Chapter 90

It was two days before all had arrived, though Jalhabar Xho and Prince Perros were not the last to arrive. Interestingly, that honor went to the Lords of the Three Sisters. Lords Sunderland, Borrel, Longthorpe, and Torrent had apparently decided that since my agreement with them allowed my ships to use their ports in a time of war, they would be better off simply declaring for Stannis alongside me, rather than attempting to hide behind the veneer of legitimacy that the Treaty gave them.

I spent the entire time doing the feudal equivalent of shaking hands and kissing babies, effectively going on a charm offensive on Stannis' behalf with his various Lords. Gods knew the man himself wasn't going to do anything of the sort. Fortunately, things were far less dire for Stannis than they had been the first time around, and so I didn't have to promise certain lords much to throw their weight behind Stannis' claim fully.

Lord Celtigar was the Trickiest. The Lord of Claw Isle had long since coveted the position of Warden of Cracklaw Point. It was a title that had belonged to his father, Lord Crispian Celtigar, and his Grandfather, Lord Clement Celtigar, going back to the days of his Great Grandfather, Lord Bartimos Celitgar during the Dance of Dragons.

Unfortunately, Aerys had granted to Lord Eustace Brune on the Death of Lord Crispian. Lord Brune was a friend of Aerys', you see. At least he had been before and immediately after the Defiance of Duskendale before the treatment Aerys had received at the hands of Lord Darklyn had had time to percolate in Aerys' mind and turn to madness.

What that effectively meant was that Lord Celtigar wished for the position of Warden of Cracklaw Point to be returned to House Celtigar from the control of House Crabb. Fortunately, there was a way forward that would settle things satisfactorily for both parties. See, Lord Ardrian Celtigar was an Old Man, whose sons had all died and whose sole living Grandson, Ser Terence Celtigar, had been sent to the Wall due to an ill-advised duel where he wound up killing his opponent, even though the duel was slated for first blood.

His heir, therefore, was his grandniece Lady Amelia. Meanwhile, Lord Rupert's wife was barren thanks to complications from the birth of their one and only son. Unfortunately, their son, Red Jack Crabb made the mistake of turning to Brigandage before I'd managed to cut a deal with Lord Rupert, gotten caught stealing sheep from Lord Pyne, and sent to the Wall. That made Lord Rupert's heir his Nephew, Ser Rennifer Crabb. Neither Ser Rennifer Crabb nor Lady Amelia Celtigar was married.

I managed to broker a betrothal between Lords Crabb and Celitgar that ensured that the ancestral claim of House Celtigar for the position of Warden of Cracklaw Point would be passed from Lord Ardrian to Ser Rennifer via Lady Amelia, and then onto their Second Child, who would wind up inheriting Claw Isle, while their firstborn inherited the Whispers, but not the Wardenship.

It was an arrangement similar to my initial arrangement with my Goodfather, only I sincerely doubted any dispensation to keep everything to a single line of succession would fly in this case. After all, Claw Isle was sworn directly to Dragonstone. I hardly saw Stannis giving away one of his key bannermen like that, especially to a vassal of a different Lord Paramount.

Aside from that, most other requests were easy. Some, like Lord Monford Velyron, wished an introduction to the Arsenal of Braavos and enough coin as a loan to purchase and outfit a Nau from the Dockyard there. I had a sneaking suspicion that he intended to retread the steps of the Sea Snake and use it for a grand trading voyage. I still acquiesced because I had a head start in trade on him in every port that mattered. Others, like Lord Penrose, wanted me to make more muskets, arsenal steel equipment, powder, and shot available to them, which given we were going to war I agreed to gladly.

Some just wanted a loan at a favorable rate of interest. Lords Massey and Sunglass were in those camps. In Lord Massey's case, it was to be used to finance a combination Jasper Mine and Stone Quarrey, which I approved of. In Lord Sunglass' case, though, it was to finance the construction of a new Sept in Tally Hill, where his Bannerman Ser Triston of Tally Hill lobbied him to replace the old, wooden, Sept. I didn't approve of that use of funds, but Stannis needed the support so I approved both.

By the time everyone was accounted for, I was reasonably assured that my deal-making had gotten all of everyone's ducks in a row behind Stannis. Not that anyone who would have come to this Council in the first place would not be behind Stannis, at least initially, but this way they would be a lot more firmly behind him. As the fourth day of the Council dawned, however, Stannis called everyone to order.

It was time to finally get this show on the road. . .

XXXX

"My Lords, you know why I have called you here. My brother, the King, has been made a Cuckold by Cersei Lannister. None of those Golden-haired, Green-Eyed, Bastards currently in King's Landing are trueborn heirs of his body. That makes the Iron Throne mine by rights." Began Stannis.

"What of Renly?" Called out someone from Lord Penrose's contingent.

"My foolish brother has raised a Claim of his own, yes. He is younger and less experienced, like as not to lead his supporters into a trap, but the Tyrells have fed him a steady diet of honeyed words for years. He is also the youngest, and as such, behind me in the proper, legal, line of succession." Intoned Stannis.

