Thorren's War, the truth behind the Forrester-Whitehill conflict
Thorren’s War (the truth behind the Forrester Whitehill conflict)
In the game Ludd mentions that the Ironwood was taken from House Whitehill by House Forrester while Maester Ortengryn states that Thorren “the Bold” “won” it back from them. What I believe happened was that Thorren was a brutal warlord that slaughtered Ludd’s family as well as many of House Whitehill’s peasants.
The setting is Highpoint before Robert’s Rebellion. We’re seeing things through the eyes of Ludd Whitehill and this is meant to primarily give insight into three characters
Harys 
Ludd Whitehill 
Thorren Forrester 
It was a nice and peaceful day like any other. Highpoint was bustling with activity and all the peasants were energetic. Things were great under Whitehill rule, everyone was treated fairly and Ludd’s father Ludd saw to it that all under him prospered. Ludd was the firstborn of seven children, he had three brothers and three sisters; he was named after his father, who was named after his father, and so on. Today they were preparing a feast to honour their guest, Thorren Forrester. Thorren was a brutal man, but Ludd knew how to deal with him and had maintained peaceful relations with him for the past decade or so. I hope everything goes well today Ludd thought, the idea of Thorren being allowed in these walls unsettled him. His father must have sensed how he felt and reassured him “Don’t worry about it Ludd, even a monster like Thorren knows better than to break the guest right, besides, even if he does we’ll still have the upper hand due to our military might. The Forresters never learned the value of respect, our might comes from our respect of the smallfolk. We care for them and they care for us.” Well, he’s not wrong, I suppose Ludd thought to himself. The Whitehills have always had a large army, their honour and fair treatment of the smallfolk was legendary and led to smallfolk from all over Westeros coming in to benefit from their generosity and kindess. Ludd decided to walk the battlements to clear his mind, as he made his way there he was stopped by his long time friend, Harys. Harys was brought into the house ten years ago in the aftermath of the previous war with Thorren; Thorren’s unprovoked and brutal attacks left Harys orphaned, Ludd’s father took sympathy and brought him into the family. Helping orphans was a Whitehill family tradition stretching back to the Age of Heros. “I can’t believe Thorren has the audacity to come here, after what he did” Harys said, “It’s awful, I know. That monster should have been put down after the last war, it’s good Lord Bolton came to our aid when he did, Gods know how much more would have been slain by Thorren.” “Aye, anyways your brother Gryff went out into the grove recently, evidently Ebbert and Torrhen went out to drink with the miller’s daughters again. Your sisters aren’t happy either, Gwyn and Karla got into a scuffle and Talia was harmed during it”. Of course, on this day of all days everything had to go wrong “Oh, well I suppose they don’t need to be at the feast. Only the lord and heir need to be present after all. Hopefully my brothers don’t get into too much trouble.
Later that day,
“My lord!” Harys shouted, “Thorren is here but your father is nowhere to be found!” There was shouting, and Ludd could hear steel clashing against wood. He set his book down and made his way towards the battlements. When he arrived his brother Gryff ran up to him crying, “Thorren killed them, and the miller’s girls too! I got there and they were torn limb from limb! Father rode out to find us but they were ambushed by Branfield men. Thorren has father down there now!” Ludd couldn’t believe it, what were Branfield men doing here with Thorren? He looked down and saw Thorren ride up to the gates, dragging Lord Whitehill behind him. He saw that Thorren had Torrhen’s, Ebberts, and the miller’s girls’ heads on his belt. Thorren came to a stop and yelled “HAHAHAHA, surrender now Ludd, and I might let you keep one of your sisters! Maybe not though, they’ll probably be more fun than those miller cunts! Their screaming was magnificent! HAHAHA!” You depraved animal! Ludd thought to himself, “what are you doing Thorren? What happens when the Starks hear of this?” “Ha! Rickard Stark is too focused on ass-kissing southern lords to pay attention and his son Brandon is too busy fighting and whoring to know what’s going on! I repeat myself, surrender, and I just might not rape and murder all of your sisters!” Lord Whitehill shouted to Ludd “You’re the lord now Ludd, don’t give in! Remember our words!” Stand Together Ludd remembered, House Whitehill and all who serve it must look out for one another at all costs “I… I will, father!” Thorren screamed “That’s enough of that!” He began riding back, but instead of the steady pace he arrived at he took off at full gallop, dragging Lord Whitehill behind him. Ludd could see him being torn apart by the ground He’ll pay for that, I promise father Ludd looked back and saw Gryff and Harys rallying the soldiers to the battlements. “We’ll see that Thorren pays for this, we’ll avenge your family, and mine” Harys said. “Aye, he’ll pay” Gryff stated. Ludd looked and saw the Forrester and Branfield men charging them, “Fire!” he