Clash of Kings, an ASOIAF Game (The End)

[Lumine]

BOOK FOUR: 300-301 AL:

It seems the claimants to the thrones acknowledged Euron Greyjoy as the man to defeat, and they wasted no time in sending assassin after assassin against the Iron King. Most of them were captured by the Qarth warlocks and executed, but just as the new King launched the Iron Fleet to sack Casterly Rock once and for all, he was murdered in his sleep by one of the countless assassins sent against him. While we have no records of the history of the Iron Islands for key moments like this one, we do know that Euron’s dragons disappeared and that it fell to Asha Greyjoy to bring the fleet back and be crowned Iron Queen after House Harlaw threw her might behind her. But Euron Greyjoy was not the only death that caused most Westerosi to breath in relief, for Lord Tywin Lannister woke up death after his massive victory in the Kingswood. The blame fell on the Starks, but with the attempt looking as an evident way of blaming them the real mastermind behind the death of Lord Tywin remains free until this day. The Starks also had the satisfaction of Lord Bolton’s surrender after realizing he could not win, but King Robb’s forgiveness of Lord Bolton would taint his legacy and the goodwill he had for some time to come, and it almost cost him his life. Meanwhile, in Essos, the Targaryen loyalists managed to find a remaining member of the House Blackfyre by the name of Daemon Blackfyre (it was rumored there were descendants from Prince Brightflame, but they couldn’t be found), who declared his claim to the crown in the city of Pentos, immediately winning over Capitan General Tristan Rivers and the remnants of the Golden Company, along with a sellsword army to join him on his march to Westeros.

By this time Westeros had seen almost two years of political instability and war, and it seemed the Lords were having enough. This led to Prince Doran’s declaration of independence for Dorne, something that was emulated by Lord Royce and the Vale, who declared Robert Arryn as their new King. Both sides chose to join the alliance led by the Starks, and their attention fell not on Renly, but in the Mad Rose. While the Reach had isolated after the disaster with the Targaryens to focus on their internal rebellions with House Tarly and House Florent, the Mad Rose had finally lost any sense of sanity, and he gave a command that not even the Mad King would have dared to try: to infect the enemy lands with greyscale, trying to spread the disease to Westeros in order to win a war of attrition. Outraged by the insane command, Lord Baelor Hightower and many Reach Lords rose in rebellion, staging an assault on Highgarden that took the lives of the Mad Rose and his brother Ser Garlan, forcing the Tyrell remnants to flee to King’s Landing and back to Renly Baratheon once most Houses declared for the Hightowers and their coalition. Renly also had some luck by apparently bringing Lord Baelish back to his cause, with the Gold Cloaks and Lord Baelish working together in the capital under they managed to free Lady Sansa and kill the missing Lord Varys as he tried to escape to Pentos, presumably to join King Daemon. Of course, Lord Baelish adapted to the situation very quickly, helping Lady Sansa to escape and rejoin her family and leaving King Renly without his last triumph card. It wouldn’t be the last key event in King’s Landing, since the growing number of Sparrows entering the city would force the election of the so called “High Sparrow” for the office of High Septon, an event that would eventually have massive consequences for the Faith.

As King Daemon won the backing of the Dornishmen and marched through the Stormlands with his combined armies, it seemed it was the time for the last Baratheon King and the last of the Blackfyres to fight in the last major battle of the war. Alas, it was not to be, as King Renly was ambushed and murdered in an ambush that remains shrouded in mystery. Lord Tyrion Lannister took the chance that was being offered to him, reacting in a way that mimicked Lord Tywin’s skill and boldness with Lord Tyrion’s own brand of efficiency instead of cruelty. The Lannister Army took over the weakened capitol and imprisoned the remaining Baratheons and Tyrells, putting an end to any attempts to continue the war. King Daemon entered King’s Landing without having to fight a single major battle, and was acclaimed by the crowds as the Savior of Westeros. The alliance between Tyrion Lannister and Daemon Blackfyre proved to be an efficient one, and for the months they spent together in the capital they managed to find an end to the war in a way that would earn them the admiration of many people. The Baratheons and the Tyrells were forgiven and Lady Shireen made Queen of the Stormlands, but due to Baelor Hightower’s crowning as the King of the Reach the Tyrells were forced to remain in the capital. Needless to say, this act of clemency forced Dragonstone and the last Baratheon loyalists to surrender, ending the feud between the Stags and the Dragons.

