Storm's End, the Council Chamber in the Main Keep.
The great round table was filled with the remaining principal nobles of the Stormlands.
The acting castellan and newly appointed Hand of the King, Cortnay Penrose, sat at its head.
The knight, renowned for his tenacity and loyalty, now wore a deep frown, his furrowed face full of worry and anger.
Urgent reports from across the region lay spread before him.
A messenger stood before the round table, reporting, "Streamwood Village near Haystack Hall-it's gone...
"Those savages flying Targaryen banners swarmed into the village like locusts-they killed everyone they saw, men, women, children-all cut down. The houses were set alight-the granaries stripped bare-they-they even impaled babies on spears..." The hall fell deathly silent.
Sebastian Ellor, the newly appointed Earl of Haystack Hall, had bloodshot eyes, and his teeth ground audibly.
Streamwood Village was one of the villages in his domain!
"It wasn't just Streamwood Village!"
Another messenger fell to the floor. "Bronzegate-the estates outside Bronzegate suffered the same fate. Those demons took everything they could carry and burned whatever they couldn't. The villagers resisted with hoes, but they were hacked to pulp. The estates-became a sea of fire!"
The elderly Countess of Mistwood, Mary Mertyns, said coldly, "My scouts reported that they were advancing toward the Shipbreaker Bay region along the line between Bronzegate and Felwood. Wherever they passed, nothing remained-"
Earl Wheldon, the newly appointed lord of Rain House, sprang to his feet. "Lord Penrose, we cannot let them keep rampaging! These beasts flying Targaryen banners are more savage than the Lannisters. We must send out our troops immediately and drive them into the sea!"
Earl Selwyn Tarth of Evenfall Hall said gravely, "Lord Wheldon is right. Muster every force we can. My soldiers at Evenfall Hall can mount up