King's Landing

### Organisations

Kingsguard | Alchemists' Guild | City Watch

**King's Landing** is the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, located in the crownlands on the east coast of Westeros. It is situated along the kingsroad at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush and overlooks Blackwater Bay. King's Landing is the site of the Iron Throne and the Red Keep, which is the seat of the king, Rhaegar I of House Targaryen.

The main city is surrounded by a wall, manned by the City Watch of King's Landing, also known as the gold cloaks. King's Landing is the most populous city in Westeros, but unsightly and dirty compared to other cities. Poorer smallfolk build shanty settlements outside the city. The stench of the city's waste can be smelled far beyond its walls.

King's Landing, the principal harbor of the Seven Kingdoms, is rivaled only by Oldtown, which is larger in area but less populous. Nearby towns include Rosby and Duskendale to the northeast and Tumbleton to the southwest, while the kingswood is found south of the capital across the Blackwater. Driftmark and Dragonstone in the Gullet protect the bay from the narrow sea.

The demonym used for its inhabitants is "Kingslander".

## Layout

King's Landing is roughly square-shaped, sprawling across several miles and defended by tall walls. It is dotted with manses, arbors, granaries, brick storehouses, timbered inns, merchant stalls, taverns, graveyards and brothels. There is a fish market. Hundreds of quays can be found in the harbor. Between buildings the roads are broad, lined with trees and branching alleys and streets.

The city covers the north shore of the Blackwater Rush and covers three tall hills, named after Aegon and his two sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys. Aegon's High Hill, surmounted by the Red Keep, the royal castle located in the south-eastern corner of the city, overlooks the bay directly, whilst Visenya's Hill to the west is crowned by the marble-walled Great Sept of Baelor and its seven crystal towers. The Hill of Rhaenys in the north is capped by the collapsed ruins of the Dragonpit dome, its bronze doors shut for a century and a half since the last dragon died.

Behind the quays outside of the walls, there tend to be ramshackle buildings which extend to the walls. These include bait shacks, pot shops, warehouses, merchant's stalls, alehouses, and prostitution rooms.

Generally, the areas on the higher elevations of the three hills tend to be the wealthier parts of the city, while the poorer areas are the low places in between them. The worst slum in the city is Flea Bottom, a maze of narrow streets and alleys at the bottom of the east side of Rhaenys's Hill (the side facing Aegon's High Hill). There the poorest smallfolk eke out a meager existence, subsisting largely on "bowls of brown", a mystery stew that can include the meat of rats and murder victims, among other things. In contrast, the top of Rhaenys's Hill is the location of the Street of Silk, filled with expensive high-end brothels catering to lords and rich merchants.

According to semi-canon sources the richer areas of King's Landing lie near the Old Gate.

Large tourneys are held outside the city, beside the Blackwater and near the King's Gate.

### City gates

Seven is a sacred number for the Faith, thus the reason Aegon I Targaryen had seven huge gates built as the entrances into the capital of King's Landing. Each is protected by portcullis, heavy doors, and armed guard.

* Dragon Gate, leads north to the kingsroad.
* Iron Gate, leads to the Rosby road.
* Old Gate.
* Gate of the Gods.
* River Gate, known as the Mud Gate by the population of the city, leads south to the kingsroad and the roseroad.
* Lion Gate, leads west to the Goldroad.
* King's Gate, outside of which are tourney grounds.

### Notable locations

* The Red Keep, the royal castle located on top of Aegon's High Hill. Within the castle are Maegor's Holdfast and the Tower of the Hand.
* The Great Sept of Baelor, where the Most Devout convene with the High Septon. It is the holiest sept of the Faith of the Seven. It is located on Visenya's Hill.
* The Dragonpit, a huge dome, that holds the House Targaryen dragons. It is found on the Hill of Rhaenys. The Street of Sisters runs between it and the Great Sept of Baelor.
* The Guildhall of the Alchemists beneath the Hill of Rhaenys, stretching right to the foot of Visenya's Hill, along the Street of Sisters. Beneath it is where the Alchemists create and store the wildfire.
* Flea Bottom, slum area of King's Landing, a downtrodden area of town. It has pot-shops along the alleys where one can get a bowl of brown. It has a stench of pigsties and stables, tanner's sheds mixed in the smell of winesinks and whorehouses.
* Dragon's Manse. has its own stable, well, and garden.