RM: Interlude: Naval Battle Off Runestone

Salhador Saan smirked as he saw the fleet that Baelish had blockading the Port of Runestone. The Port Town at the base of the cliff overlooking the sea, where the actual Castle of Runestone sat, was currently being blockaded by a fleet of ships flying the flags of various Houses and Towns under the control of, or in debt to, Baelish. These weren't just houses from the Vale either, but a few remnants of fleets from Cracklaw Point, the Riverlands, and even a few from the Stormlands. Salhador also saw ships bearing the banner of the Baelish Trading Coster, the Purple Mockingbird on a field of Gold. All told, there were perhaps one-hundred-twenty-five ships of various types ready to contest his attempt to break the blockade that they had set up around Runestone. It was a hefty amount of ships for most, but the overwhelming amount of Naval Power that King Stannis could call upon still dwarfed it.

Most of these ships of Baelish's Fleet were armed with two and four-pounder guns or Ballistae, with one or two of the larger ships bearing bombards here and there. Most were War Galleys, but a few were attempts to ape the Nau-Style Carracks of Salhador Saan's own fleet, albeit on a smaller scale. These Pseudo-Carracks almost exclusively flew the flag of the Baelish Trading Coster and were armed with what appeared to be twenty, four-pounder guns, and, alarmingly, ten six-pounder guns, in two broadsides of fifteen, alongside a single eight-pounder bow-gun. It seemed Baelish was catching up to them in terms of Naval and Cannon Technology, though it might be too little, too late, as only fifteen of the hundred-ten enemy ships were armed and built in that way. Still, it was a concerning development.

Of course, to break the Blockade of Runestone, Salhador Saan had one-hundred-sixty ships of his own. Thirty-five, Forty-Eight-Gun Nau-Style Carracks, fifteen of which were the New Models with the Goldenhheart Wood hulls, were joined by forty-five, Twelve-Gun War Galleys and screened by Eighty, Fifteen-Gun, Fully-Rigged Naval Pinnaces. Salhador's Fleet had the advantages of numbers and firepower over Baelish's Fleet, and the enemy knew it. Now all that remained to be seen was whether or not the enemy Admiral would order his ships and crews to stand and fight, or if he would order them to withdraw to a more defensible location under the guns of some Baelish-aligned fort somewhere. Honestly, either way worked for Salhador Saan. If they stood and fought, he'd sink them where they floated, if they ran, he'd sail into Runestone uncontested. Either way, the blockade would be broken.

"Those fifteen pseudo-carracks might be a problem. They have the firepower to put up a fight, though there aren't many of them. We will have to focus on them as a priority." Mused Salhador Saan to himself as he viewed the enemy fleet through his Spyglass.

That had been a wonderous innovation, the spyglass. A refinement on the Myrish Eye that utilized, instead of a pair of flat lenses, a concave and convex lenses, which allowed for greater magnification for the same amount of high-quality glass produced. Of course, such lenses were skill-intensive productions, which was why they had yet to proliferate past the ranks of the Fleet Commanders to the ordinary captains. Salhador was told that Lord Seawynd had innovated such lenses alongside some of the Refugees who had come to Bloodstone as they fled the chaos that had engulfed the Disputed Lands a couple of years ago. They had only begun being produced in any quantities about two months or so before the start of the War. Salhador had even been able to use his Spyglass to see individual craters on the Moon, likely from comet strikes.

"Should we send Word to the fleet to fire on the imitation-carracks first?" Questioned his Semophore Man, a former member of his Pirate Crew and fellow Lyseni named Ilmergo Alyta.

"Not the whole fleet. Task the New Model Naus with the destruction of the Pseudo-Carracks. If he wants to imitate our advances, Baelish should be shown precisely what it is he is attempting to copy." Smirked Salhador Saan.

"And who will have the flag of that detachment?" Queried Ilmergo.

"Give it to the Wandering Cornicello. I believe they can handle it." Ordered Salhador Saan.

"That's Captain Appyano's Ship." Pointed out Ilmergo.

"And? Is he not a fine sailor?" Asked Salhador Saan.

"When he's sober, Aye. However, he recently lost his son in the Battle with the Fleet, bringing the Vale's Army to Maidenpool. A Valeman's Arrow hit him right through the eye in a lucky shot from across the battlefield." Warned Ilmergo.