screamed. The Whitehill men loosed a storm of arrows and bolts upon them, yet they persisted. “Continue firing! Gryff, get our sisters to safety” “My place is here brother! They’re smart, they know to stay out of trouble!” I don’t have time to argue, and he’s right “Fine, manage the defense on that section of wall” Ludd ordered. “My lord! The Glovers have arrived, they’re to our South! They have ladders!” What? How have the Starks not heard of this? What if this attack was approved by the Starks? Ludd didn’t have time to ponder, he told Harys to defend this section of the wall, he ran to Gryff “Gryff, grab your men and follow me, we need to repel the Glovers. “Glovers? Seven Hells, why are they here? I’ll gather my men and meet you there.” Ludd arrived and saw their massive host we’re doomed he thought. Then he saw it, his sister Talia was outside the wall helping peasants retreat to the castle No, gods no he thought “Gryff! We need to get Talia!” Gryff glanced and when he saw her his face turned pale, “Okay Ludd, let’s go!” Gryff and his men stormed out and collided with the Glover vanguard, when Talia saw the battle nearby she grabbed two stranded peasant children and ran for the gate, then Ludd turned pale with fear. Thorren spotted Talia as he was riding around Highpoint with Lord Whitehill behind him, he started galloping towards her and Ludd shout “Talia get down!” but it was too late, Thorren ran his axe into her skull with a smile on his face and continued riding, “You die last, Ludd!” he shouted. “Gryff, pull back!” Ludd shouted, Gryff and his men made way to the wall, Gryff’s men went in first to help the peasants get settled when suddenly the wall was collapsed by Glover catapults, there was a small hole in the rubble blocked by an Ironwood beam, Ludd and Gryff were separated from their soldiers by the beam and rubble. They ran to it and tried to move it, but could only move it up a little. “We can’t move it… Ludd, one of us has to stay” No, not another, please “Go Ludd! I know what I’m doing!” Gryff lifted with all of his strength and said “Goodbye Ludd, We Stand Together” “We Stand Together” Ludd said and made his way through. He looked back to see if he could do anything from the other side but all he saw was Gryff getting surrounder by Lord Glover and his soldiers, he couldn’t watch. Suddenly he heard bolts being loosed and saw the Glovers driven back, Why couldn’t they have arrived sooner? What else could I have done? Ludd asked himself. He finally got through all of the rubble and was greeted by Harys. “We drove them back my Lord, but I don’t know how long we’ll hold out. The peasants have been helping with the defense but I don’t know if it will be enough. Where’s Gryff?” “He… didn’t make it. He sacrificed himself to save me from Lord Glover.” “Seven Hells. What have we done Ludd? Why do the Seven forsake us?” Gwyn and Karla came out from the keep and ran to Ludd, “Ludd! We saw what happened! What do we do? Father… Gryff… Talia… What do we do?” Gwyn asked. If only I knew Ludd thought to himself, “We hold them off” is all Ludd managed to say. “My lord! We need you here!” Maester Tarwick shouted from the main gate. Ludd walked up and saw Thorren and Lord Glover, “We’ll return to discuss peace terms at nightfall, Ludd” Lord Glover shouted before riding off. Thorren rode up and said, “I have a gift for you, a token of goodwill” and he dropped off a pile of heads before riding off.
Nightfall
Ludd had prepared the garrison for a variety of scenarios, but he didn’t know how effective they’d be. They didn’t have all of their men because it was a time of peace, they only had their normal garrison plus the smallfolk militia. Either way, he had to make due. He sat down at the table and had crossbowmen placed above them, Harys sat to his right with Karla to Harys’ right and Gwyn sat to Ludd’s left. Thorren Forrester, his son Gregor, and Lord Glover entered with many Branfield knights behind them and sat down. “HAHAHA, What a day right Ludd?” Thorren shouted. “We’re here to ask you to return the Ironwood Groves Ludd, they are Forrester property. You can return them willingly and the bloodshed will end here, or we’ll take and hold them by force.” “No” Ludd said, “Those forests have been under Whitehill care for years, our craftsmen are the best in the world” Ludd argued. “HA! You mean Forrester Craftsmen, they’re ours now. They come with the forests.” “You’re wasting your time Forrester, they are ours. Our very sigil represents it, Ironwood is not easy to cut or craft, yet we cleared an entire hill of it in order to ensure we’d have a secure location to look over the groves” Ludd interjected. “Stop with your lies, Whitehill.” Gregor interjected. “Lies, is it? You know they’re not, don’t you Glover?” “Aye, the Ironwood Groves may belong to the Forresters but the former Whitehill craftsmen are the best.” “Enough. Surrender them or die Ludd” Thorren said. “Eat shit” Ludd shouted at him. Thorren rose from his seat and stabbed Karla in the throat, Harys went for him but was tackled by Gregor, Lord Glover got up and made for the exit and took a bolt to the leg, the Branfield Knights prevent worse from occurring by using their shields. Thorren took his axe and threw it into Gwyn’s head while laughing maniacally and