Kingdom of the Reach

The **Kingdom of the Reach** is one of the constituent regions of Westeros and is a sovereign nation ruled by the Kings of the Reach. It is the second-largest of the kingdoms behind the North and is considered the most fertile and heavily-populated part of Westeros.

The Reach is considered the home of chivalry in Westeros. It is the place where knighthood is looked upon with the greatest reverence and esteemed the most. It is also the place where the rules to tournaments are the most stringent and managed.

The Reach is ruled by House Gardener from the splendid keep of Highgarden. Bastards born of noble origins in the Reach are given the surname Flowers.

## Geography

The Reach is the most fertile part of Westeros and has numerous and well-populated villages and towns. The Sunset Sea is found to the west, while the hills of the Rock are to the northwest and the Blackwater Rush of the Trident is to the north. The Reach borders the Dusklands at a minuscule border to the northeast, while to the east and southeast are the Stormlands and their Dornish Marches. South of the Reach are the Red Mountains of the Torrentine and the Summer Sea.

The Reach is watered by the immense river Mander and its tributaries, including the Blueburn and the Cockleswhent. The Reach proper is centered around the Mander. Oldtown is located at the mouth of the Honeywine. The region also includes several islands, including the Shield Islands near the mouth of the Mander and the Arbor south of the Whispering Sound and the Redwyne Straits.

The Reach is the second wealthiest region in the Seven Kingdoms behind the Rock, and it is the most fertile region. Among the products it produces are melons, fireplums, peaches, apples, and grapes. The Arbor is said to make the finest of wines, from dry fruity reds to a rich golden vintage. Woodharps made in Oldtown are highly sought after.

## Wars and Battles of the Reach

### **Invasion of the Riverlands**

**0AA - 4AA:** Taking advantage of the power vacuum created by Aegon's ravaging of the Riverlands, the Westerlands, Vale, and the Reach all separately invaded the Riverlands. They each laid claim to territory, and thus a three-way war began that would see years of skirmishes and battles, some large and some small, across the war-torn Riverlands. The invasion ultimately ends in 4 A.A. with the Treaty of Harrenhal. The lands up to Oldstone, Stone Hedge, and Stoney Sept are given to Lannister rule. The lands up to Raventree Hall, Darry, and Harrenhal are given to Gardener rule. The lands up to the Saltpans, the Twins, and Seagard are given to Arryn rule.

### **King Edmunds War**

**1AA:** Alongside their invasion of the Riverlands, King Edmund ordered an incursion into the Stormlands to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the death Orys Baratheon. In the invasion, King Boros Cole, recently wed to Storm Queen Argella Durrandon, perished in an attempt to retake Blackhaven. When the war ended later in 1 A.C., Queen Argella passed away in childbirth, leaving the Stormlands horrendously unprepared for another war as incompetence, corruption, and skirmishes plague the infant Storm King Durran XXVII Durrandon's regency. Eventually was reversed with the Liberation of Blackhaven, and The Hammerfall at Haystack Hall after the regency of King Durran ended.

### **The War for the Red Lake:**

**5AA:**Lymond I Lannister declares war on the Reach, desiring to claim Red Lake. At the battle, he is given a debilitating wound by Oswin Osgrey and retreats in disgrace. Gardener refuses to give chase out of pity, and his feeling that there was sufficient humiliation given. The West is humiliated and is a shell of their former power and glory.

### **The Fletcher Rebellion**

**21AA:** The Fletcher Rebellion was a rebellion in the Riverlands by the man that would be known as Quentyn I Fletcher. He expelled the garrisons of House Lannister, and defeated them in battle after battle, gaining the support of many Riverlords. After slaying King Lannisters son, the West left the Riverlands. Making deals with House Arryn and House Gardener, the Riverlands was free. House Fletcher has ruled the Kingdom of the Trident.

### **The False Storm's War**

**80AA-82AA:** After King Monfryd VII Durrandon slaughtered the Gardener soldiers at the Battle of Stonebridge (now Bitterbridge), it seemed that the Stormlands would conquer most of the northern Reach. Despite his bannerman's council, King Jason Lannister wished to aid the Reach and keep the balance of power. His host sets out upon a warpath and wins bloody victory after victory, starting at Red Lake. Lannister links up with Tarly and Hightower at Highgarden and marches northward along the Mander. At the Battle of the Fallen Stags, Jason Lannister personally kills Monfryd VII and all of his sons. The war is essentially over following the battle, as the new Storm King Harmon I Durrandon offers his cousin, Monfryd VII's last surviving child, as a wife to King Jason Lannister.

### **Darkstars War**

**91AA - 92AA:** The Darkstar led a particularly bloody campaign against the Reach after being slighted by the Gardener King after King Gardener refused to attend a meeting with the new King of the Torrentine. Within the fortnight, Torrentine troops had sailed into the Oldtown harbour and set the entire Hightower navy ablaze; at the same time, nine-thousand troops under the Darkstar’s command scaled the walls of the great city and ransacked the place before the Hightower could muster a response. From there, the Dayne fleet retreated before the Redwyne fleet could engage, though nearly five-thousand Dayne troops (still under Darkstar's command) marched away from Oldtown and back home, fighting skirmish after skirmish with the still-mustering Reachman forces. In the end, approximately two-to-three thousand Torrentine troops perished. King Gardener refused to pursue them into the mountains, for fear of ambushes and casualties in unfamiliar terrain.