To solve the independence conflict (which now had Edmure Tully as another king, this time the King of the Riverlands) King Daemon came up with a solution never seen in Westeros. Despite having recaptured two of Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons (with the third one going to Brandon Stark, King Robb’s brother and an expert in mysterious types of sorcery), King Daemon understood very well that the harsh winter would made another war impossible, and the Commonwealth of the Free Kingdoms was created. King Daemon was made King of the Dragonlands and Lord Protector as the nominal ruler of Westeros, but with the increased independence of the new Kings (with the sole exception of Queen Asha Greyjoy, who refused to join the Commonwealth) it became evident that another tyranny in the style of Aerys II Targaryen was virtually impossible. Thanks to the skill of the new court the Kings were won over rather quickly, and soon all of them would sign the historic document, opening the door to a new era.  

The final events in the chain that ended the War of the Ten Kings are far too known for me to comment on them, but it should be mentioned that the alliance system was secured by a series of marriages: Sansa Stark to Trystane Martell, Myrcella Lannister to Robert Arryn, Jeyne Westerling to Edmure Tully and Arianne Martell to Daemon Blackfyre. The final task left to the Kings was to destroy the loose ends left for the war, and while the reaction of some Lords ended up in the tragic death of Doran Martell and the short Manderly-Bolton war, these events came to a swift end with the trial by combat between Robb Stark and Roose Bolton and Lord Baelish’s assassinatons on the grounds of being guilty of the assassination in Sunspear, thus ending the hectic year of 300 AL. The war would be officially over by the start of 301 AL, just as winter raged across Westeros. Many of the Kings and their representatives went to King’s Landing for the first meeting of the High Council and the wedding of Lord Protector Daemon, the first peaceful event in living memory.

Now, looking back at the war after twenty years it’s easy to see the impact of the conflict in today’s Westeros, especially as many believe the Kingdoms to have recovered from the consequences of both major wars. After two large winters it is the time for summer again, and needless to say Westeros faces major challenges with the reform of the Faith, the race for the exploration of the new continent, the recent surge of the New Valyrian Empire and the reported reappearance of the Others beyond the Wall. A new generation takes over Westeros, and time will have to tell if they are up to the task of keeping the peace and preserving the balance of power left by Daemon Blackfyre the Great, the first Lord Protector.

THE END.

[Lumine]

This was just as brilliant as it could have been, coming from you, Lumine. This whole game was incredibly fun, and I hope we will have a similar one to come sometime, maybe setting off after the actions of this one - exploration of Sothoryos, new Valyrian Empire, Others, Reform of the Faith... This all seems like a good point to start with next turn (though, to be fair, Sothoryos is a jungle continent far from Westeros... More logically would be the exploration of the New western continent, as found by the lords of the lonely light (see AFOC Kingsmoot and Lord Farwynd's promises), just as a nitpick)
Thank you for all you have done, Lumine, you have been amazing, and this is just the perfect way to end this. I can only congratulate you, Chapeau!

Thank you, Cranberry! I envisioned a Westeros living through the Renaissance for a potential next game, hence those ideas I posted. And of course, the western continent is a far more logical idea than Sothoryos, I will make the change right away.

This although my vote for the next one would be at some early point in Robert's rebellion (before all the alliances were cemented, if possible).  But yeah, excellent work Lumine!   Playing this game was easily one of my favorite experiences on this forum.  Honestly, I was considering leaving around the time this started, but I had so much fun with this, I think I will stick around.  So again, great job Lumine and thanks for all the hard work.  After my experiences with Atlasia, I was skeptical about forum games, but it was really a privilege to play this.  Btw, thanks to everyone else who played for helping make this so fun!  Sorry if I either directly or indirectly got you killed (sort of ) and congrats to Antonio and unknown on killing me

Thank you very much, X, it's great to hear that you will stay in the forum! I had my doubts about games like this after my Rome one failed to have enough players, but I think between this and Balance of Power it has been proven that we can have large-scale games and that they can be a lot of fun, xD

[Lumine]

You basically outlined a gameplay idea for a new game to start - I guess the next innovation to come would be something of the likes of gunpowder, coming from Valyria or the Free Cities and throwing over the military order of Westeros. But anyways, I would love to see that game - I guess you don't want to do another one?

