The Game of Thrones: War of Five Kings Committee

MTAUN 2017

Directors: Aidan Legault & Will Pelletier

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Delegates,

The staff of the specialized committee would like to welcome you to MtAUN 2017, and to our

specialized committee on the War of Five Kings. Throughout this committee, participants will

embody a range of characters from the intricate fantasy universe created by George R. R. Martin

in his series “A Song of Ice and Fire”, and will work to gain power, wealth and honour. When

entering this world, however, remember: when you play the Game of Thrones, you win, or you

die.

The World of Ice and Fire is a tempestuous one, governed by powerful families who, through a

shifting and complex web of allies, spies, and plots attempt to hold onto power and their very

lives. This background guide is intended to offer you an introduction to the world that you will

be entering with this committee. Delegates are also encouraged to research this universe more

profoundly, which would best be done by reading book one of the series “A Song of Ice and

Fire”, “A Game of Thrones”, or by watching the first season HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. The

novels will be privileged as the source of information on which this committee is based, so if the

books and the show are in conflict, it will be the novels that are considered correct. If you find

yourself without the time to fully explore the book or the television series, there are several wikis

online which can be useful for exploring specific characters, events, locations, and more.

The War of Five Kings is a very complex conflict, involving dozens of characters, many of

whom will be represented on either of the two committees. Those that are not represented by

delegates will be available for you to interact with through notes and directives that you can send

to the crisis center. To succeed in this committee, a complete and in-depth knowledge of the

various players in this conflict will be necessary, particularly the motivations, skills and

relationships of your own character. The point in time at which this committee begins is after

King Joffrey Baratheon’s public execution of Eddard Stark. All events prior to that are to be

considered as fact; all events afterwards are simply possibilities among the infinite potential

outcomes of the characters’ actions. Consequently, mysteries that have yet to be solves may not

have the same answers or resolutions as the ones reported in George R. R. Martin’s series of

events.

Delegates are expected to submit a one-page position paper describing their character’s

perspective on the situation, role in Westeros and its history, and motivations going forward.

Failure to submit such a position paper will render delegates ineligible to receive awards.

Delegates will be recognized for their commitment and knowledge of their characters and the

situation, which means that costumes and roleplaying will be welcome, although western

business attire is also acceptable.

Good luck,

Aidan Legault and Will Pelletier

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The World

While this committee focuses specifically on Westeros politics, the events and political intrigues

going on in Essos, the eastern continent are of great significance, and delegates are highly

encouraged to be acquainted with such powers as the Iron Bank of Braavos, the Dothraki, and

the Free Cities. Other regions of interest include the Summer Islands and Slaver’s Bay.

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The Conquest

Welcome to Westeros, one of the three

continents of the known world (the

others being Essos and Sothoryos).

Dominated and ruled primarily by a

nation known as the Seven Kingdoms

from the capital of King’s Landing, the

continent is divided into nine regions:

the North (home of House Stark of

Winterfell), the Riverlands (home of

House Tully of Riverrun), the Vale

(home of House Arryn of the Eyrie), the

Westerlands (home of House Lannister

of Casterly Rock), the Iron Islands

(home of House Greyjoy of Pyke), the

Reach (home of House Tyrell of

Highgarden), the Stormlands (home of

House Baratheon of Storm’s End),

Dorne (home of House Martell of

Sunspear), and the Crownlands, where

the capital itself is located. Many of

these regions were once independent

kingdoms; however, over 300 years prior

to the events of the committee, a

Valyrian, Aegon Targaryen, with the

help of his sisters and their three

dragons, conquered the Seven Kingdoms

in the War of Conquest and united the

continent under his rule. The dragons

were instrumental in the victory of the

Targaryen’s, installing them as a dynasty

that sat on the Iron Throne for three

centuries, until Robert’s Rebellion

unseated the Mad King Aerys.

