130 AC

130 AC was a year of sharp reversals in the Dance of the Dragons: a Triarchy fleet struck at the royal family and the Velaryon stronghold, while dragonriders turned the resulting naval battle into a catastrophe for the attackers. On land, the Fishfeed devastated the Lannister host but exacted terrible losses from the Northmen. By Maiden’s Day, Queen Rhaenyra’s power had grown, yet several of her most dangerous enemies remained beyond her reach.

The Attack on the Gullet

As 130 AC began, a fleet of ninety warships from the Triarchy approached the Gullet. The Pentoshi cog Gay Abandon, carrying the young princes Aegon and Viserys, sailed into its path. The escorts sent to protect the ship were sunk or captured, and the cog itself fell to the attackers.

Aegon escaped to Dragonstone clinging to Stormcloud, his dragon. The nine-year-old prince had never flown before; Stormcloud was gravely wounded during the flight and died within the hour of reaching safety. Viserys could not escape the captured cog. He had hidden his dragon egg and disguised himself in ragged ship’s clothes, but a ship’s boy betrayed him. A Tyroshi captain first recognized the prince, before the Lysene admiral Sharako Lohar took custody of him.

The Battle of the Gullet

Sharako divided his fleet into two pincers, one to enter the Gullet south of Dragonstone and the other to approach from the north. In the early morning of the fifth day of 130 AC, the warships attacked with the rising sun behind them. Its glare helped conceal their approach as they surprised Lord Velaryon’s galleys, ramming some and boarding others.

The southern squadron left Dragonstone untouched and struck Driftmark instead. Its troops landed at Spicetown, while fire ships set ablaze vessels emerging from the harbor to meet them. By mid-morning, Spicetown was burning and Myrish and Tyroshi troops were attacking the gates of High Tide.

Prince Jacaerys attacked a line of Lysene galleys on Vermax. The Triarchy’s sailors had faced dragons before in the Stepstones and fought on despite the fire falling among their ships. Their resistance broke when Silverwing, Sheepstealer, Seasmoke, and Vermithor joined Jacaerys: faced by five dragons, the warships scattered, and many were destroyed or consumed by fire. The battle’s outcome demonstrated the force of the newly assembled dragonriders, but it did not undo the capture of Viserys or the destruction wrought on Driftmark.

The Fishfeed and Other Fronts

The next day, the bloodiest land battle of the Dance began at sunrise beside the Gods Eye. Known in the Citadel’s records as the Battle by the Lakeshore, it was remembered by survivors as the Fishfeed. Attacked from three sides, the westermen were driven back into the water. By nightfall, two thousand men had died, including several lords and knights, and the Lannister host had been shattered. The Winter Wolves had insisted on leading the attack and charged five times into the Lannister spears; more than two-thirds of the men who had ridden south with Lord Dustin were dead or wounded. The scale of the losses overwhelmed the young Lord of Raventree, Ben Blackwood, when he saw the dead.

Fighting continued elsewhere. In the Reach, Lord Hightower and his ward, Daeron Targaryen, won victories that brought the Rowans of Goldengrove, the Oakhearts of Old Oak, and the Lords of the Shield Islands to submission; none dared face Daeron’s dragon, Tessarion. Borros Baratheon assembled nearly six thousand men near Storm’s End with the stated intention of marching on King’s Landing, but led them south into the mountains instead. He cited Dornish incursions, though many suspected that the dragons, rather than the Dornishmen, had changed his course. In the Sunset Sea, the Red Kraken’s longships swept across Fair Isle while Lord Farman remained behind his walls and sent pleas for help that went unanswered.

At Harrenhal, Aemond Targaryen and Criston Cole argued over how to respond to the queen’s attacks. Their forces were short of food and fodder, and hunger and sickness were costing them men and horses. Criston urged a withdrawal south, where support for Aegon was stronger, but Aemond refused to retreat. When news of the Fishfeed reached the castle, Aemond’s anger nearly cost the messenger his life; Alys Rivers intervened and saved the squire.

Rhaenyra’s High Summer

On Maiden’s Day in 130 AC, the Citadel sent out three hundred white ravens to announce the coming of winter. Yet for Rhaenyra, the season was a high summer: despite disaffection among the people of King’s Landing, she held both the city and the crown. The Triarchy had begun to tear itself apart, and House Velaryon commanded the waves. Although snow had closed the passes through the Mountains of the Moon, the Maiden of the Vale kept her promise and sent men by sea. Ships from White Harbor also brought warriors led by Lord Manderly’s sons, Medrick and Torrhen. These reinforcements marked the growth of Rhaenyra’s power as Aegon II’s diminished.

That ascendancy was still incomplete. Aegon II remained alive and free, as did his daughter Jaehaera; Larys Strong had disappeared, Storm’s End remained in Borros Baratheon’s hands, and the Lannisters remained Rhaenyra’s enemies. The Fishfeed had weakened the western host, but the Red Kraken’s attacks on Fair Isle and the west shore left Casterly Rock in disarray rather than bringing the war to an end. The events of 130 AC thus set gains at sea and in the capital against continuing threats across the realm.