Chapter Text
In the Year 307AC, as the hot months turned to the fall months and then to winter many prayed they would face a normal and dry bloom time. And at the start their prayers were answered, but this was in truth a cursed blessing for something much more terrible than hunger soon spread throughout the land. The day after the Bloom Equinox Westeros wakes to a day with a bright sun but little warmth. This continues and day after day the sun shines and the plants grow strong one again, but the people cannot feel the suns warmth in their souls, as days and night pass, more and more as sun is unable to bring comfort to the people.
Soon it seems that the shadows are growing stronger, and many accounts claim that they seem different than before, having become sinister. The shadows cast across the land now seemed to drink the light, making the whole land appear to be a dark and terrifying place. There are reports of Knights, men who had faced battles without flinching becoming afraid to leave the side of their hearths and when forced to do so would carry their blades, even in the halls of their keeps where they were supposed to be safe, of many families deciding to huddle together in one hall at night, not out of warmth or to save wood, but out of fear of what may emerge from the sinister shadows and dark, of children waking up in the night screaming that something was with them, something wrong, something evil, something which wanted them to die, for their blood to become cold and dead, and their parents believed them for they too felt it, across the land many accounts would be written which claim that after the sun began fading there indeed was something in the shadows, something that was watching them, something which was waiting to strike. This was more than just some people being scared of the dark, for something had indeed changed in the world, the records of the Maester Order confirm that across the world the sun was fading even as it shone, even in the Summer Isles and the forest of Sothoryos the night advancing, and across the world people divided by faith, language, distance and culture united as one to claim that there was something in the shadows, even the ever rational Maesters themselves were not immune from the feeling of being watched by something sinister in the dark.
Soon word came of strange blue fires being seen across the world, from its the largest ports of the world and its most remote forests, and soon more and more of people being afflicted by nightmares and madness, of seeing blue flames and of strange and evil voices coming from said hearths and fire. Most took these as signs that the Long Night had finally come as the sinister shadows shrouded the land, but from the Wall comes word that the rangers have still not found any signs of the Others being ready to invade. As with the Great ranging's the Nights Watch could travel for days into the Haunted Forrest without coming across wights. Similarly the Free Folk still lived, and many remote villages also claimed not to have seen a wight or white walker even if they agreed something had changed and their ancient enemy was close.
As the hot months of 308AC came, not that they provided much warmth to the people, there was still no sign of the Others marching on the Wall, but soon came reports of Wight attacks. Initially dismissed by many lords, more came, and then more from across Westeros and even the narrow sea and even those who refused to believe soon came across the undead and once they had to fight for their lives, once they saw hacked limbs still moving, of men with swords through their hearts still attacking and staring into their undead eyes ,beautiful yet haunting like two blue stars, were forced to admit that the dead had indeed begun to walk the earth as it becomes clear to the realm that even without the presence of the Others many of those who die are becoming wights
Further they found out that despite what is stated in The Seven-Pointed Star wights can indeed harm a pious man, even as he is armored in his faith.More than one pious lord or party of the Faith Militant learnt that lesson at the cost of their lives. As wights began to rise in every corner of the known world men ,across Westeros and Essos, wight hunting parties armed with steel, oil, fire and Dragonglass are gathered to hunt down the wights. Initially, after they get over their shock and get some experience, these parties are rather successful. Unlike the battle skill reported of the Others, wights are slow and clumsy, meaning that even a squire could hack one apart easily and then set it's still moving parts on fire, while this same slowness allowed the unarmed smallfolk to escape and call for help. The greater danger at the start was for travelers as wights can remain in a state of stasis, lying in wait to attack and many do so near trade routes and less traveled roads, but again they had a vulnerability as Wights had a queer, cold scent that can panic living animals if they catch a whiff of it and as such merchants and travelers quickly became adept at realizing when wights were lying in wait. It also helped that soon every corpse that was near a road, most of refugees dying of hunger, bandits and disease, were set alight. But just as the realms of men became confident in fighting of the Wights things began to change. For at the start there were but a few wights but then more and more. As the cold months come, across the Known World the dead, almost all the dead and not just a few as before, begin to rise.