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The Beginning

This horrifying atrocity was a breaking point for both Robert and Eddard. Aerys exacerbated the

situation by demanding the heads of Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark from their guardian, Jon

Arryn, Lord of the Vale, who refused, and Houses Arryn, Baratheon, and Stark called their

banners to war against the King, meaning that the Vale, the North and the Stormlands were in

open rebellion. The marriage of Catelyn Tully to Eddard Stark and Lysa Tully to Jon Arryn also

brought the Riverlands into the war on the side of the Rebellion. Opposing them were loyalists

composed largely of Targaryen troops and the banners of Houses Tyrell and Martell, although

there were loyalists found across the continent.

Targaryen rule in Westeros ended when

Robert Baratheon overthrew Aerys II

Targaryen in what became known as the

War of the Usurper, and was subsequently

crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms

(and King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and

the First Men). The conflict began when

Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, son of

Aerys, kidnapped Lyanna Stark, to whom

Robert, at the time Lord of Storm’s End

and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands,

was betrothed. Lyanna was also sister to

Eddard Stark, Robert’s best friend and son

of the Lord of the North. Eddard’s elder

brother, Brandon Stark, gathered a group

of allies to confront Rhaegar. The group

was arrested on the orders of King Aerys,

who was quite insane. Aerys ordered the

fathers of the arrested to attend their trials,

but with no hearing he had both Brandon

and his father, Lord Stark, murdered, by

placing Brandon in a strangulation device

which choked him as he struggled to save

his father who had been set on fire while

in his armour.

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The Battle of the Trident

The Aftermath

This decisive rebel victory opened the path to King’s Landing. The Targaryens and the Tyrells,

were distant from the capital, leaving it vulnerable. Robert Baratheon had sustained an injury

during the battle leaving Eddard Stark to lead the rebels to reach King’s Landing before the

Lannisters did. Prior to the rebel victory at the Trident, House Lannister had remained neutral.

However, with the momentum clearly in favor of the rebels, twelve thousand Lannister men led

by Tywin Lannister marched towards King’s Landing under the pretense of offering aid to the

Targaryens. There was some debate in King’s Landing as to whether they should be given

access; Grand Maester Pycelle saw Tywin Lannister as a worthy successor to a throne without an

appropriately aged heir, and advised opening the city gates to the Lannisters, the Master of

Whispers protested the suggestion. King Aerys decided to open the gates, a lethal miscalculation.

Geographically the Trident River is the most strategically favorable location in the Riverlands,

with several tributaries allowing for the provision of supplies and swift transportation during

both peace and war. It was on the Green Fork of the Trident that the rebel army, composed of

soldiers from Houses Tully, Baratheon, Arryn and Stark assembled in a force large enough to

march on King’s Landing. The royalist army, composed largely or Dornishmen, was led by

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Ser Barristan Selmy. The reached its peak when Prince Rhaegar

and Lord Robert clashed on the battlefield. The conflict was essentially decided when Robert

Baratheon killed Rhaegar with a blow from his Warhammer, scattering the royalist army.

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The Lannister army immediately began pillaging the city in the name of Robert Baratheon. Jaime

Lannister, a knight of the Kings guard, was faced with a difficult situation since Tywin Lannister

was his father. Although sworn to protect the King with his very life, when ordered to kill his

father, Jaime instead stabbed the king in the back, quite literally. When Eddard Stark arrived in

King’s Landing, he found the city looted, its garrison slaughtered, and the Targaryens that had

been left inside murdered. The rebellion had succeeded.

Robert Baratheon wished to kill Prince Rhaegar’s family to avenge the death of Lyanna.

Rhaegar’s own children had been butchered by Gregor Clegane, but his siblings remained at the

ancient Targaryen stronghold of Dragonstone, and Robert wanted them dead. Eddard Stark,

however, stalled him, giving time for a remaining member of what had once been Aerys’ Kings

guard to smuggle the children (Viserys and Daenerys) across the Narrow Sea to Essos. Robert

Baratheon was crowned King, and married Cersei Lannister, Tywin’s daughter, bringing the

Lannisters to a position of great influence over the new government.