Something like that, I was incredibly tired yesterday while writing Samwell's work and yet I found mysef unable to stop writing about a potential scenario...

-A New Valyrian Empire in Volantis led by a descendant of Aerion Brightflame (kinda like the Konmenoi restoration of the Byzantine Empire, or even Justinian's campaigns for that matter)
-An Others invasion with a couple of twists
-A massive conflict due to the reformation of the Faith (With the Westerosi Martin Luther and such), including Harrenhal as a new seat for the High Septon and his Faith Militant army
-The exploration of a new world, just like with America
-A "War of the Roses" styled dynastic conflict in one of the Seven Kingdoms
-Oldtown as a massive cultural and religious center (in a way as a potential play on the Rome-Avignon conflict of the XIII Century)
-Gunpowder!
-The Iron Bank and Braavos on steroids thanks to a new ruling family (mimicking both Venice and the Borgia Family in a way)
-A couple of interesting natural disasters
-The new generation coming to power (most of them new characters, with a few coming back and others that didn't show up her staging their comebacks), and, of course, the new dragons...

I fear that a Robert's Rebellion scenario would end pretty quickly (all it takes is Tywin Lannister choosing a side early into the war and the usual obsession of the players with using Faceless men), and it has the issue of not having enough info on many details, thus forcing me to suppose things that could be incredibly wrong until the World of Ice and Fire is out by the end of October (and that is if I manage to find it on the internet). Thus, a made up scenario gives the players greater freedom and allows for a completely unpredictable story.

In regards to actually making another one... well, I enjoyed being a GM, but it's a hard task and it does take a lot of time away from college and the two novels I'm currently writing. I think I will do some work on the scenario or in a potential Robert's Rebellion one and see if they have some potential. Of course, should anybody else wish to make their own game I will be happy to collaborate and play it as well, xD

[Lumine]

Thanks for the positive feedback! I will start some work in the future world I have envisioned, but don't worry, I will not rush things and I will certainly take my time (I am quite interested in what WoIaF has to offer).

Game:

To my surprise, the first turn was rather subdued and calm given that most armies moved in a measured way. We had sieges, yes, but nobody seemed willing to make a truly decisive step except for Tywin, whose plans were thwarted by Robb's prudent moves regarding the Blackfish. As the game progressed I was hoping that things would be resolved with actual battles, but once Game!Tywin asked about the faceless men all hell broke loose. And I'm not joking, I tried very hard to put a high price for them and make them an undesirable choice, and yet most of you almost seemed to find it pleasant to send assassination orders turn after turn, xD. As a result, Quentyn Martell's death was the price that Doran Martell had to paid (I believe Euron was the victim), and if memory serves right Jaime Lannister was the price Tywin payed to get rid of Mace Tyrell. Just in case all the hints I've sent failed, there was no Reach Bolton, so Randyll Tarly was indeed an innocent man. I was quite upset to see him dying that way, hence why I dropped some minor clues and spoke about it in the Grand Finale. If I make a sequel you can bet I will put massive restrictions on assassinations, right before Euron died I had 30 normal assassins after him and two faceless men contracts, with one of them being carried off.

I originally though Renly was going to win given Simfan's activity and levels of support back in the mid game, and then Daenerys swept through Westeros in a way that threatened to end the game in an early way. That was the reason why Euron Greyjoy and his subplot was created, to balance things out and prevent an early Targaryen victory. Of course, that ended up being a waste of time after, to my surprise, Simfan, Mr. X and Antonio created the most unlikely alliance and pushed Game!Daenerys to her death in Summerhall. Since I never envisioned such a swift end for Daenerys I left without many choices since I couldn't reveal the identity of the mysterious character for those who hadn't read the books, and thus Daemon Blackfyre was born. I expected him to face a lot of resistance, but Euron died, Simfan's activity dropped and all of the sudden most pieces were in line for a satisfying ending. To my shock, the loose ends were rather easy to solve or actually solved themselves, especially when it was evident that it was the end of the line for the remaining plotters (Roose and Baelish).