Soon as far away from the Wall as Dorne and Yi-Ti there are reports of packs of Wights rising and slaughtering the living. Where earlier after a snow storm a village may have to mourn its dead when they were able to go and find who survived, now the dead announced their own demise by attacking the houses where life still existed. Where as earlier the death of a greybeard or crone may be announced by the sobs of the first person to wake in the morning now it was announced by the dying screams of their most devoted attendants who had the misfortune of being by their side. By now throughout the realms of men all previous rites have been renounced in favor of burning all corpses the moment the person dies, the only antidote to preventing them from rising again. But soon the people also learn to keep a watch over all those who are close to dying to ensure they do not turn into wights in the night, further they are also to be kept secure, fastened or restrained in some manner. It becomes common practice for the sick, the weak, greybeards and crones to choose a date so that they can be killed and burned in a manner to reduce risk to the community. Fathers would be beheaded by their sons, mothers who might still have some moons to live gave their daughters one last hug and parents would shed tears as they ended the lives of sick children who may have lived just a bit longer only if they did not need to worry about the undead. And between this slaughter of the loved ones and the sorrow brought about by wight attacks the people cried, and felt their tears freeze on their cheeks; And so great were the numbers of those killed that the lands are blanketed by snow and ice made of the tears of the still living.
As the moons pass Wights attacks become a problem mainly for the much smaller and more isolated settlements, and so frequent patrols are implemented. Due to the wights vulnerability to fire, people are careful to not walk outside without a torch, and keep one ready to be light with them as they sleep. Those who have it also keep their dragonglass weapons close and each settlements has their watchmen armed with the black stone for it becomes clear that striking a deep wound with dragonglass would kill a wight, even when steel would not do much. Because of this the dragonglass trade returns with a vengeance, though the better weather and higher food supplies also helps. For a moment it seems it might indeed be possible to control and defeat this outbreak of the undead.
But soon it all changes.
Its exact origin is unknown and shrouded in mystery. Most claim it began in Winterfell, one of the most affected cities in the realm and home of the ancestral enemy of the Others, claiming the Others created it as a way to undermine the Winter City which was a bastion of not just the Starks but also dragonglass and Wildfyre, substances which the Others feared. Some accounts claim it came from beyond the Wall, Maester Gerion whose work tracked the outbreak of disease says that some of the earlies indication come from the Oldtown and Planky town; And others say it was born in the filth of Flea Bottom in Kings Landing. But regardless of its true origin soon all across Westeros and indeed the Known World there is an outbreak of the greatest and most dreaded disease in the recorded history of man. Its most common names include "Wight disease", "Black Death", "Pestilence" or "Undying death", and of course a thousand lesser known ones. But the names are but words to describe one of the greatest horrors ever inflicted on mortal man, all describing the same disease which ravaged the proudest and humblest kingdoms of men, infiltrating the palaces of God Emperors and the yurts of a poor nomad family alike. It was merciless, sparing no one, man or woman, greybeard or child, Highborn or smallfolk, master or slave. All died by this disease.
Selected Excerpts from "An Urgent Report on Wight Disease, for immediate circulation and learning by the command of the Conclave of Oldtown" by Archmaester Ebrose, whose ring and rod and mask are silver.