"So he has been hitting the bottle?" Questioned Salhador Saan.

"He has. Are you sure you wouldn't wish to give command to someone else? Captain Drizdis of the Bronze Fish, perhaps?" Queried Ilmergo.

"No. Let Captain Appyano have command. Give him a chance to prove he's still got what it takes to command. In the meantime, we'll take the rest of the fleet into battle against Baelish's main force." Commanded Salhador Saan.

"Sure, though I have to ask why give him the opportunity?" Asked Ilmergo.

"You and I were Pirates once, Ilmergo. Surely we would have wanted someone to do the same in our youth for us? Back before respectability leeched the drink from our bones." Pointed out Salhador Saan.

"Right. I'll get on that then." Nodded Ilmergo.

"Do it fast. It seems that Baelish's Fleet is making ready to stand fast. We'll have a fight on our hands soon enough." Intoned Salhador Saan.

Ilmergo rushed off to begin signaling the rest of the Fleet using the Semaphore System that had been rigged up for Fleet use by Lord Seawynd. Salhador Saan couldn't help but grin as he put his Spyglass back up to his eye. Truly, hitching his fortunes to those of Lord Seawynd's had been the best choice he had made in his entire life. Sure, he wasn't King of the Narrow Sea, like his Ancestor had been, but he was high up enough in the hierarchy of the Man who may as well be King of the Narrow Sea that it made little substantive difference. All he had to do to keep his spot was command ships and help Lord Seawynd defeat his enemies. Salhador Saan would have been commanding ships regardless, so agreeing to do it for Lord Seawynd had been an easy decision to make. And as for defeating his enemies, well, Salhador Saan was about to do some of that right now.

As the main bodies of both Fleets formed up, and the cannonballs began to splash into the ocean, both sides firing ranging shots, Salhador Saan could only grin wider. He barked out a laugh as he saw one of his Nau-Style Carracks, the Shining Acorn, put a heated-up cannonball into the mast of one of the Enemy War Galleys as the gunners found their range, splintering the mast and catching the lateen sail and rigging ablaze. First blood had gone to them, as he'd figured it would. Now they just had to keep the pressure up and continue that streak to win the day. With any luck, this would be a major victory over the last real Naval Force remaining to Baelish.

And that, if it happened, would give them uncontested control over the Narrow and Shivering Seas. . .

XXXX

Captain Gyrardo Appyano of the New Model Nau-Style Carrack Wandering Cornicello had been given command of a fifteen-ship detachment by Lord Admiral Saan. Its mission? Crush the Pseudo-Carracks that the Baelish Fleet had somehow managed to produce. It was a mission that Gyrardo was eager to fulfill. His son, Ambrosyo, had been slain by one of Baelish's Minions during the Battle with the Vale Transport Fleet in the Bay of Crabs. He had been the First Mate of the War Galley Resolute. His boy had been struck through the eye by an arrow as he attempted to gather a damage control team to put out some of the fires that had erupted on the deck and save the ship. He had been one of a number of people slain on their side in that Fleet Action, but his loss had cut deeply enough for Gyrardo to crawl into a bottle and let Rum take his sorrow away.

When his son's body had been recovered, one of the few that had, it was discovered that the arrow that slew him had been fletched with the feathers of a Mountain Chough, a bird endemic to the Mountains of the Moon. That meant that one of Baelish's Pet Mountain Clansmen had done the deed. That also meant that, in sinking these Pseudo-Carracks that likewise belonged to Baelish instead of one of his ill-gotten vassals, Gyrardo could achieve some measure of vengeance for his slain boy, even if at a remove. He was determined to do just that, and extract his price for the death of his son from Baelish's Minions in blood. In fact, you might say he was impatient to do so, as his detachment closed to firing range with the enemy vessels, he tapped his booted foot nervously on the deck of the Wandering Cornicello, eager to get to grips with the enemy.

"How much longer?" Questioned Gyrardo.

"Fifteen minutes. We need to maintain formation to avoid giving the enemy a chance to escape." Answered his First Mate, Antonyo Palmyti.