dashing for the door. The crossbowen were firing to no avail, the Branfield’s were using stolen Ironwood but backing up to the door. Gregor stood up and ran to them, when he reached them he looked at Ludd and said “You brought this on yourself.” You Forrester cunt! Ludd thought to himself, he got up only to see Thorren charging him, Thorren raised his greatsword and Ludd heard the sound of a sword punching through steel. He looked and saw Harys had ran him through with his greatsword. Thorren looked and began frothing at the mouth in rage, he swung his side axe at Harys but the horn on Harys’ helmet deflected it. Harys pushed his sword deeper and finally swung to the side, disemboweling Thorren. “No! You’ll die for this, Ludd!” Gregor shouted, before him and Lord Glover were evacuated by the Branfield knights. Ludd and his garrison followed them to the gate, trying to shoot them to no avail. They reached the gate and opened it in order to let the rest of the men in. I failed, Ludd thought. I’ve been lord for less than six hours and I failed as he looked upon the charging enemy forces he noticed a banner in the distance. It was blue with a pink center. He saw their horsemen charge into the Forrester and Glover flanks before regrouping for another charge. They had regrouped and charged again, after this charge foot soldiers emerged from the forest and began running them down. The Boltons, thank the Seven! The Glovers and Forresters were in full retreat. “You’ll pay someday, Ludd” Gregor shouted before riding off. When their armies had routed Ludd and Harys rode out to greet Lord Bolton. “Lord Whitehill” Roose greeted him, “I apologize for not arriving sooner, I only recently got word of the Forrester atrocities. How fares your family.” “I’m the last one, they killed my father, my brothers, and my sisters. My smallfolk are slaughtered and the groves were taken” Ludd answered. “Unfortunate” Roose responded, “Unfortunately Lord Rickard has issued an order for the conflict to end. We can’t wage war against them. I’m afraid for now the groves are lost. For what it’s worth, I offer my condolences. You served me faithfully as a squire, I had hoped to repay you as your lord. Evidently that won’t happen for some time. If the time comes, you have my permission to exact revenge on House Forrester.” Hopefully not too soon, there’s much to rebuild Ludd thought. He went back to his hall and sat down. Harys sat with him in silence. “Have Thorren returned to House Forrester” Ludd ordered, “but my Lord-“ Harys interrupted “No, we won’t stoop to his level, we’ll exact revenge later, but for the time being we show respect and carry on as normal” Ludd stated. Ludd thought of all those he had lost, and decided he wouldn’t name any of his children Ludd, instead he’d try to honour all those who had died this day. All those he had known and loved were gone. Is this how Harys feels? He wondered. This will never happen again. I failed them. I’ll never fail them again I will never see House Whitehill collapse again.
Comments
Beautiful. 1138/10 Would read again.
Why did you put the photo of Vlad Ţepeş ?
Cause Thorren the bold was similar to him I guess.
Vlad The Impaler
I put his name in romanian because I'm romanian. We'll see in season 2 if he's similar to Vlad.
Oh I thought Tepes was his surname so I put his badass alias (Horrible person tho)
Yes it is his surname.
:O ? The Impaler is a surname?
Yeah
). In our history we had a lot of rulers with this type of surnames... ex: Mircea the Elder ; Michael the Brave ; Radu ||| the Handsome ; etc.
Hate to be this guy but Gregor did't become Lord until the Battle of the Trident
Also hate to be this kind of person but I imagine House Whitehill is only 1000 years old (based on Gwyn saying "These halls hold a thousand years of Whitehill history") and the Age of Heroes has to at least be 8000 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
Huh, so there are a few notable continuity errors...
I guess I'm qualified to work for Telltale's writing staff.
I wanted to make Thorren over the top evil. Originally, I found a painting of Adolf Hitler in steel plate and was going to use that to represent Thorren BUT there was an earlier thread where I used a picture of Hitler in order to emphasize my thoughts and feelings about Gwyn.
Dude.. why you posted a pic of Vlad Tepes?
After all of this, why would Ludd name one of his sons "Thorren"?
So wasn't Torrhen one of Ludds sons?
How would this make sense..
He didn't. His son is named "Torrhen." After his brother.
You should work on your reading comprehension.
In this "Torrhen" is the name of one of Ludd's brothers. He names Torrhen after him. It's not that hard to see for anyone with basic reading comprehension.
I wanted to depict Thorren the Bold as overly-evil. Initially I was going to use a painting of Hitler in steel plate armour, but decided not to because there was another thread where I already compared Gwyn to Hitler and I didn't want to repeat that.
I do so, reading as much English as I can every day. That is why I bothered reading through your massive post. But sadly, despite my efforts, it does not compensate for my dyslexia.
Woah man, can I get some fries with that attitude?
But yeah, I know I should have read more than the title before commenting also