The first symptoms of the Wight disease includes a high temperature, tiredness, shivering and pains all over the body. The next stage is the appearance of small red boils on the neck, in the armpit or groin. These lumps, to be called buboes, grow larger and darker in colour. Some accounts sent to the Conclave talk of these buboes growing to the size of apples, though many might be as small as grapes and indeed any size in between . The final stage of the illness is the appearance of small, red spots on the stomach and other parts of the body. This is believed to be caused by internal bleeding, and death followed soon after………. This death generally lasts for about an hour at most, but it was not unusual for the victims to open their eyes, blue and shining and attack the living with just a few minutes, meaning it is vital to restrain all who suffered from it and to make preparations to burn them the moment they die for dismembering is not enough to kill wights. Having someone be ready with dragonglass is also an alternative for a deep wound, particularly in a vital area is also enough. Care must be taken to ensure the wight is dead by checking the eyes…………All members who work with the diseased are to take full precaution by wearing leather and chainmail outerwear and undertaking the……………There is at this moment no cure, no potion or poultice which could help those suffering from the disease but there are efforts under way under the direction of Maester…………..The most common form of medical treatment which also showed some actual result was to lance the buboes, expelling a foul smelling, blackish liquid. It is vital that this liquid not touch the living and be………….. Some accounts claim other methods involved bleeding and washing the body with vinegar also helped but there was no proof behind these claims, at least none the citadel could verify. Indeed lancing the buboes was the only method, but even this was only a way to delay. No matter how much one lanced, the result was the same. Death and then undeath as a Wight………….. Further precautions to be undertaken………..
The Outbreak of Wight disease which soon spread across the land despite blockades and quarantines meant that across the land the number of dead and thus wights grew; As recorded by Archmaester Ebrose the healer, the reason of the wight disease spreading so fast can be partially explained by the fact that after the Great Famine of 305AC - 307AC the smallfolk were so weakened by hunger that they had no way to resist as disease broke out, further most maesters agree that the disease was spread through abnormal or magical means, for what we know of regular disease outbreaks fail us in trying to chart the pattern of the Wight disease. Soon towns, villages and keeps which were hit hard by the disease would be overrun, some going from strong and secure to completely dead within a sennight. Part of the difficulty along with the spread of the disease killing a large number of people was the difficulty in disposing of the wights when they grew in large enough numbers. For when few in numbers it was relatively easy to restrain and dispose of a wight which was a weak and slow creature individually. But when they gathered in a large group and began to outnumber the living, outnumber the Knights and men at arms the odds began to shift, especially with the supply of dragonglass low and the metal weapons useless in fighting off many of them at once for wights felt no fear nor pain, they were not held back by a knight swinging his sword. In many areas so many died from disease and wight attacks that the living soon became outnumbered by the dead and even men who had dragonglass and torches were not able to hold back the tide. By this point fire became the main weapon with many times the only method to stop the undead would be to burn down the whole settlement in hope the spreading fire kills the undead for good. But of course it did not work always, many of the wights would escape the flames, it is also important to note that these fires might be set when people would still be trapped in their homes or some other hiding spot. We may never know how many innocents were inadvertently burned alive but considering that most reports mentions screams of the living we can only conclude the number was tragically high.
But soon those inadvertently burned alive were not the only ones dying by the hands of the living. In many parts of Westeros and Essos orders were made to kill and burn all those who got wight disease while they still lived. There were many which protested this course of action, from the loved ones of those sick to the Faith of the Seven but soon necessity to live trumped their objections and a slaughter occurred, a hundred times more terrible than what had happened earlier. More than even the Great Famine the wight disease tore apart families and communities, most times literally. It is said that when a community was facing an outbreak many times men and women smothered their children, and then burn their bodies rather than see them be ripped apart and eaten by the wights
Excerpt from the chronicle of merchant Edric Hartman, as recorded in "The Second Long Night, a compendium of accounts by Maesters, Nobles, Merchants and Smallfolk" By Maester Rickard
The Nobles called us to kill those of our loved ones who got sick. Shows how much they care for their family despite them harping on about blood. For how could any good man kill the ones you loved, how could we forsake our honor and become Kinslayer's? How could we by setting their bodies on fire prevent them from entering the Seven Heavens, even if it was to protect them from undeath? How could we do it even if a good man had a duty to his community? …..Many could not do it, Father abandoned child, wife husband, one brother another and in doing so they condemned many others to the same undead fate, cursing others to live as wights as they did their own kin…….
