The Ruin on the Rose Road
After decades of petty squabbling between the Lords of the Reach, many who coveted the power that House Tyrell had realized that the only sensible first step toward claiming the power the Gardeners once held was to separate the Reach from the Seven Kingdoms.
Keiran Tyrell himself, thinking himself fit enough to rule the Reach as a King of old encouraged his treacherous bannermen to push for sovereignty of the Kingdom, citing the failures of Aegon's conquest of Dorne, the lack of aid to the Reachlanders from the Crown, and a slew of petty issues with the Stormlands, Riverlands and Ironborn. Many, despite their complaints however waited for the death of the Conqueror, believing that the loss of a rider for Balerion the Black Dread would ensure their success.
In 38 AC, months after Aegon the First was burnt and had his ashes committed to the the crypt on Dragonstone the Reachlanders raised their banners and marched North to blockade the border with the Riverlands and Crownlands, taking control of the Rose Road enacting tolls and a campaign of harassment against their neighbors while petitioning Highgarden to declare Sovereignty.
The day that Keiran was to hold court, and by all accounts to declare sovereignty a rider from house Targaryen delivered a letter that would see the court postponed, leaving Keiran looking North from the high walls of his garden castle and despite the leagues between him and the gathered armies of his bannermen, he swore he could hear the cries of Balerion and Quicksilver when; In perhaps the only notable act of strength by Aelyx I himself, the pair of dragons set fire to the assembled armies, decimating the forces of the traitorous lords of the Reach in a single afternoon.
Many attribute this destruction purely to Prince Baelon and Balerion the Black Dread, but every account of the ruin on the Rose Road specifies that Quicksilver was the first to breathe fire, and that King Aelyx sat upon his mount watching the men burn before departing. Many scholars cite this as a moment that deterred Aelyx from being so decisive and brutal with later matters that could have benefited from such tactics.
The aftermath of the ruin on the Rose Road is not so easily laid out, few Lords were present so no houses nor bloodlines were impacted, the burning of the assembled armies that consisted of the blockade was the only true punishment levied against those who moved toward the treason that was called for but not enacted and the men who were killed in service to the rebellion were swiftly replaced by others who could benefit from service as men-at-arms.
Kieran Tyrell's hesitance to commit to aid such rebellion going forward, such as the support of Poor Fellows and Warrior's Son's, and his lack of open criticism for the Targaryen regime is the only truly visible effect of the quickly crushed rebellion. Mance Tyrell's involvement with the Warrior's Son's and subsequent death however show that dragon fire alone was not apparently enough of a punishment, or perhaps too cruel of a message to send, only reinforcing the Reachlanders hopes to undermine the Iron Throne.
Keiran Tyrell himself, thinking himself fit enough to rule the Reach as a King of old encouraged his treacherous bannermen to push for sovereignty of the Kingdom, citing the failures of Aegon's conquest of Dorne, the lack of aid to the Reachlanders from the Crown, and a slew of petty issues with the Stormlands, Riverlands and Ironborn. Many, despite their complaints however waited for the death of the Conqueror, believing that the loss of a rider for Balerion the Black Dread would ensure their success.
In 38 AC, months after Aegon the First was burnt and had his ashes committed to the the crypt on Dragonstone the Reachlanders raised their banners and marched North to blockade the border with the Riverlands and Crownlands, taking control of the Rose Road enacting tolls and a campaign of harassment against their neighbors while petitioning Highgarden to declare Sovereignty.
The day that Keiran was to hold court, and by all accounts to declare sovereignty a rider from house Targaryen delivered a letter that would see the court postponed, leaving Keiran looking North from the high walls of his garden castle and despite the leagues between him and the gathered armies of his bannermen, he swore he could hear the cries of Balerion and Quicksilver when; In perhaps the only notable act of strength by Aelyx I himself, the pair of dragons set fire to the assembled armies, decimating the forces of the traitorous lords of the Reach in a single afternoon.
Many attribute this destruction purely to Prince Baelon and Balerion the Black Dread, but every account of the ruin on the Rose Road specifies that Quicksilver was the first to breathe fire, and that King Aelyx sat upon his mount watching the men burn before departing. Many scholars cite this as a moment that deterred Aelyx from being so decisive and brutal with later matters that could have benefited from such tactics.
The aftermath of the ruin on the Rose Road is not so easily laid out, few Lords were present so no houses nor bloodlines were impacted, the burning of the assembled armies that consisted of the blockade was the only true punishment levied against those who moved toward the treason that was called for but not enacted and the men who were killed in service to the rebellion were swiftly replaced by others who could benefit from service as men-at-arms.
Kieran Tyrell's hesitance to commit to aid such rebellion going forward, such as the support of Poor Fellows and Warrior's Son's, and his lack of open criticism for the Targaryen regime is the only truly visible effect of the quickly crushed rebellion. Mance Tyrell's involvement with the Warrior's Son's and subsequent death however show that dragon fire alone was not apparently enough of a punishment, or perhaps too cruel of a message to send, only reinforcing the Reachlanders hopes to undermine the Iron Throne.