The Blood of Old Valyria flowed through the veins of his First Mate fairly strongly for someone from the hinterland of Myr, and Antonyo Palmyti had the silver hair and violet eyes characteristic of Old Valyria. It was a damn sight more than flowed through Gyrardo's Veins, as he barely had a few drops of Valyrian Blood in him that had long-since been drowned out by Braavosi Heritage. Both men wore their hair long, but while Antonyo's Silver was tied back in an oiled ponytail, Gyrardo's Black was worn loose and shaggy. Where Antonyo was dressed finely, in a leather buff coat that was embossed with silvery patterns and a carmine-dyed silken sash, Gyrardo was rougher, wearing a slightly stained brigandine over a plain white cotton padded jack.

The pair made for an unlikely team at the best of times. Usually, Gyrardo's more coarse qualities would be balanced out by Antonyo's manners, and the ship functioned well enough. Unfortunately, these were not normal times, and Gyrardo's heavy drinking had impaired their normal dynamic. This was in evidence now, as Gyrardo rounded on Antonyo, a snarl on his lips as his impatience to get to grips with Baelish's Minions bled through into his demeanor even further than it already had, taking Antonyo aback slightly. As Gyrardo began to pace back and forth, he tried to figure out a way to get his detachment more speed.

"Can we not pile on more sail to increase speed?" Queried Gyrardo.

"We could, but not every ship in the detachment can say the same. Captain Drizdis of the Bronze Fish, Captain Xihal of the Parchment Hummingbird, and Captain Benn of the Double Rainbow don't have the extra sail. We were ordered to set out before they could replenish their stores of extra sail." Pointed out Antonyo.

"Three ships out of fifteen. That should be fine. Order the Bronze Fish, Parchment Hummingbird, and Double Rainbow to catch up when they can. Everyone else is to pile on sail to close as swiftly as possible." Ordered Gyrardo.

"Is that wise?" Asked Antonyo.

"I care not. It is what we are doing. See that it's done." Commanded Gyrardo.

And with that, Antonyo Palmyti just gave a shrug and began relaying orders to the detachment. Within a minute, all ships of the Detachment that could rig up extra sail did so. Within three minutes, most of the Detachment began moving at breakneck speed toward the enemy ships, even as the Bronze Fish, Parchment Hummingbird, and Double Rainbow all slipped out of formation for lack of extra sails to use for speed. Within seven minutes, the remaining ships of the Detachment began to slacken off the extra speed, slowing as they turned to present their broadsides to the Enemy Detachment that was still traveling in column. At the ten minute mark, the Detachment reached firing range, crossing the T of the column of enemy Pseudo-Carracks and rippling out a massive broadside, even as four of the Detachment's ships, the Golden Scarab, Jade Rabbit, Silver Cat, and the Amber Elephant all moved to flank the enemy column, moving down to fire broadsides at the column two at a time.

However, as the fighting raged, it soon became clear that the rearmost eight ships of the Enemy Detachment were able to escape the net, thanks to Gyrardo's impatience to get to grips with Baelish's Minions. The three ships that would have stopped such a thing and closed the gap in the net on the rear of the Enemy Detachment had fallen out of formation for lack of extra speed. As the Enemy's seven frontmost ships fought for their lives, the eight Rearmost Ships decided that discretion was the better part of valor, piled on sail, turned about, and headed North for another harbor, escaping the trap thanks to the opening left by Gyrardo's Impatience and thirst for vengeance. They would not be the only ships to escape, but they would be the most dangerous.

And for that reason, Gyrardo Appyano would find himself being questioned after the battle by both Salhador Saan and by Vizimir the Spymaster. . .

XXXX

Salhador Saan sighted down on the Enemy Commander with a musket. His force had largely broken the enemy Fleet's formation apart after an hour and fifteen minutes of fighting. Unfortunately, that had caused a number of enemy ships to cut and run, causing massive chaos to erupt in the Battle. In that chaos, several of his ships were sunk, including the Nau-Style Carracks Lucky Groat and Clover, along with three War Galleys and three Fully-Rigged Naval Pinnaces, the Fang, Claw, and Horn for War Galleys and the Raven, Crow, and Magpie for Fully-Rigged Naval Pinnaces. By the time the chaos had settled enough for Salhador to get back into the thick of the action, another half an hour had passed.