Many prayed for cures, many swallowed all sort of potions, rubbed powered dragonglass in their wounds, or tried another hundred things, but none were spared from this illness but they and their loved ones tried till the end. Perhaps if I also tried something…….
And so they died, and then they came back and killed more, and then those came back and more died and this cycle continued until the all died or some unlucky soul had to burn the whole town or village or keep down, or had to run away, chased by the corpses of all those they knew and loved …... I met many such unlucky souls, in many ways they are also dead, they just happen to still have warm blood in their veins…….
And even where the living still held their ground none could be found to burn or bury the remains for money or friendship for all knew that you could get wight disease from the corpses, even the twice dead ones. Members of a household burnt as best they could, careful not to contract the Wight disease, and then brought their dead's bones to a ditch as best they could, without septons, without divine offices ... great pits were dug and piled deep with the multitude of ash and bones….. And they died by the hundreds both day and night, and their corpses were killed again by their tearful loved ones…..I did not sleep for many a night as a house got overwhelmed they would bar the doors and set it on fire, and even the living who may yet have lived were burned. This happened day and night, such screams I heard ... And as soon as those ditches were filled more were dug ... And I, Edric Hartman ... Buried the bones of my five children with my own hands; And as a consequence of restraining them and killing them………. a sin so foul may the gods……., deafening my ears while they pleaded with me for mercy, Oh my children ..…I buried my own charred soul with them.
…..There was no one who wept for any death, for all awaited death and knew they would meet their loved ones one way or the other…. And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world, that this long night would truly not end…..mayhap we are weaker than our forefathers for we ……….. Or maybe that is what they fought for, a dawn where we were safe enough for weakness and kindness……
So severe was the impact and spread of this undead plague that many noble families and their subjects had to destroy or abandon their seats and settlements. The City of Kings Landing, the largest city of Westeros, was mostly abandoned, though the city was never completely emptied of life. For example some members of the Maester order were able to last through the war in the Royal citadel, barring the gates shut and using food reserves, glass gardens and mushroom caves for the duration of the Long Night. These Maesters would record the stars, the weather, act as a central hub to relay messages and of course tend to the books and archives of the citadel, the ones which could not be moved. Similarly the Red Keep was continuously occupied though the Black keep would fall, it is believed that this was due to starvation causing the number of wights to overwhelm the defenders from the inside. There are also accounts of hundreds or possibly thousands of people surviving in the city, with the trapped maesters seeing live people with the far sight glasses and with a small farm being reported inside the abandoned but still walled Godswood.
But despite the courage of these Maesters and those who remained most of the city was gone, they were either dead or they had fled. Along the Maester order the entire Alchemist Guild as well as the High Septon and his courtiers and stewards fled the city and took refuge in the Great Bastion of Harrenhal. For the first time in its history the largest Keep in Westeros was filled to the Brink, disproving the claims that it could garrison half a million men, which till now seemed believable to all who saw the gigantic keep. Lord Vance was made Castellan in the name of King Steffon and took up residence in the Large Gatehouse overseeing the rebuilding of the wall, something which had been ordered at the end of the Great Storm War but abandoned after the Great Famine began. In the meantime the five towers were divided and occupied, of its five towers the Tower of Ghosts which is near the postern gate and the ruined sept as well as the Tower of Dread are given wholly to the High Septon. Along with reusing the Sept which they would decorate with the relics, books and statues they had gotten for the Great Sept, they would also open up a Septonry and a silent Sister School with Harrenhal becoming the new First Seat of the Faith of the Seven. Not that it meant much in practical terms, as with many things the Faith had been shattered in these years. To the High Septons everlasting anger and embarrassment the two largest Towers, the Widow and Kingspyre towers are given to the Maesters who quickly restarted their lectures and trainings to churn out as many Maesters as they could. The Wailing with its cavernous vaults was given to the Alchemist guild who were ordered to churn out as much Wildfyre as they could. Other changes to the Keep would also be made. The 20 acre Godswood was cut down to just a Quarter of an acre around its Weirwood trees. This was done for wood but also more importantly to clear land to farm, however Lord Vance made sure to not harm the Weirwood trees despite the objections of the Faith of the Seven to their very presence.
