The new Duskendale was a town rebuilt upon ruins.
Because of the previous rebellion, almost all nobles associated with the Darklyn family had been burned alive, and their castle and lands put to the torch. The townsfolk and surrounding peasants had either died or fled, leaving fewer than a thousand souls—hardly a third of the population before the Darklyns' uprising.
After the king had burned the local lord alive, a replacement was slow in coming. The taxes within the domain were collected directly by taxmen dispatched from King's Landing, plunging the town deeper into disorder and attracting all manner of unsavory characters.
Chapter 59