That brought his total casualties for the battle so far up to twelve ships sunk, thirteen crippled, and another fourteen damaged. They had still managed to reap a deadly toll on the Baelish Fleet. Fifty-eight ships sunk, crippled, or captured, with another thirty-eight fled for safer waters. That left twenty remaining, whose Commander was the man that Salhador had his sights on. The Enemy Commander in question was a man in a brigandine surcoat with the green snakes on black of House Lynderly emblazoned on his cloak. He was a rakish-looking Man, with a goatee of the kind that Baelish wore himself, though his black hair was pulled back into a ponytail instead of cropped close to the head like Baelish's was. As he bellowed orders and waved his Arming Sword about, the Commander made himself a tempting target as he directed the Crew of his Galleass hither and thither toward various tasks.

This had to be Lord Jon Lynderly, well-known to be a good friend of Baelish's and a frequent guest at Baelish's many brothels, as his many Bastards could attest. Of course, he also had four true-born children as well, two sons and two daughters. The man had clearly taken after the Late King Robert when it came to spreading his seed across the Seven Kingdoms. That was going to spell disaster for the succession of House Lynderly, especially as that question of succession was going to come up sooner rather than later, for Salhador Saan had a clear shot at Lord Jon Lynderly now. One he intended to take and end this Battle with. Salhador Saan took a deep breath, then exhaled, squeezing the trigger as he did so.

His musket belched smoke, flame, and leaden death, adding to the acrid-smelling pall that hung over the battling fleets already. As he watched on, Musket handed off to Ilmergo, who began busily reloading the cumbersome weapon. Lord Jon Lynderly's head burst apart like an overripe melon as the musketball of special metal crossed the more than one-hundred yards between their ships to punch into Lord Jon Lynderly's skull in an accurate shot. As the corpse of the Lord of House Lynderly toppled to the deck like a puppet with its strings cut, Salhador Saan took note of the panic that began to spread among the enemy fleet. This was it, he knew. The enemy might resist for a bit longer, but they wouldn't do it effectively. The battle was now basically over.

All that was left to do was to mop up the remaining enemy ships, and they could call this a victory. . .

XXXX

In the end, after two hours and ten minutes of combat on the high seas, the remaining ships of the Baelish Fleet had all either fled, surrendered, or been sunk. In total, forty out of one-hundred-twenty-five Baelish Ships managed to escape death or capture at the Fleet Battle of Runestone. Less than a third of their total numbers. Meanwhile, the total losses of Salhador Saan's Fleet amounted to sixty out of one-hundred-sixty ships Sunk, Crippled, or Damaged. It was a heavy price to pay, as it amounted to thirty-seven and a half percent of Salhador Saan's Fleet sunk, crippled, or damaged. However, he still had one-hundred ships remaining to prosecute the war at sea and would soon add twenty ships that were easily repairable back to his active roster of ships.

Furthermore, the Naval Route to Runestone had been reopened, allowing supplies and potentially, reinforcements, to flow to the besieged territories of House Royce and its vassals. That had been the ultimate aim of this operation, after all. To break the Naval Blockade of Runestone and allow the resumption of the supplying of Bronze Yohn's Forces by sea. The only real fly in the ointment had been the escape of forty enemy ships, including eight of those Pseudo-Carracks, thanks to Captain Gyrardo Appyano's impatience. Rest assured, the Captain would be interrogated and likely demoted due to that error. Especially as news about events up near the Fingers came trickling in just after the news of the Battle of Maidenpool reached Runestone. The remaining Baelish Fleet had sailed for the Coldwater River and attacked the seat of House Coldwater at Coldwater Burn, sacking the town and breaking into the underdefended Castle through copious use of Naval Gunfire before leaving.

And that was something that could not have been accomplished without the Pseudo-Carracks. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see how the Naval Battle off Runestone went. It was costly, especially as Baelish has begun to catch up to Ricasso's innovations. The Pseudo-Carracks he's had built are actually more like Caravelas de Armadas, rather than true Nau-style Carracks. They're still dangerous, though, especially as he managed to source limited numbers of six and eight-pounder guns for them, though where from is going to be revealed in a future update, so I won't spoil it here. At the same time, human error on the part of one of Salhador Saan's Captains allowed some of those Pseudo-Carracks to escape, link up with a flotilla of escaped War Galleys and Galleasses, and engage in a rading campaign against Stannis' allies in the Vale, now that they no longer have the fleet strength to fight a stand-up battle.

At any rate, next chapter, we'll be back with Ricasso for the Battle of Ironmonger's Corner before going back to another Interlude at the Wall, as the Climactic Battle of the Wildling War is fought at the Wall.

Stay tuned. . .