Westerlands

The **Westerlands** is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms. It was formerly a sovereign realm known as the Kingdom of the Rock before the Targaryen conquest.

The Westerlands are ruled from the castle of Casterly Rock by House Lannister. It is one of the smaller regions of the Seven Kingdoms geographically but has one of the larger populations. It is also immensely rich in natural resources, particularly metals. Predominantly mountainous, the hills of the Westerlands are riddled with veins of gold and silver, the mining of which has made the Lannisters and their bannermen immensely rich; the abundance of iron also allows them to easily forge weapons and military equipment. While the Lannister armies are not as huge as those of the Reach, they are the best-equipped in the realm with heavily-armoured soldiers and cavalry.

Bastards born in the Westerlands are given the surname **Hill**.

People of the Westerlands are collectively known as **Westermen** and are referred to, colloquially, as **"lions"** in reference to the sigil of House Lannister. Colloquially, Westermen are also referred to as **Lannisters**.

## Geography

The Westerlands border the Riverlands to the east and the Reach to the south. The Goldroad links Lannisport on Westeros's west coast with the capital city of King's Landing on the east coast, passing through the Reach, skirting south of the Riverlands. The Searoad, hugging the coast, links Lannisport with the capital of the Reach at Highgarden as well as the major city of Oldtown further south. Predominantly mountainous, the Westerlands are well-defended from external attack. There is only one major pass through the mountains in the east of the Westerlands, near the headwaters of the Red Fork of the Trident River. Thus there is only one narrow and predictable path that armies moving between the Westerlands and Riverlands can normally take and it is guarded by the castle of Golden Tooth.

The Westerlands border on the waters of Ironman's Bay to the north, and thus are under threat of ironborn attacks along the coasts. House Lannister commonly keeps a large fleet of warships to defend against these attacks. Apart from its mountainous terrain, the Westerlands are also somewhat better defended from ironborn attacks because they possesses few major rivers which empty into the west coast; this is in contrast with the Reach, which while further south from the Iron Islands, possesses major rivers such as the Mander which are navigable for a long distance inland.

The headwaters of the Red Fork of the Trident River originate in the Westerlands' eastern border but do not run through much of it before passing into the Riverlands to the east. The only major river in the Westerlands is in the north, where the Tumblestone river flows east. Ultimately, the Tumblestone passes into the Riverlands where it joins the Red Fork coming up from the south at Riverrun.

### Settlements

* Casterly Rock, the ancestral seat of House Lannister (the ruling house of the Westerlands)
	+ Ashemark, the seat of House Marbrand.
	+ The Crag, the seat of House Westerling.
	+ The Golden Tooth, the seat of House Lefford, which guards the main pass from the Westerlands into the Riverlands.
	+ Lannisport, the principal city and port of the Westerlands, located in the shadow of Casterly Rock. Seat of a House Lannister of Lannisport, a cadet branch of House Lannister.
	+ Crakehall, the seat of House Crakehall.
	+ Cornfield, the seat of House Swyft.
	+ Banefort, a holdfast on northern shore of the Westerlands, where Ironman's Bay meets the Sunset Sea.
	+ Deep Den, a holdfast just off the Goldroad
	+ Silverhill, the seat of House Serrett, a holdfast in the south of the region.
	+ Hornvale, a holdfast in the center of the region.
	+ Sarsfield, the seat of House Sarsfield, a holdfast nord-east of Casterly Rock, along the River Road.
	+ Feastfires, a holdfast on the peninsula west of Casterly Rock.
	+ Faircastle, a holdfast on Fair Isle.
	+ Oxcross, a small settlement east of Lannisport.
	+ Castamere, the seat of House Reyne, a rival house to the Lannisters
	+ Tarbeck Hall, the seat of House Tarbeck,

### Roads

* The Searoad
* The Goldroad

### Lakes and rivers

* Tumblestone
* Yellow Fork

## Military strength

The Westerlands' men-at-arms seem to be the only soldiers, along with the Vale and Reach men-at-arms, that value the usage of plate armour most; their arms and torso are covered by crimson-ornamented plate, while their heads are protected by helmets with collapsible visors, cheek guards and golden crests. Some other low-ranking soldiers have their torso armed with only red robes and leather cuirasses.

The Westerlands are among the most powerful regions in Westeros. They can raise significant military forces, less than the Reach, and about the same or a little less than the North, but more than the Vale, the Riverlands, and the Stormlands. They are able to raise approximately 40,000 men of the Westerlands in a relatively short period of time, something they hold over the.