I noted that Stannis specifically called out Renly as less-experienced than him. That was a nice touch and one that had likely come from the Elderly Maester Cressen's mind rather than Stannis' own speechwriting skill. Cressen may be frail physically, but he was still sharp as ever mentally, it seems.

"The Reach may mobilize one-hundred-thousand men for Renly, and he may have the loyalty of up to fifteen-thousand Stormlanders of his own, but the situation is not nearly as lopsided as it first appears. Follow me, and I shall give you victory and claim what is due to me by legal right!" Intoned Stannis.

"How? One-hundred-fifteen-thousand troops give Renly the Largest Army in the whole of Westeros. How can anyone stand against that?" Demanded a Voice from the crowd.

"His Grace is correct, this is not as hopeless as it looks!" I called out.

Instantly, I had everyone's attention, even Stannis' who motioned for me to go on. So I did so, laying out the situation in as logical and concise a manner as I could under the circumstances.

"With the Lords here before me today, we can call upon more than eighty-thousand troops of our own, a large percentage of which will be better drilled and equipped. Our Naval Advantage is also superior, the entire rest of the fleets of Westeros would have to combine to even achieve a rough numerical parity, and that is without mentioning how many of our ships and crews will be superior in quality. The Starks are also likely to declare for us, given Lord Stark was accused of treason by Cersei Lannister and only escaped thanks to intervention from my agents." I began.

That brought out a murmur of surprise from the assembled Lords and Knights in the Chamber of the Painted Table. Many of them had yet to hear anything about Lord Stark's escape or anything about an attempt to frame him for the death of the King. Fortunately, Stannis had Ser Davos bang the steel-shod butt of his halberd on the stones of the floor, instantly quieting the room.

"Continue, Lord Seawynd." Intoned Stannis.

"Thank you, Your Grace. As I was saying, the Reach cannot mobilize all of its forces at once swiftly enough to make a difference. Such an attempt would strip the land bare of food and fodder for miles around and be unfeasible to keep in the field for any significant length of time. It is likely they will never put more than half of such a force in the field at any one time, leaving the other half as a pool of reserves to draw on. That simplifies the numerical disadvantage greatly. There is also the fact that Tywin Lannister will no doubt be moving to support Cersei in keeping Joffrey Waters on the Iron Throne, which means that Renly and the Tyrells have to keep an eye on the Westerlands as well. That means keeping forces pointed up the Ocean Road in case of an attack from Crakehall." I continued.

"Given that, what would you advise as a strategic decision to open the War, Lord Seawynd?" Questioned Stannis.

"First, blockade King's Landing, Your Grace. With the Reach backing Renly, they will be forced to buy from Essos if they want to keep the City fed, which requires the port to be operating. Second, I would suggest a two-pronged assault. I will land in Cracklaw Point, using Lord Crabb's legal authority as Warden to gather supplemental forces from the Pointsmen before subduing any Lannister Loyalist houses in the Point. Meanwhile, you lead forces to Storms' End to reclaim your ancestral seat. From there, we can both move to King's Landing from North and South faster than Renly can march a large, unwieldy, army from Highgarden to the Eastern Coast of Westeros. With the City weakened by lack of food, it should fall easily enough." I answered.

"Can we support two amphibious assaults and a blockade?" Queried Lord Bar Emmon.

"Perhaps you didn't think to tally the Naval Strength of the Lords present, Lord Bar Emmon. Fortunately, I have. We have one-thousand-one-hundred-fifty-seven Warships. That's without Lords Sunderland, Borrel, Longthorpe, and Torrent, who add another sixty Warships, or the Starks, whose Bannermen of House Manderly also control a large fleet. Trust me, my Lords, we have more than enough Naval Power for this." I confirmed.

"What of Tywin Lannister? Will he not be able to bring to battle either of these two prongs before they combine?" Asked Stannis.

"Likely not, Your Grace. Half the Riverlands are in arms against him thanks to his sending of Amory Lorch in to raid and despoil their lands. While the other half is in his pocket, that only further draws him into a quagmire there. It is likely he will not be able to attack us until he has secured a leading position in the Riverlands for his forces and allies. The transit of supplies to fronts along the Narrow Sea Coast will demand no less. Gods know he won't be able to bring supplies in by ship. By the time he is ready to attack us, King's Landing will most likely already have fallen into our hands." I answered.

"Very well. You have convinced me of your strategy. If it works, I shall appoint you as Hand of the King. Until that time, Ser Davos will serve as my Hand. In the meantime, I have other appointments to give out." Nodded Stannis.

The meeting proceeded apace with court appointments being handed out for Stannis' Small Council. Lord Velyron was Master of Ships, Lord Celtigar was Master of Laws, Ser Harry Ruskyn, at my suggestion, was made Master of Coin, Maester Cressen was appointed as Grand Maester, while the positions of Master of Whispers, and the KIngsguard would be abolished, the former due to Stannis wanting more centralized control over the Realm's Spymaster while the latter was because the Kingsguard was an antiquated tradition now that any knight might be felled by a musket ball fired by some random smallfolk musketeer.

