I agree that if we strike at our known enemies in the Mander, it will force the other Manderlords to choose between their turncloak leigelord, and our cause. Hopefully Lord Rowan will prove to be sympathetic to our cause, and an attack on Old Oak soon after he declares for us would embolden other Manderlords to side against the King. Timing would be crucial, for attacking the lands of the Mander before we have a solid ally there would alienate them against us," Samuel said.

[The Flint]

Cyrus raised his eyebrow, "We have 100 ships raised Ser Jayk. As all good naval men know, a ship requires fifty men to crew it, and can carry up to fifty men in its hull. That means 100 ships, give us a landing force of 5,000 men. Even so, I believe Lord Justin will raise another 5,000 for Oldtown's defense." Cyrus looked down at the map.

"And frankly, yes I fear an attack from the sea. The Iron Born could always turn against us for the chance to sack Oldtown. Rodrick's Crown fleet is large. Even the Shield Islands fleet could strike back at us through Oldtown. It can not be left empty."

[Ser Jayk Redwyne]

"Hm. The Iron Born do not sow, so they must steal others' produce, it is true.; but they are headed North, and their fleet would find it hard to pass Old Oak without our fleet knowing, were it stationed there; and the Shield Islands will surely not organise quickly enough to sail against us. They are not decided for or against, after all.

"In any case... I am aware of how large our forces are that can be carried by ship. I am less certain of Oakheart's; if you say we cannot take Old Oak, I shall agree with you.

"Perhaps we could try and gain the Shield Islands' allegiance, before attacking Old Oak? If they would not join us, we would have to wait for Iron Born or abandon the plan, but if their forces were added to ours we might be able to press on."