The year 174 AC was marked by disorder in the Kingswood and King Aegon’s disastrous attempt to renew war against Dorne. A royal masquerade displayed Melissa Blackwood’s influence, white ravens announced summer, and Aegon declared war despite Prince Daeron’s opposition. Anti-Dornish feeling flared in King’s Landing even before the war, while Reach and stormland hosts gathered for the threatened campaign. The invasion collapsed in wildfire and storm before it reached Dorne, leaving the Kingswood burned, the army bloodied, the pyromancers ruined, and the Red Keep uneasy after the king’s return.
Day 1: A Kingswood Wardenry patrol sent against supposed poachers was repelled by armed men, revealing more serious disorder in the forest. The skirmish showed that outlaws and rebels in the Kingswood were becoming a threat to royal order.
Day 19: King Aegon approved a royal masquerade arranged by Melissa Blackwood. The event displayed Missy’s influence at court and the king’s taste for spectacle in contrast to the pious reigns before him.
Day 15: In King’s Landing’s central plaza, Ser Omrys Baratheon sat as reeve over a quarrel between a Dornish cobbler and Ryman of Blackbuckle, a retainer of Ser Morgil Hastwyck. The trial drew goldcloaks, bailiffs, and courtiers, and exposed the city’s sour mood toward Dornishmen before King Aegon’s war declaration. Omrys found for the cobbler, fined Ryman heavily, and ordered guards to see the Dornishman home safely as the crowd muttered against the judgment.
Day 17: White ravens from the Citadel announced the arrival of summer after seven years of spring. The news came as King Aegon held many meetings and as his quarrels with Prince Daeron over policy and Dorne became increasingly visible.
Day 27: King Aegon declared war on Dorne, alleging failures to abide by the peace made under King Baelor. The declaration followed meetings with councillors, preparations at the docks, and the king’s interest in wildfire and wooden engines meant for war.
Day 12: Sunspear received King Aegon’s declaration of war with alarm. Prince Maron and his councillors began preparations for defense while also offering to exchange letters and seek a peaceful resolution to the accusations.
Day 15: At Horn Hill, young Lord Leo Tyrell won his spurs after a tourney victory over several Reach knights, including Ser Aldus Ashford, Ser Dareon Costayne, and Ser Endran Flowers. His uncle Ser Ardon Tyrell knighted him as Reach forces gathered to secure the northern mouth of the Prince’s Pass against possible Dornish retaliation.
Day 3: The royal host gathered around King’s Landing for the march on Dorne, joined by banners from across much of the realm. The king’s wooden “dragons” and wildfire stores were prepared under heavy guard, while the swelling camps strained order in and around the city.
Day 30: Disaster overtook King Aegon’s host in the Kingswood when one of the pyromancers’ wildfire-spewing wooden “dragons” malfunctioned and exploded, igniting the remaining engines, the surrounding forest, and much of the royal column. Ser Aleyn Florent of the Kingsguard, Ser Tomas Rivers, Ser Denys Bolling, Ossifer Staunton, Ser Alek Reyne, Ser Damon Darklyn, Ser Raynard Locke, Lucos Blackwood, and others were counted among the dead or missing. King Aegon survived the chaos, but the army’s supply train was shattered and the invasion of Dorne gravely imperiled.
Day 4: Tidings of the Kingswood calamity reached King’s Landing. The court and city mourned the dead, including Ser Denys Bolling, whose widow Lady Tylarra Bolling was left grief-stricken by the news.
Day 7: King Aegon called off the Dornish campaign after the Kingswood wildfire disaster, the near loss of the supply train, and a storm that scattered the fleet meant to attack Dorne. With men missing, deserters slipping from camp, and the host hungry, Aegon ordered much of the army toward Tumbleton while granting others leave to return home.
Day 12: King Aegon and his ragged host reached Tumbleton, weary, hungry, and depleted by desertions after the disaster in the Kingswood. Lord Edger Footly received the king, while provisions sent by young Lord Leo Tyrell began to relieve the common soldiers and Aegon resolved to remain until further supplies arrived.
Day 28: In Sunspear’s Shadow City, the Dornish celebrated the collapse of Aegon’s invasion with feasting, drink, music, and the burning of dragon effigies. Prince Maron’s court and the people of Sunspear turned the failed northern campaign into public mockery of the king who had threatened Dorne.
Day 20: In the moons after the Kingswood disaster, King Aegon refused to pay the remaining costs owed for the pyromancers’ wildfire and swore the substance would not be used again in his reign. With senior Wisdoms fled and debts mounting, the Guildhall of the Alchemists sought support from bankers and nobles, even as rumor said the hall itself might have to be sold.
Day 26: King Aegon returned to King’s Landing after the failed war, with the realm aware of the wildfire disaster that had burned much of the Kingswood. The city received him without the glory that had marked the army’s departure, and questions of blame and renewed war lingered.
Day 8: Wisdom Erwyn of the Guildhall of the Alchemists was found murdered near the Guildhall. Ser Otho Royce and the goldcloaks secured the body, with little known beyond word that a maiden had sought the dead man at dawn. The killing deepened the shadow over the bankrupt guild and the wildfire disaster that had brought it low.