House Lannister’s downfall was sudden. Roose Bolton drove his dagger into Tywin Lannister’s heart, stamping out any belief the lions could defeat the wolves in battle. The Faith Militant reformed and roused the smallfolk, who lashed out against the precipitously declining dynasty. The lowborn ended a line that had ruled the Kingdom of the Rock for thousands of years.
With King Renly’s eyes still fixed upon his wayward brother, crows circled in the west. No honest man believed the Faith would rule the westerlands in perpetuity. The void needed filling, and the north had as strong a claim as any on the grounds of conquest. When Lord Eddard affirmed he had no intention to pursue the claim, Roose Bolton made his intentions known. He would eradicate the Faith Militant, restore peace, and commence a new dynasty that would rule the westerlands for the next thousand years. House Bolton of Casterly Rock.
“Hold on, hold on...” The Bolton soldier spat. “He means to take Casterly Rock? Don’t tell me, he must ‘ave a siege tower a thousand feet tall made o’ human skin.”
“Nah,” answered another soldier. “The siege of the Rock is a bluff, skulduggery. Roose will be resting in his leech bath while Steelshanks does the grunt work at Lannisport and Ramsay Boy plays his games with the smallfolk. And when them in the Rock hear what the bastard is doing to them in the villages, they’ll swing open the front gate to make sure they get a head start out the door before Ramsay arrives.”
It is said the High Sparrow wept for seven hours when he heard of the monstrosities being perpetrated against the smallfolk of the westerlands. His people needed him. It was time for Lord Bolton to witness the grief of the Mother, the swords of the Smith, and the wrath of the Warrior.
The Story
“I had a long talk with Lord Stark before I returned north,” he said. “The westerlands are in utter disarray. Kevan Lannister is marshalling a motley legion to reclaim the Rock from the Sparrows. He will fail, I will see to that. Both King Renly and King Stannis have proffered House Stark grand favours in reward for their annihilation of the Lannisters, in which I played no small part. Lord Stark has no desire to leave Winterfell, so those gifts will be issued to his kin and loyal bannermen.” Roose took another drink. “I don’t want the little fields of the Hornwood. I want Casterly Rock.”
This is the conclusion of a 3-part narrative event. Part 1 is the Bloody Hunt and part 2 is the Blockade of Lannisport.
Originally this scenario was conceived to depict the 'ceremonial' siege against Casterly Rock, but I changed it for a few reasons. The Bolton excursion storyline already has a siege scenario against Lannisport, which I thought was more unique than sieging Casterly Rock. I also played out the first battle, and after a decisive Bolton victory I decided that the Faith Militant would have a more direct response to defend the smallfolk and punish the Boltons for their faithless transgressions. Finally, it adds depth to the story to have events like a ceremonial, mock siege that then turns into the battle depicted in this scenario. Though I initially designed all 3 scenarios together to save some time, in the end I'm glad that playing them out inspired me to make a change which I think improves both the story and gameplay experience.
This is a fan-made scenario inspired by CMON Limited’s A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game and is in no way associated with CMON.