I was surprised at times, frustrated at some points, and there moments in which I wanted to have the battles go the way I wanted instead of what the dice said, but overall I enjoyed it and I tried to be as neutral as I could... unless, of course, the plot demanded some intervention, hence Euron's diavolous ex machina and Daemon's deus ex machina (quite a symbolic pair). There were many elements I was hoping to include, like the Others, the intervention of Volantis and Braavos in the civil war, a bigger role for the High Sparrow and the Faith Militant and an unsullied army, but that will have to wait for another game. Finally, while writing the POV's was at times exhausting since my writing skills in English are quite poor and I am no Martin (if you read the 40 pages or something made out of my POV's you will notice that I tend to repeat many expressions and terms), but some of them were chapters I loved, and there were many I wanted to write with a lot more detail and more pages (of course, that would have slowed the game too much). Honorary mentions go to the chapter in which Stannis dies, the Second Tragedy of Summerhall and Tyrion's coup in King's Landing, someday I plan to write detailed versions of those to see what happens. After all, I do have something resembling a novella with so many pages...

[Lumine]

Players:

(According to what I remember)

Antonio/Robb: Needless to say, Antonio was the second player who surprised me the most. Since he hadn't seen Seasons 3 and 4 when the Game started I figured he would eventually die along with most of the Starks, and I was completely proven wrong. I still think he made a critical mistake by forgiving Roose that almost costed him his life (and Theon would have been another critical mistake had the dice determined his survival), but Antonio adapted quickly, worked hard and always tried to find the best solutions to the dilemmas of his House, even when that costed him support. And he was one of the players with the less amount of assassination orders, something I really appreciated... Until he moved to have his own aunt murdered by plotting with Littlefinger of all people, xD

Mr. X/Tywin/Roose: Not only he was excellent as Tywin in terms of roleplaying (seriously, his comments against Tyrion were amusing), Mr. X was the ultimate plotter. Turn after turn he would come up with ingenious ideas and potential loopholes, and while he did abuse the assassins and the faceless men potential requests he made most of the intrigue of the game possible, thus being an integral part of the game. Sadly, he was often struck by bad luck on the dice rolls (to ridiculous levels, forcing me to throw them again just to see what happened), and while he performed admirable as Roose given the circumstances it was Tywin where he truly excelled. If a couple of battles or plots had gone his way, Renly would have been skinned alive and he would have probably lived until the ending.

Dereich/Lysa/Mance: I was relieved when Dereich entered the game as Lysa, it worried me to have an inactive Vale and he was very successful during the early game, avoiding the major conflicts until he was in a position to strike. Sadly, he misjudged his vassals and their respect for the Starks, and that coupled with Littlefinger's dealings with Robb ended up in his death. He was able to save the lives of the wildlings and protect the Wall at the same time with King Mance, and while there was never a battle with the Starks for Winterfell as I thought it would, his measured King in the Wall was key to having the pieces set in motion for the ending.

Spamage/Mace/Willas: Another player who was very good and very active in his role, Spamage often found ways of increasing the power of the Reach, and he was able to outsmart Mr. X in a hilarious way to smash his armies in Stokeworth, a turning point for the early game. Sadly, he made the mistake of believing Mr. X after Mace died, turning Willas's reign in the end for the Tyrells. For a moment I considered having greyscale expand to all of Westeros thanks to Willas's orders, but in the end that was not necessary. Perhaps it wasn't 100% in purpose, but his orders regarding greyscale, isolation and House Tarly gave me a lot of material to turn the promising heir into the Mad Rose, something that really helped the game. Of course, if he hadn't been so ruthless he would probably still be alive, an irony that probably teaches us that the Tywin method is not always the most efficient, xD