Those last two caused a bit of a murmur of discontent, but not enough of one to outweigh the benefits of backing a winning horse. It was only against tradition and negative if Stannis didn't win, after all. If he did win, then it was forward-thinking and a sign of intelligent governance. That often was how these things tended to play out in terms of optics, after all. We just needed to make sure that Stannis won. I would see him on that damned uncomfortable chair even if it killed me.

Because if he wasn't then Cersei definitely would kill me. . .

XXXX

The Council lasted one more day as logistics got ironed out and everyone mentioned what assets they had to contribute in terms of ships and troops. It turned out that a lot of our forces were very modern, though the others still had Matchlocks and Four-Pounder Guns rather than the six-pounders and snaplocks I was using, but that was to be expected.

Likewise, many of the Lords had invested in better gear and training for their levies, though only so much as they could afford it. The Narrow Sea Houses, having been hooked into my trade network the longest, naturally had the best-equipped and best-drilled forces outside of myself and my bannermen. Most of them had switched to the militia system I used and equipped their Guards and Militia as a mix of Musketeers, Pikemen, and Billmen or Halberdiers, with a smaller core of Heavy Cavalry.

The Exception was Lord Guncer Sunglass, who insisted on not using muskets due to some inane religious thing. Apparently, his Maester advised him that Knighthood was put in place by the Seven for a reason and that muskets run in direct contravention to the Seven's intentions. Mind you, he still instituted a militia system and equipped his men with better armor, Pikes, and Halberds, while drilling them more. It's just that he kept his Longbowmen instead of switching to Mukseteers.

The others varied in quality drastically, with some being little better than slightly better-armed and drilled levies while others had truly gone all out to transfer over to the new style of training and equipping a military force. All told, it would be a composite force of various levels of skill, training, and equipment, though it would still beat most other forces in a straight fight.

Ships were a completely different story. Everyone had seen how effective cannons were in naval battles and everyone with a fleet of any capability was willing to pay for cannons and to drill their crews in the use of them. Most were using four-pounders on War Galleys, though some, such as the Royal Fleet and the Dragonstone Fleet, were using Six-Pounders and Naus just like my own fleet. A few had even gone so far as to make up what they called bombardment ships. These were older Dromons who had been converted to carry bombards in order to shell shore fortifications and castles into submission. All told the fleet was fully armed and equipped with Gunpowder Weapons and drilled in their use.

The supply situation was likewise excellent. I'd bought and produced large amounts of foodstuffs, fodder, and other wartime supplies in years and months leading up to this, preserving food in stasis chests and stockpiling powder, shot, weapons, and armor. I'd had literal years to prepare for this and had intensified my efforts over the past few months. My forces were more than ready for war.

Stannis' forces likewise had a large amount of supplies laid in, simply due to his cautious and meticulous nature. He was constantly putting food and equipment aside, salting fish and meat, smoking cheese, and stockpiling gear. Stannis was, at heart, a pessimist, though I was sure he'd tell you he was only being realistic. That meant that he had a good percentage of his recent largesse in food and goods that came from being connected to my trade network set aside in storage.

The Narrow Sea Houses were also well-supplied, Stannis having mandated that they set aside a certain amount of equipment and foodstuffs every month to assure an adequate reserve of supplies in case of emergencies. Most had grumbled at the decree but did it anyway as he was their liege lord. I'd bet they were glad of the foresight now.

Everyone else had varying degrees of mediocre situations in terms of their supplies, though the worst was, surprisingly, House Wylde. Apparently, though the Rain House was on fertile lands and had plenty of other natural resources, Lord Caspar Wylde had apparently decided that the good times would never end and sunk the overwhelming majority of his resources into trade. The Rain House barely had adequate stores to survive a few weeks of siege. Fortunately, he had profited from that trade immensely and would be able to buy fresh supplies that could be brought into the Rain House continually thanks to our naval advantage.

By the time the Council Ended, we had ironed out the supply situation, our general strategy, and everyone's support and levels of rewards. Now all that was left was to actually fight the war. Well, that was what everyone thought at any rate. I knew better. The Latest Raven from Castle Black had come bearing news of Wildling Hordes testing the defenses of the Night's Watch. They were being driven south by something ancient stirring in the far, frozen, north.

I could only hope that we would have won the War down here before anything serious on that front happened. . .

XXXX

AN: All Right, so here we get Stannis' Council, Ricasso's efforts to get everyone to support Stannis a hundred percent, and the plan that Stannis will be going for to attempt a swift victory. A two-pronged assault from North and South on King's Landing, combined with a blockade to weaken the City beforehand.

Of course, just like what happened in Canon, it's likely Renly will rush ahead of the main force to try and hit Stannis with all cavalry before he can take Storm's End. This time, however, Stannis doesn't need a Shadowbaby to deal with Renly. Not when Black Powder will do just as well for putting paid to Renly's ambitions.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the opening moves of the War from Ricasso's POV.

Stay tuned. . .