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The Current Situation

Bran’s Assassination Attempt

Bran Stark, son of Catelyn and Eddard

Stark, recently suffered a devastating

fall while climbing the walls of

Winterfell, which surprised many, as

he was a skilled climber. The fall left

him paralyzed from the waist down,

and the Stark family was devastated.

Even more shocking, while Bran was

still comatose, an assassin armed with

a Valyrian steel dagger attempted to

murder the boy, although this attempt

was foiled by the swift action of

Catelyn Stark and Bran’s dire wolf,

Summer (one of a litter of six dire

wolf pups belonging to the children of

Eddard Stark)

The attempt on Bran’s life draws

grave suspicions to Bran’s fall, and

aggravates the already significant

tensions between Houses Stark and

Lannister, as Catelyn Stark’s long-

time friend Lord Petyr Baelish

attributed ownership of the dagger

used by the assassin to Tyrion

Lannister, the imp. Catelyn ordered

Tyrion’s arrest and brought him to the

Eyrie, home of her sister Lysa. Tyrion

outwitted his captors, however, by

requesting the right to trial by combat,

which won him his freedom when a

sell sword named Bronn defeated and

slew Lysa’s champion, Ser Vardis

Egan. The attempted assassination of

Bran Stark remains a mystery.

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Eddard Stark’s Time as King’s Hand

Following the death of Jon Arryn, King Robert

Baratheon travelled to the North with his entourage

to ask Eddard Stark to replace Arryn as Hand of the

King, a position that would afford Stark great power

but put him in a position fraught with peril. Eddard

was very reluctant, wishing to remain at Winterfell

with his family, but ultimately, due to his loyalty to

Robert, chose to take on the position and travel

south to King’s Landing, accompanied by his

daughters, Arya and Sansa, and many members of

his household. Eddard’s time in King’s Landing

was brief, but chaotic. His typical Stark honour led

him to gain many enemies, even often putting him

at odds with the King, whose exorbitant spending

Stark saw as inappropriate, as it put the crown

deeply in debt with many parties, most seriously the

House of Lannister.

Another point of contention between the King and

the Hand was the fate of the remaining Targaryen’s,

Daenerys and Viserys, who had sealed an alliance

with a tribe of nomadic warriors called the Dothraki

through the marriage of Daenerys Targaryen to

Khal Drogo. Robert Baratheon wanted to see

Daenerys dead, particularly when news of her

pregnancy reach King’s Landing, but Eddard could

not bring himself to participate in the murder. He

resigned his position as Hand, but prior to leaving

the capital visited a brothel that was reputedly the

home of one of King Robert Baratheon’s

illegitimate children. The brothel belonged to

onetime friend of Catelyn Stark and current

informant of the Lannister’s, Petyr Baelish, and

upon exiting Eddard was set upon by Jaime

Lannister and a small party of soldiers. Angry about

Tyrion’s recent imprisonment, Jaime Lannister had

Eddard’s men killed, and seriously injured Eddard’s

leg. While Lord Stark was recovering, he was

visited by the King, who convinced him to stay on

as Hand of the King.

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Eddard Stark’s Discovery

While seeking to unravel mysterious research that Jon Arryn had been conducting prior to his death,

Eddard stark stumbled upon the shocking knowledge that the royal Princes and Princess (Crown

Prince Joffrey, Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella) were not, in fact, King Robert Baratheon’s

children, but were rather the result of an incestuous affair between Queen Cersei Lannister and her

twin Jaime, rendering them illegitimate. Stark confronted the Queen with this discovery, and told her

to leave King’s Landing with her children before he shared this revelation with the King. Robert,

however, received a lethal wound during a boar hunt before Ned could speak to him, and soon died.

