Editing War of the Five Kings (section)

===The North and the Rise of the Kraken===
Having set his sights on the [[north]], King [[Balon Greyjoy]] plans three main strikes for his initial invasion. He sends his brother [[Victarion Greyjoy|Victarion]] with the [[Iron Fleet]] to seize [[Moat Cailin]], which has protected the north from southern invasion for thousands of years, in order to cut off the northmen from their lands. He sends his daughter and preferred heir [[Asha Greyjoy]] with a dozen ships to take [[Deepwood Motte]]. He sends his recently returned son [[Theon Greyjoy|Theon]] to raid the [[Stony Shore]] as a distraction for his main strikes. With these moves, Balon believes the whole western coast of the north will fall into [[ironborn]] hands.{{Ref|ACOK|24}}
[[File:War in the North2.png|thumb|300px|<font color="#000000">Ironborn campaign: in black: the [[ironmen]] forces</font>.<font color="#000080">In blue: Stark loyalists</font>. <font color="#ff0000">In Red: Bolton forces</font>. 1.[[Fall of Moat Cailin|Moat Cailin]]. 2.[[Taking of Deepwood Motte|Deepwood Motte]]. 3.[[Harrying of the Stony Shore|Stony Shore]] 4.[[Fight at Torrhen's Square]] 5.[[Capture of Winterfell]] 6.[[Battle at Winterfell|Winter town]] 7.[[Sack of Winterfell]] 8.[[Capture of Torrhen's Square]]]]
*  '''[[Harvest feast (299)|Harvest feast]].''' As the [[House Stark|Stark]] in [[Winterfell]], Prince [[Bran Stark]] hosts a harvest feast for the north.{{ref|ACOK|16}}{{ref|ACOK|21}}
* '''[[Fighting in the Hornwood]].''' [[Ramsay Snow]], Roose Bolton's bastard son, abducts [[Donella Hornwood]] after the harvest feast and forces her to marry him, leading to fighting between the [[House Bolton|Boltons]] and the [[House Manderly|Manderlys]].{{Ref|ACOK|28}}
* '''[[Fall of Moat Cailin]].''' Victarion Greyjoy leads the entire Iron Fleet of a hundred ships up the [[Saltspear]] to attack [[Moat Cailin]]. By attacking from the north, Victarion is able to bypass the natural defenses of the fortress and easily defeat the northmen. By capturing Moat Cailin, the Greyjoys control the route home for the Stark host, stranding Robb in the [[riverlands]] and allowing Balon to execute the rest of his plan.{{Ref|ACOK|46}}{{ref|ACOK|50}}{{Ref|ACOK|66}}
* '''[[Taking of Deepwood Motte]].''' Asha Greyjoy leads a dozen ships around [[Sea Dragon Point]] to attack the small wooden keep of [[House Glover]] located just off the coast. {{Ref|ACOK|24}}{{Ref|ACOK|50}} The keep is easily overrun by the ironmen, making captives of Lady [[Sybelle Glover]], her young children, and [[Galbart Glover]]'s young ward [[Larence Snow]].{{ref|ASOS|Appendix}}
* '''[[Harrying of the Stony Shore]].''' Theon Greyjoy, under the supervision of [[Aeron Greyjoy]] and [[Dagmer Cleftjaw]], leads eight ships along the Stony Shore to burn fishing villages and take [[salt wives]].{{Ref|ACOK|24}} These raids prompt [[Leobald Tallhart]] to send [[Benfred Tallhart]] and his [[Wild Hares]] to go deal with them.{{Ref|ACOK|35}} Theon and his men ambush them, killing all but Benfred in battle. Benfred is then drowned as a sacrifice to the [[Drowned God]] on Aeron's insistence. Feeling the insignificant raids he has been ordered to carry out are beneath him, Theon devises a new plan. He gives Aeron six longships to continue the raiding and sends Dagmer with most of the remaining men to besiege [[Torrhen's Square]], knowing that this attack will draw the levies from Winterfell so that the castle will be defenseless.{{Ref|ACOK|37}}
* '''[[Fight at Torrhen's Square]].''' On Theon's orders, Dagmer Cleftjaw besieges the small keep of [[Torrhen's Square]] in a ruse to draw out Ser [[Rodrik Cassel]] and the household guard of Winterfell.{{Ref|ACOK|37}} As planned, [[Leobald Tallhart]] requests aid and Rodrik arrives as planned with six hundred men, as does [[Cley Cerwyn]] with another three hundred.{{ref|ACOK|46}} Rodrik has the advantage of familiar ground and the ironborn are not disciplined enough to stand a charge by mounted horsemen. Dagmer and his ironmen are easily defeated and driven back to the Stony Shore.{{Ref|ACOK|56}}
* '''[[Capture of Winterfell]].''' With the garrison absent, Theon storms Winterfell at night with about thirty men, overwhelming the few remaining guards and conquering the mighty castle with ease. After convincing the young Prince [[Bran Stark]] to yield, Theon declares himself the [[Prince of Winterfell]] and takes [[Ramsay Snow]], disguised as "[[Reek]]," as a retainer. Bran and [[Rickon Stark]], [[Walder Frey (son of Merrett)|Little Walder]] and [[Walder Frey (son of Jammos)|Big Walder Frey]], [[Meera Reed|Meera]] and [[Jojen Reed]], and [[Beth Cassel]] are among the hostages.{{ref|ACOK|46}} However, the Starks and the Reeds soon escape. To avoid embarrassment, Ramsay convinces Theon to kill two peasant boys in place of the Starks and announce to the world that they are dead.{{ref|ACOK|50}}{{ref|ACOK|56}}
* '''[[Battle outside the gates of Winterfell]].''' Theon Greyjoy's occupation of Winterfell hinges on his sister arriving with reinforcements from Deepwood Motte. However, Asha does not bring the requested men. Instead, she berates Theon for attempting to hold a castle so far from resupply by sea and for killing Bran and Rickon Stark rather than keeping them as hostages. Then she urges him to burn the castle and return to Deepwood with her, but Theon refuses.{{ref|ACOK|56}} Ser Rodrik Cassel returns from Torrhen's Square to besiege Winterfell with two thousand men. Despite having only seventeen men, Theon delays the attack by threatening Rodrik's daughter Beth until "Reek" (in truth Ramsay Snow) returns with six hundred Bolton men from the [[Dreadfort]]. Believing them to be allies, Rodrik and his men are taken completely by surprise when they are attacked in the [[winter town]]. Rodrik, Cley Cerwyn, and Leobald Tallhart are killed and their leaderless host is routed by the Bolton men, who lose only twenty or thirty men.{{Ref|ACOK|66}}
* '''[[Sack of Winterfell]].''' Believing "Reek's" men to be allies, Theon allows him and his men into Winterfell, where they quickly turn on the ironmen as well, killing them all except Theon.{{Ref|ACOK|66}} The castle is then put to the torch and many inhabitants are killed, including Maester [[Luwin]]. Theon, Little Walder, Big Walder, [[Kyra]], [[Old Nan]], and Beth Cassel are all taken back to the Dreadfort as captives.{{ref|ASOS|35}}
* '''[[Capture of Torrhen's Square]].''' Dagmer Cleftjaw returns to Torrhen's Square. The sparsely-defended keep is easily stormed by the ironmen, who take the [[House Tallhart|Tallhart]] household captive.{{ref|ASOS|76}}