THE NORTHERN CRUSADE

ROBB STARK'S INVASION OF THE WESTERLANDS

229 AC

WESTERLANDS

ASHEMARK

ROBB STARK

Robb watched impassively from atop his horse as the gates of Ashemark, is battered open.

After his victory at Oxcross and his capture of the Golden Tooth, Robb had divided his army into three host.

Five thousand men under the command of the Greatjon and Maege Mormont is tasked to raid the towns and villages of Westerlands, and set their fields and villages on fire and cause as much damage and devastation as possible. This is done as a retaliation to the damage the Lannisters caused in the Riverlands.

Robb wants to give the Lannisters the taste of their own medicine. While some of the Lords, especially his Uncle Benjen, had said that putting small folk to the sword is too cruel. Robb had countered and said it as a necessary show of force, because if they did not do it then their enemies will think them them too soft hearted and weak.

A great man once said that we should show mercy only to the merciful. The Lannisters didn't show any mercy to the small folk of Riverlands, then why should they show mercy to their people.

An eye for an eye, Theon Greyjoy had said.

From the latest reports he had read, it seems that Lady Maege had already sacked a dozen villages and, following his orders, had put their inhabitants to the sword. She was now leading thousands of cattle and other live stocks back to the war torn Riverlands.

Lord Greatjon Umber is not far behind as he had captured the gold mines of Castamere, Nunn's Deep, and the the Pendric Hills. Robb is going to use the Lannisters own gold against them.

Another host, five thousand strong under the command of his uncle Benjen is tasked to raid along the cost of the Sunset Sea and take the fishing villages and towns along the coast. It was a small task he had given to his Uncle, as he had refused to harm the small folk or take any part in it.

He had also left a garrison of 800 men in the Golden Tooth to guard the entrance of the Westerlands.

Robb had taken his remaining 12,000 men and had struck the heart of the Westerlands. His first target is the city of Ashemark, the seat of House Marbrand.

Even with the defeat at Oxcross, the Lannister force defending Ashemark is still considerable strong and to avoid unnecessary bloodshed in both sides Robb sent a message to Lord Marbrand to surrender peacefully.

But unlike the Golden Tooth, Lord Damon Marbrand remained strong and loyal to the Lannister cause and refused to surrender peacefully, forcing Robb to lay siege to the city.

He had ordered his newly made trebuchets to bombard the city walls from the first light of sunrise then stop throwing rocks at sunset. He wanted the city defenders to rest at night. He wanted them to be lulled into a false sense of security. Every night he wanted Ashemark sleeping so that when he attack at night, they would never see it coming.

After a week long siege, he had ordered a night assault. He had specifically instructed his men to not carry torches or any form of lighting or to blow any horn, until the gates had fallen.