Tourneys at Fair Isle, Starfall, King’s Landing, Sandstone, and Lemonwood, as well as a wedding and tourney at Sunspear.
Day 9-11: Marence Nymeros Martell, Prince of Dorne, weds Lady Cordelia of House Yronwood on her name day. It is a grand affair, with lords and ladies from throughout Dorne coming to attend to the event. As part of the celebrations, a tournament over three days takes place. Ser Garyn Uller, the Hell-knight, wins the melee and comes second in the joust behind Ser Corentyn Yronwood. In the archery contest, Lady Tanyth of House Toland surprised many by coming in second place, losing the first prize only due to Ser Dagos Manwoody’s greater strength. The grand end of the tourney was a seven-sided melee with seven teams of seven knights. Ser Garyn Uller and his brother Ser Utheryn, called the Knight of the Flame, lead knights of Hellholt, Sandstone, and Salt Shore against a team of royal princes and knights of House Yronwood. Ultimately, after a hard battle beneath the blazing sun, it is the latter who achieve victory, with Prince Rhodry Nymeros Martell and Ser Corentyn Yronwood the last two standing.
Day 11: A tourney hosted by Lord Aeron Dayne at Starfall, to celebrate the occasion of his fiftieth nameday, draws many champions from throughout Dorne. Among them are Prince Rhodry Nymeros Martell, Lord Yronwood and his three eldest sons, Ser Dagos Manwoody, Ser Matrim Jordayne, Ser Landon Fowler, Ser Clarien Sand, Ser Castor Vaith, and greatest of them all, Ser Garyn Uller. Lord Aeron’s nephew, Aidan Dayne, manages to win his way to the final joust as twilight descended. By torchlight, he and his opponent, the Hell-knight, charged. Aidan unhorsed Uller, who responded by knighting him, for he had not been unhorsed by a squire since he had attained his knighthood and did not intend to have it ever happen. A bard’s song made thereafter dubbed Aidan the Knight of the Twilight, and the byname has stuck.
Day 17-19: A tourney at Fair Isle, hosted by Lord Farman. Among those in attendance are Jonn Lannister, Ser Kennet Crakehall, Ser Elmer Crakehall, and the freerider Dagur Saltcliffe. In the joust, Ser Doran Dondarrion, called Blackbolt, defeats notables such as Lord Bertrand Reyne, Lord Daric Westerling, and Ser Symeon Westerling, to win the prize. In the melee that follows on the final day, the ironborn warrior Dagur brutally beats Elmer Crakehall because of barbs Ser Elmer had aimed at him earlier. Dagur goes on to claim the victory.
Day 4-6: A tourney at Sandstone, hosted by the blind Lord Ganlos Qorgyle, draws a sizable field, especially from the surrounding region. Ser Aidan Dayne helps to cement his burgeoning reputation with his victories, unhorsing knights twice and three times his age from all parts of Dorne. He defeats Lord Talfryn Toland, Ser Astin Fowler, Ser Bastian Sand, and Lord Caston Vaith in succession. In the final joust he drives Ser Utheryn Uller from his saddle with such violence that he is carried from the field.
Day 24-26: Three days of jousting commence during a royal tourney at King’s Landing, which would prove to be the last of Aegon III’s reign. Among notable events was the performance of the mystery knight calling himself Sparrowhawk, who defeated a string of knights and squires, among them Ser Ingram Swyft, called Bluespur, Ser Jace Rollingford, called the Knight of the Fountain, Lord Joseth Smallwood, called Oakshanks, and Lord Arson Rogers, called the Bastard by some. He is eventually defeated by Prince Aemon the Dragonknight on the third day of the jousting, who chooses not to unmask him for the great prowess he showed in the lists. In the end, the final joust of the tourney comes down to Ser Jaesin Lannister, heir to Casterly Rock, and his friend the Dragonknight. Seven courses they ride, breaking six lances between them, when the Dragonknight finally falls to the golden-haired knight. Recieving the rose crown for the Queen of Love and Beauty upon his lance, Ser Jaesin rides to the royal gallery and offers it to Princess Daena in a grand show of chivalry.
The Sparrowhawk is eventually revealed to be Ser Almer Connington before the melee on the next day, when a young woman claiming to be the daughter of the true Sparrowhawk unmasks him. Some recall that the name had previously been used by a mystery knight he had defeated some years before. Ser Almer withdraws from the tourney to honor the memory of his old foe.
Day 27: A melee closes the royal tourney at King’s Landing. The freerider Dagur Saltcliffe defeats the popular Ser Ingram Swyft, called Bluespur, to win the contest. He is dubbed the Iron Serpent for the cunning he showed. It is not a compliment, but he embraces the name.
Day 5-6: A small tourney at Lemonwood draws a field of some forty knights. Ser Dinias, the Knight of Lemonwood, chooses an older type of tourney in which unhorsed knights may fight on on foot to make the contest last longer. A number of younger knights make a good showing for themselves, such as Ser Kay Yronwood, Prince Rhodry Nymeros Martell, Ser Corentyn Yronwood, and Ser Astin Fowler. In the end, however, it’s Ser Aidan Dayne who adds a third straight tourney victory to his tally, although not before riding a dozen courses against Prince Rhodry in the final joust.
In the melee, Prince Rhodry and Ser Corentyn Yronwood are the last two standing just as they were at the Sunspear melee early in the year, and fight one another on foot with remarkable vigor despite their well-known friendship. In the end the prince trips Ser Corentyn with a cunning turn of his spear and forces the other knight to yield.