SJoyce/Balon/Littlefinger: He was fantastic as Balon, and far more wise than the book counterpart. Knowing the limitations of the Ironborn he had no problem with playing around with the Reach, the Westerlands and the North, invading all three at some point in the game and sacking Highgarden. I looked forward to his continued role in the end game, but once Euron had the dragons the outcome of their duel was always going to be evident. He also played a great Littlefinger, getting rid of Lysa and enacting a series of plots (including some sort of triple plot with Mr. X that was very amusing to see in motion) that would have made the original proud, especially when he got the last laugh over Varys. Of course, this Littlefinger didn't have Sansa and control of the Vale in the way Book!Baelish had, but he played his cards very well despite the lack of advantages. He had to die in the end to tie up the loose ends, but he came very close to surviving the game as a respected Lord.

Bullmoose/Varys/Daemon: Despite entering late into the game and dying in such a horrible fashion, Bullmoose certainly knew how to play Varys and use his advantages. If you're wondering, yes, he stayed in King's Landing with Sansa for all those months after the capital fell, and he certainly used his time. To balance the fact that he had no army, Varys was given certain pieces of information regarding some movements by the players, a weapon that he used to ruin some plans. He was extremely active to fight for Daenerys and Daemon, and if Daenerys had won at the Kingswood or if the dice had allowed him to escape the capital, Lord Varys would be sitting in the High Council now. That goes to show how timing is very important here!

Averroes Nix/Daenerys/Euron: The original plan was a lenghty storyline in Essos mimicking Daenerys's trips, but Nix chose to ignore Qarth, Astapor and the Unsullied and go straight to Westeros, a choice that certainly made the game a thousand times better. While not all of his moves worked and he was undone by his allies (and the sudden alliance of his enemies), Nix came very close to winning the game, so he also deserves congratulations. I was hoping his Euron would terrorize Westeros for some time, but in the end the players were a bit opposed to the idea...

TheCranberry/Doran/Trystane: Sadly, Cranberry was absent during a couple of turns, but he was able to do something that the rest failed to achieve: win the most by losing the least. His armies barely suffered during the war and Dorne was not invaded once, and yet he led two campaigns in the Stormlands, had his son and daughter marrying Daenerys and Daemon and had Euron killed with the sole loss of Quentyn. Cranberry certainly knew how to play the long game and use Dorne's advantages in a unique way, but like others he also had the back luck of getting killed at the last moment.

Simfan/Renly: It was strange to judge Renly, to be honest. Simfan had some inactive turns and some really active ones, something that mirrors Renly's sudden changes of fortune all the way until his death. I believe that if he had been more active in the late game he could have won the game, but for the time he was active he enacted some ingenious plots to enlarge House Baratheon and outsmart Stannis's plans to have him killed, so he was also a great players.

Dr. Cynic/Tyrion: Given the large role that Tyrion played in the end game it was sad to see that it would be done as an NPC, because if Cynic had been able to play as him for those turns the end game would have been even better. He only had Tyrion for the first two or three turns, but he took the right choices and showed a good level of skill in plotting (although without unleashing the Imp's full potential before he had to stop playing).

Oakvale/Stannis: Oakvale also had massive potential, so I didn't enjoy having Stannis killed. Still, for the time he played and like Cynic he showed some skill in decision making and other moves, even managing to sit on the Iron Throne for some time and almost having Renly killed.

It's quite optimistic, but all of you were indeed great players, so beyond some activity issues for one or two of the players I was satisfied and encouraged with the participation. I am of course forgetting a lot of plots and I could be confusing some, but those are my thoughts on the game as whole.

[Lumine]

My god, this proposal is so interesting! I would so love to play this, please give it a try moderating it!
Additionally, what might evoke some tensions and certainly some plot as well, is the concentration of power, you know, where the power sits in one Kingdom, the struggle between centralism and absolutism on one side and regionalism and feudalism at the other, and to some extent, maybe parliamentarian on a third side...
If I may give some thoughts here, especially the Westerlands and the Crownlands, maybe also the Reach and Dorne would be countries that more and more would shift towards centralistic absolutism in my imagination, similar to OTL France... The Reach however, with its numerous houses descended from House Gardener, would be the perfect realm for War of the Roses... On the other hand, the North would likely hold on to the old ways, feudalistic structure, the longest; while the Vale, I don't know, maybe The Lords Declarant and so on is already a first showing of a developing parliamentarism...
You should include Braavos and Valyria in the next game then, maybe at the cost of some lesser important realms in Westeros, as it surely would be too many then... I don't know, combine Crownlands and Stormlands, and Riverlands and North or what...
What would be the main power colonising the new continent, by the way? I'd assume the Westerlands, maybe also the Reach?
This all however sounds so amazing, please make a new game!