At this same time the Royal Family and Court would seek refuge in the Kingswood Palace and Storms End, and from there King Steffon would lead what became known as Undead Hunts across the Stormlands and Riverland's. These were large fast paced companies of men moving through the countryside, killing and burning the undead. But just as importantly these were used to secure and create order where none existed. If the local noble family had died out King Steffon would assign new lords to the lands, If the family lived but was unable to control and secure their holding he would aid them by restoring order, settling disputes and in many cases assigning stewards, guardians and castellans to keeps in order to clarify the chain of command. Further King Steffon would kill all the bandits who began to use this time to prey on their fellow man, but he is known to have spared all those who he believed acted only out of hunger. By personally leading these Undead Hunts the King began to restore some trust in the Crown and began to reestablish his Kingdom, but despite all the good he did it could not reverse the damage to his kingdom or the suffering of his people.
As the Undead Hunts were occurring in the Kingdoms of the Stormlands and Riverland's the other kingdoms were also securing themselves. As with Kings Landing the other cities of Westeros were also increasingly abandoned at the start but most of these would be reclaimed with few cities and large towns being as totally abandoned as Kings Landing, this disparity is mostly attributed to better management of the outbreak of wight disease as well as the smaller size of the cities making the number of wights to manage lesser.
In the Westerlands during this time the Lannisters even faced a major wight outbreak in Casterly Rock itself, but they were able to extinguish it and concentrate on taking back Lannisport which they did after some three moons of continuous battle, but the lions did so at a high price with some three fourths of its people dead. This victory was followed up by Prince Loren who personally led his forces, the Prince would be able to use the cliffs and narrow pathways of his lands to negate the advantage the dead had built up in numbers. Slowly but surely the crimson lion and its vassals would pry back their hills and valleys from the cold dead hands of the wights. It is in fact a consensus among all who study the period that the Lannisters were the first who secured their kingdom. That is not to say there were no wights in the Westerlands, but rather that generally speaking all the lands of the Westerlands were mostly in the hands of the living. A situation closer to before the outbreak of Wight Disease.
This advantage the Westerlands have would also play out in the Vale, here Prince Elbert and Jasper would lead the Great Undead Hunt of the Vale. The Falcons would secure the main paths and valleys before bursting out into the open fields of the Coasts, leading Knights to strike down the Wights, though it should be noted that the horses of these troops who generally served as cavalry were used just to travel and the actual battles were conducted on foot, as was the case elsewhere, this was as Horses were vulnerable to Wights in a way they would not be to human enemies. The Great Undead Hunt of the Vale is considered to have ended with the Battle of Gulltown which lead to the Falcons taking back their largest settlement; Of course it should be acknowledged that the Arryn forces and the Order of the Falcon Knights would end up burning almost all of Gulltown to the ground to try and hold back the undead making their victory a hollow one as the city and its people were mostly lost. After the end of the Great Undead Hunts the Vale would be completely secured in the next few moons.
In Oldtown House Hightower would see its control be restored in just a few moons, one of the first to secure itself, but at the cost of at least two third of the smallfolk if not more being dead. Despite this tremendous death toll the Hightowers could not only boast having the largest settlement of Westeros under their control for the first time in over a century, but could also make the claim that their small folk had survived in greater proportion than all of the cities of Westeros and the Narrow Sea, a claim with some merit. Many attribute the short outbreak of Wight Disease and the quick restoration of Hightower authority not to any great wisdom but rather to a particular dark luck, for Oldtown would face in these moons the Great Fire of Oldtown. This fire would destroy much of the city and would either burn or drive way many of the wights, stopping the momentum of the wights and disease alike before it could overwhelm Oldtown like they did to the rest of the cities of Westeros. Many of the cities important landmarks would burn, and so would many of its homes, businesses and markets with the rivers providing no respite to the spread of the fire, though luckily the Maesters and Men-at-Arms of the Hightowers would be able to secure the Citadel meaning that the Order and its archives and records would survive.