### **The War of Piper's Penance**

**183AA-185AA**: Fought between the Kingdom of the Reach and the Kingdom of the Trident after Lord Pipers son, Rodrik Piper, fought in a tourney as a mystery knight. During the tourney, he slew Prince Luthor Gardener. Having been sentenced to death, King Edmyn Fletcher has his spies rescue the man, resulting in a two-year war, despite Rodrik Piper being killed in the Battle of Pinkmaiden a few weeks later. The war ended after several hostages were taken in battle and then exchanged.

### **The War of the Shields**

**238AA - 243 AA:** Newly elected King Harwyn II Drumm lead one of the largest Iron Fleets ever amassed to assault the Shields Isles of the Reach. His assault was succesful, sending the Reach men fleeing from the isles. Harwyn declared himself King of the Shields and spent several years fighting off attempts by King Gardener to reclaim the Islands. In 243AA Harwyn was killed upon Oakenshield after a large Redwyne Fleet smashed through the Ironborn defenses. Harwyn's brother and successor Harras II Drumm made several attempts to reclaim the Shields, ultimately dying in the process and ending the war.

### **King Cotter's War**

**285AA:** King Cotter's War, as it is known to the Greenlanders, or **The Great Reaving of 285AA** as it is known to the Ironborn, is not so much a war as it is an organized reave. King Cotter I Goodbrother had been preparing a great reaving for some time. He and his advisers had met on multiple occasions, planning and plotting the spots of their raids and reaves, coordinating when and how they would hit the Reach. King Cotter sought to reave better than Harwyn Drumm and his raids on the Shield Islands, and replace Harwyn's name with his own as the greatest reaving in recent memory.

The reave was successful, devastating almost the entire western coast of the Reach and forcing then King Garth XIV Gardener to summon his army and force the Ironborn out.

### **War of the Trident**

**290AA - 292AA:** The War of the Trident is something of a misnomer, for while most of the fighting did take place in the Riverlands, it also spread out into various kingdoms with various factions competing for control. In fact, it cannot even be considered one single war, but rather a series of wars between various kingdoms that have been lumped in to the greatest conflict of them all. The war began with the death of two Fletcher heirs at the hand of Lord Harlaw, which led into a succession crisis in the Trident. Soon, all out war would erupt. In the end, after Lannister assistance, the Trident would remain free. The Dusklands and the Claw, however, would be subjugated under King Durran Durrandon and still are to this day.

House Gardener was involved in the war, defeating the armies of the Claw and Dusklands as well as fighting against the Lannisters and Arryns. King Gwayne's brother, Garth, was slain in the war.

## Houses Sworn to House Gardener of Highgarden

The principle noble houses sworn to House Gardener of Highgarden are:

* House Ambrose of Ambrose Keep
	+ House Leygood of Leygood Hollow
	+ House Yelshire of Yelshire
* House Ashford of Ashford
* House Ball of Ball Keep
	+ House Norridge of Norridge
* House Caswell of Bitterbridge
	+ House Bushy of Bushy Hall
	+ House Durwell of Cattleton
	+ House Footly of Tumbleton
* House Chester of Greenshield
	+ House Grimm of Grimston
	+ House Hewett of Oakenshield
	+ House Serry of Southshield
* House Crane of Red Lake
	+ House Bridges of Bridges
	+ House Graceford of Holy Hall
	+ House Hutcheson of Sunflowers
* House Florent of Brightwater Keep
	+ House Blackbar of Bandalon
	+ House Middlebury of Middlebury
* House Fossoway of Cider Hall
	+ House Appleton of Appleton
	+ House Mandrake of Mandrake Hall
	+ House Uffering of Uffering
* House Hightower of Oldtown
	+ House Beesbury of Honeyholt
	+ House Bulwer of Blackcrown
	+ House Costayne of Three Towers
	+ House Cuy of Sunhouse
	+ House Mullendore of the Uplands
* House Kidwell of Ivy Hall
* House Lyberr of Lyberrfort
* House Merryweather of Longtable
	+ House Hastwyck of Hastwyck
	+ House Meadows of Grassfield Keep
	+ House Westbrook of Westbrook
* House Oakheart of Old Oak
	+ House Graves of Graves Keep
	+ House Norcross of Norcross
	+ House Oldflowers of Oldflowers Keep
* House Osgrey of Standfast
	+ House Osgrey of Horseshoe Hills
	+ House Osgrey of Leafy Lake
* House Webber of Coldmoat and Silkhouse
* House Inchfield of Inchfield
* House Peake of Starpike, Dunstonberry, and Whitegrove
	+ House Lowther of Lowther Fort
	+ House Orme of Orme
* House Pommingham of Pommingham
* House Redwyne of the Arbor
	+ House Cockshaw of the Roost
	+ House Dunn of Dunn Keep
	+ House Willum of Willowfield
* House Rowan of Goldengrove
	+ House Conklyn of Conklyn Hall
	+ House Stackhouse of Fort Stackhouse
* House Tarly of Horn Hill
	+ House Hunt of the Hunt House
* House Varner of Varner Keep
	+ House Cordwayner of Hammerhal
* House Vyrwel of Darkdell
	+ House Rhysling of Fort Rhysling
	+ House Wythers of Whytherfield
* House Woodwright of Woodwright Keep
	+ House Redding of Redding Hall