Among Robert Baratheon’s final acts was giving

to Eddard written rights to rule Westeros as

Regent until Crown Prince Joffrey came of age,

but this last request was immediately discounted

by the Lannisters and their allies. Ignoring

suggestions from Petyr Baelish that Eddard rule

as regent until Prince Joffrey came of age and

from Renly Baratheon of seizing control of the

royal children, Eddard instead planned to send his

children back to Winterfell and prepared to hand

the throne to Stannis Baratheon, the eldest of

Robert’s brothers. Eddard was instead betrayed

by his allies in the capital, including his own

daughter Sansa and was arrested by Lannister

forces on charges of treason.

Due to the pleas of Sansa Stark, the betrothed of

the new King Joffrey, and the judgement of the

Lannister family and their advisors, it was decided

that Eddard Stark should be exiled to the Wall to

serve with the Night’s Watch and protect the

Seven Kingdoms. During his public trial,

however, immediately after Lord Stark confessed

to treason, Joffrey foolishly and cruelly ordered

that Stark be executed on the spot, in full view of

the people of King’s Landing and Stark’s

daughters. The realm had already been on the

brink of violence, with Robb Stark having

assembled the banners of the North after his

father’s imprisonment, and Joffrey’s action was

the spark that lit the Seven Kingdoms on fire.

The Fate of Ned Stark

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Crisis at Hand

The current situation stands thus: in the South, Joffrey Baratheon, Renly Baratheon and Stannis

Baratheon have all assembled armies to attempt to seize or hold the Iron Throne, and in the

North, Robb Stark, the newly crowned King in the North, has assembled forces that are

preparing to march past the Neck to seek justice for the murder of Eddard Stark. Meanwhile,

across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen’s husband, Khal Drogo, and her brother, Viserys,

are dead, leaving her without an army, and without a family. Yet, if the rumours are true, she has

three dragons, which hatched in the flames of the Khal’s funeral pyre. The Great Houses of

Westeros are splintering, with House Tyrell throwing its support behind Renly, House Tully

joining Robb Stark, and Houses of Greyjoy, Martell, and Arryn remaining neutral.

Adding to the complex web of alliances and betrayals already complicating this crisis, strange

things are stirring around the world. The hatching of dragons is just one of the re-emergence’s of

ancient myths, once thought to be long gone, that are now beginning to stir in the darkest corners

of the world. What will Westeros look like in the days to come? What will be left? That,

delegates, is in your hands. Be prepared; Winter is coming.

Lannister Position

The Lannisters and their immediate allies have the challenging task of remaining in power, while

keeping as much balance throughout the Seven Kingdoms as possible. With Joffrey Baratheon,

the new King, being responsible for the execution of Eddard (Ned) Stark, disputes and uprisings

have arisen across Westeros. The conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters is even more

tense with the holding of Sansa Stark and Arya Stark as hostages. With the approaching Stark

forces, the Lannisters and their allies must act quickly and wisely to prepare not only for the

attack, but for any disloyalties amidst themselves, as it is ultimately the weakness of their own

foundation that can prove to be their biggest vulnerability. Keep control, remain in power, gain

allies, enforce their influence, get rid of enemies; these are all thoughts that every Lannister

should consider when acting in response to the Stark's approaching threat. Whether you choose

to act kindly, justly or cruelly; act rapidly, your lives could depend on it.

Stark Position

The Starks and their immediate allies have a unique, complex and difficult goal. With the death

of Eddard (Ned) Stark, the head of House Stark and Lord of Winterfell, the Starks and their

supporters have declared war against the Lannisters, including against the recently appointed

King Joffrey Baratheon. With the Lannisters held responsible for the murder of Ned, the two-

time attempted assassination of Bran Stark, and the holding of the Stark daughters Sansa and

Arya Stark, these feelings of resentment have quickly escalated into outrage. They wish to save

the two Stark girls, overthrow Joffrey, separate their territory of the North into an independent

Kingdom, and all while retaining their pride and honour. The Starks will need to properly

assemble and gather allies, resources and information to ensure their victory.