During this time however the Starry Sept of Oldtown and the complex supporting it would burn, a great blow to the Faith of the Seven which had seen the destruction of the Golden Sept and the abandonment of the Great Septs of Kings Landing among many others . It would be heresy punishable by death for near a century, and a great taboo till even this day, to claim the Great Fire started at the Starry Sept itself after the Cardinal ordered the gates of the complex to be locked in order to burn away both the wights and the still living sick who had come to the Sept seeking salvation. Hence we will only mention it and not claim it.
These cities however would not be the only settlements to see such brutal and massive losses of life for these were replicated across the Reach and Westeros, but in the misery and suffering there are also tales of heroism, valor and sacrifice. For at this time House Gardner won the infamous Battle of the Bridge in Highgarden where Ser Garlan the Gallant with his company held off the dead for three whole days of almost continuous assault. This would allow his father's host to gather and eventually to take back the city, though at an enormous cost of including the death of many brave Lords and Knights, as well as countless smallfolk and Men-At-Arms. The Armies of the Reach would also participate in the Battle of the Bitterbridge which saw them clash with the single largest wight host in Westeros until that point. For tens of thousands people were present in the town and the undead host was the consequence of disease breaking out in the large and cramped city sized refugee camps which had formed, with snow storms preventing the smallfolk from escaping, leading them to be devoured and be condemned to rise again as wights. At this battle the first large scale engagement between armies of the living and dead on open fields House Gardner would be able to secure victory through its use of Wildfyre which they had procured to trap and destroy the undead host, the green flames spreading through and burning much of the undead. Though the Wildfyre would kill many of the living as well including Lord Rowan, Lord Oakheart, Heir Fossoway and Heir Goodshield. This was also the first time that we received written records and verifiable confirmation of the brutal effectiveness of Valyrian steel swords on wights for until now these swords had been kept locked away and safe in the Keeps, but Prince Garland wielded Steelthorn and Lord Dickon Tarly used Heartsbane in this battle and demonstrated that just an unblocked swing of a Valyrian Steel Sword was enough to kill a wight.
Though as important as this information was Valyrian Steel was hardly a substance in abundance. But while these weapons did not make a tremendous change in absolute terms it is false to say it had no impact. Along with the morale boost of seeing wight after wight fall in front of their liege lords, the Valyrian steel swords would be extremely effective in small situations such as clearing out villages where a single wielder would make a large difference, aiding Lords in taking back their land bit by bit.
In the North the battle against the undead was aided by Prince Jon Targaryen, previously called Lord Jon Stark, who used his dragon Triarch to defeat many wight packs, the dragon allowing him to patrol large distances very easily. It was also the Dragon Triarch which allowed the cities of the North to be retaken with comparatively few casualties, thought they did end up being partially burned down to the ground, with the population of White Harbor falling in about half in just the first 6 moons of the outbreak, a terrible loss but compared to other cities its size a massive victory with White Harbor being the only city after Oldtown to retain about a third of the population, and the only westerosi competitor for the title of least destroyed city in the known world . Unfortunately the City of Winterfell would see a greater toll of more than four out of five dying, this was as the Winter City was the hardest hit by the wight disease, with some accounts claiming that more men died from the disease than the wights. The Great Keep of Winterfell would also see much death, again with many more dying by disease than by wights. But overall between the Dragon Triarch and ,much more importantly, the large and well distributed amounts of dragonglass the North would be less affected by the undead plague than many others, with the Starks securing the North relatively quickly when considering its size, doing so before the Riverland's, though after the Westerlands and the Vale. Its liberation status compared to the Reach, Stormlands, Iron Islands and Dorne is heavily contested and if discussed in a tavern in a trade port where people from across Westeros are present, is best done so with men who are good at brawling by your side.