I actually like that idea, the lesser Lords and perhaps the rising merchants winning more power over the Kings (which could lead to an Oliver Cromwell situation), the Reach and the Vale (and potentiall the Riverlands as well) could very well turn into a complicated political situation due to, say, the weakness of King Robert and the potential heir to Edmure Tully (or Edmure himself).

But yes, if this game starts at some point I would be interest to include the new family in Braavos (House Tarquinia or something like that), the new Targaryen Dynasty in Volantis and also the new High Septon (or the Westerosi Martin Luther, I don't now). I suppose the Iron Islands would be the first to confirm the existance of the new continent, but from there I guess tha players should be free to start colonization to see what happens.

[Lumine]

OMG, did Tywin really sacrifice Jaime in order to kill of Mace? Isn't that a bit OOC, considering how badly he wanted Jaime to succeed him, and considering that without him Tyrion was the only remaining heir? Did you really let that happen, Lumine? Also, was Roose trying to have me killed too? I've never managed to clear that up. And who the hell killed Tywin?

I considered it OOC for a moment, but when Jaime was captured in AGOT Tywin pretty much considering him as dead, hence why Tyrion was made acting hand. He probably believed the Starks would never release him and he probably needed Mace dead to disengage the Reach, so yes, I accepted, xD

I believe the plan called for you to die in a hunting accident and for Roose to become Bran's regent, but I'm not sure if that was the actual plan. You were marked to die, though, that much is beyond dispute. And regarding Tywin, I believe it was Simfan/Renly who gave the command, although I may be wrong about that.

[Lumine]

7. @ Lumine: Who killed Jorah and Theon?

Oh, none of the players. I figured Karstark would go nuts after hearing Theon would be left to go home, so I rolled the dice and Theon got the wrong number. Same as Mormont, I figured many Northerners would despise him for his betrayal and I needed one of the Targaryen allies in the North to die to increase the tension, so I rolled the dice for Mormont and Ramsay and Mormont lost.

[Lumine]

What happened to Olenna and Margery?

Both escaped Highgarden after the rebellion, but Olenna died because of the toll the rebellion and the losses took on her health. Margaery survived, and despite a failed suicide attempt during Tyrion's coup she now lives in King's Landing, under the careful watch of the Lord Protector.

[Lumine]

Bumping this just to ask, doesn't anyone else think that what we did here makes up for a better storyline than what we've gotten from the show lately? If only we had addressed the menace of White Walkers and the religious issue, we could have gotten to a full resolution for the whole plot.

That is very kind of you, Antonio, although I do think some of the outcomes in this game weren't the ideal by storyline terms. It is more satisfying if you consider the Starks made it alright and Westeros, while damaged, found a way to stabilize itself into a loose "Commonwealth", but it did involve leaving those issues you mentioned aside and a deux ex machina Lord Protector in Daemon Blackfyre (which I was forced to invent).

The new game may lack some of the grandeur due to many crucial characters being dead at the start (Tywin, Cersei, Renly, Robb Stark and so on), but it is also one that explores much more the damage and the anarchy that might ensure if you consider the Sparrow Rebellion, Essos in flames, the White Walkers, and so on (all of which was only hinted in the past game).

The show, by comparison, has the disadvantage of having too many storylines and too little time to portray them in detail, and the fact that we do not know whatever lies ahead in TWOW, which makes some outcomes weird or unexpected (save for Show Dorne, that mess is unexplicable), but I still enjoy it, Season 5 was still pretty good to me.

[Lumine]

I really hate necroposting, but after Dereich and X brought it up I just had to.

Congratulations, lads! We predicted the constitutional Westeros ending - via Deus Ex Machina - five years ago!