Speaking of the latter two lands, the Iron Islands and Dorne, both these Kingdoms would be vey badly affected by wight disease. Both had limited amounts of wood, very limited amounts of dragonglass and were unused to dealing with the extreme and unheard of cold temperature that that had come with this winter, as such both would be severely impacted with only their low density providing some respite.
But of course it was not just Westeros which would be affected, from the Free cities to Yi-Ti the dead would rise and wage war on the Living. It was this outbreak of the Wight disease which would end the wars of Yunkai, Volantis and the many city states of the Sarnori, Rhoynar and Helens for the people, rich and poor, slave and freedman realised they needed to cooperate to survive. Though this was a lesson which took time to spread and was learnt only after terrible losses. For it is known that Masters of New Ghis had set fire to their own city than risk allowing the slaves to carry arms or lowering themselves to free said slaves and ask them for help. It was not until the fire failed to burn away all the dead that they relented. But it was too late, all of New Ghis would be consumed by the dead, its fate only known to us due to letters written by a young noble who recorded its story on baked clay tablets on top of the Great Pyramid of New Ghis, writing down all that he heard and knew until the every end. His name is lost ,for he did not wish to shame his family for his cowardice of staying safe while battle raged, but what is known is that he intended to set himself on fire to prevent the wights which were attempting to break in from killing him and forcing him to live as an undead slave.
But despite the fall of New Ghis, soon by necessity of survival, the peoples of Essos were forced to work together, not just between various cities and Kingdoms but between the free and the slaves. Many free cities such as Yunkai and Volantis would abandon slavery in large parts, for they could not afford to suppress slave rebellions and also fight off the dead. Though the institution would not full die just yet, similar to the wights they fought it would live on in a lesser half dead half alive form such as bondsman and indentured servitude.
During this time many famous events would occur including the burning of the Long Bridge of Volantis, the Great Battle of Dagger lake where the Four Armies of the Volantene, Rhoynar, Qohori and Norvosi fought an army of 100,000 wights, the Fall of the Basilisk Isles which were struck by a strange disease, separate and more terrible than Wight disease and Stand of the Golden company, where the Golden Company would fight off seemingly the entire undead population of Meereen with the support of about thrice their number drawn from Meereen's refugees , emerging victorious but loosing three out of five of their own men. It was also called the Battle of the 11 Captain Generals to illustrate the sheer loss the Golden Company experienced . The company would base itself in the city of Meereen for many years after this, directly ruling all of land and its people and rebuilding their ranks with the Meereenese. This would have a significant impact on the Golden Company which after this period would in many ways lose its distinct Westerosi Character, that is not to say it was all lost. After all in the future they would show it was not just due to tradition and battle prowess that they continued the rallying cry "Beneath the Gold, the Bitter Steel"
As the year 309AC began to end as the cold months came, just over one year after the dead begin to rise and the Wight disease outbreak occurred, some maester estimated that over half and close to three fifths of Westerosi which had lived at the end of the Great Storm war were dead, a figure which was either as good as or better than the rest of the Known world. With the wight disease and the undead plague cementing themselves as among the greatest and deadliest of catastrophes the Westerosi, and indeed the realms of men had faced in their recorded history.
By this time however some semblance of order had been restored. It helped of course that new cases of wight disease were rare unless one infected their own blood with that of an infected, through a wound mostly. There were no repeats of the unholy disease simply showing up without warning. In areas which were strong enough the living were finally able to make a stand and push back. In these areas the wights which existed were increasingly hunted down and the lands secured, and soon these secure lands began to expand. In this the Lords, especially of the Riverland's, were increasingly helped by the Faith Militant. By now across Westeros the people had become used to fighting wights, had become skilled with dragonglass weapons, and had learnt how to secure an area from the undead. Further despite the fact that the crop harvest was weak due to colder than usual temperature and lack of tending to the fields there was no famine. For the rapid increase in the number of dead ensured there was enough food for the much smaller population compared to the planting season.
It was at this point that the realm was hopeful that they may yet live to see the dawn. But they should not have been, for worse was yet to come.
