The Riverlands

The riverlands is a central region of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, consisting of the rich, fertile, and populous areas around the three forks of the Trident and the northern Blackwater Rush. At the time of Aegon's Conquest the riverlands and the Iron Islands were ruled by House Hoare, the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers, although native river kings ruled centuries earlier.

## The Riverlands

### Notable Location

Riverrun

Because of their central position in Westeros and lack of natural boundaries, the riverlands have been a frequent battleground. The people of the riverlands are known as "rivermen" or occasionally "riverlanders", and they are a mixture of hardy warriors, peaceful fisherfolk and devout smallfolk. Their lords have a reputation for being notoriously quarrelsome, and are referred to as "river lords". Noble bastards born in the riverlands are given the surname Rivers.

The riverlands are ruled from Riverrun by House Tully, the Lords Paramount of the Trident.

## History

### First Men

During the Dawn Age the First Men settled in the riverlands, coming into conflict with the native children of the forest. After centuries of fighting, a pact was signed at the Isle of Faces, the children withdrew to their forests, while the First Men raised their kingdoms in the lands ceded by the mysterious folk.

During the thousands of years that followed, various families ruled the riverlands as river kings, claiming the titles King of the Trident or King of the Rivers and the Hills. Many dynasties claimed these lands during the Age of Heroes, including Fishers, Brackens, Blackwoods, and Mudds, who were the last of the First Men to claim the riverlands as their own.

The time of the First Men river kings came to an end with the coming of the Andals. Remembered in song are the Fall of Maidenpool, the Widow's Ford, the White Wood, and the Battle of Bitter River. King Tristifer IV Mudd raised his armies and met the Andal invaders. Tristifer was said to have won ninety-nine out of his hundred battles against the Andals, but in the final battle he was killed. His son and successor, Tristifer V, was not as successful as his father and the kingdom fell.

### Andals

The victorious Andals raised their own kingdoms and dynasties. House Justman united the riverlands for almost three centuries, and King Benedict II Justman expanded their realm east to Duskendale, Rosby, and the mouth of the Blackwater Rush. However, the sons of King Bernarr II Justman were murdered by Qhored Hoare in the Bloody Keep of Pyke in the Iron Islands, and the riverlands fell into anarchy when Qhored sacrificed Bernarr to the Drowned God, ending the Justman line.

The riverlands were then disputed by Houses Blackwood, Bracken, Vance, Mallister, and Charlton for a century. The Hooks were also river kings of old who claimed the mouth of the Blackwater. The various kings were pressured by the Kings of the Iron Islands, the Kings of the Rock, the Vale mountain clans, the Kings of the Reach, the Storm Kings, and pirates from the Stepstones and the Three Sisters. Torrence Teague finally reunited the riverlands, but he and his heirs were disliked by their rebellious subjects. According to a semi-canon source, House Teague may not have had an uninterrupted rule, instead being contested by other river dynasties for generations.

### Storm Kings

The last native river kings were Humfrey I Teague and his kin. Humfrey founded numerous septs and motherhouses in his kingdom, and he repressed worship of the old gods. A rebellion began by Lord Roderick Blackwood led to the deaths of the Teagues in the Battle of Six Kings and their replacement by the Storm King, Arlan III Durrandon.

The Storm Kings of House Durrandon ruled the riverlands for more than three centuries. Several leaders such as Lucifer Justman, Marq Mudd, Lord Robert Vance, Lord Petyr Mallister, Lady Jeyne Nutt, Ser Addam Rivers, Pate of Fairmarket, and Ser Lymond Fisher, rose in rebellion and even reigned, albeit for a short time, before being put down by the might of Storm's End.

### House Hoare

The Storm Kings in turn were defeated by the Iron King, Harwyn Hardhand, who established his own kingdom from the Iron Islands to the riverlands. The era of the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers is included in *The Iron Chronicle*. Harwyn's son, Halleck Hoare, made his seat in Fairmarket instead of the Iron Islands.

Harwyn's grandson, Harren the Black, ordered the construction of an immense castle, Harrenhal, as a display of his wealth and power. Construction of Harrenhal took forty years and a huge amount of resources and money to build. Feuding between the Blackwoods and the Brackens during the construction led Harren to punish both houses. Ironically, the same day the most immense castle in history was finished, Aegon Targaryen, the Lord of Dragonstone, landed in Westeros with his dragons.

### The Conquest

Harren the Black was unpopular within the Riverlands when Aegon's Conquest began. Rather than support House Hoare, the river lords rose in rebellion and joined House Targaryen. The first to do so was House Tully, followed by the Blackwoods, Mallisters, Vances, Brackens, Pipers, Freys, and Strongs.

Harren thought if he refused battle to Aegon I Targaryen, the invaders would have to besiege Harrenhal with the river lords. Instead, Aegon let his dragon attack. The heat produced by Balerion was so great that much of Harrenhal burned and melted, killing Harren and his children. After the burning of Harrenhal Aegon raised Lord Edmyn Tully to dominion over the riverlands, below the sovereignty of the Targaryens, as the Lord Paramount of the Trident.

Rivermen made up the bulk of Aegon's army at the Field of Fire. The Inn of the Kneeling Man on the Red Fork was built where Torrhen Stark, King in the North, is believed to have submitted to Aegon.

### Targaryen Era

Having never been river kings, House Tully has sometimes been overshadowed by their bannermen. Lord Edmyn Tully, however, repaired much of the damage caused by the rule of Harren the Black. In 31 AC Prince Maegor Targaryen slew the Giant of the Trident, a robber knight. Shortly after his coronation, King Aenys I Targaryen visited Riverrun. Harren the Red rebelled against Aenys and killed Gargon Qoherys, the Lord of Harrenhal.

During the reign of Maegor the Cruel, several river lords joined the king in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye against his nephew, Prince Aegon Targaryen. Ser Joffrey Doggett led former Warrior's Sons in the riverlands and the westerlands.

When the Dance of the Dragons began in 129 AC, the notoriously-quarrelsome river lords were nominally under the rule of House Tully. Most supported Rhaenyra Targaryen and the blacks against Aegon II Targaryen and the greens. Prince Daemon Targaryen led the assault on Harrenhal and followed up with the Battle of the Burning Mill and the taking of Stone Hedge.

The green army from the westerlands was victorious in the Battle of the Red Fork and at Acorn Hall in 130 AC, but was then destroyed by rivermen and northmen in the Battle by the Lakeshore. Prince Aemond Targaryen and his dragon, Vhagar, burned much of the riverlands in response, but Aemond was eventually killed in the Battle Above the Gods Eye by Daemon. Ser Criston Cole, the Kingmaker, led an army of greens through the riverlands, but they were hampered by scorched earth tactics. Rivermen and their northern allies crushed Criston and his greens in the Butcher's Ball, an ambush south of the Gods Eye. Riverlords, northmen, and crownlands men from the Blackwater Rush continued south, but the blacks were defeated in the First Battle of Tumbleton. Ser Addam Velaryon led near four thousand rivermen to the Second Battle of Tumbleton.

Lords Kermit Tully and Benjicot Blackwood led the rivermen who defeated Lord Borros Baratheon in the Battle of the Kingsroad in 131 AC. Supporters of Aegon III Targaryen, the Lads were welcomed when they marched into King's Landing after Aegon II's death. In the aftermath of the war, more than a thousand northmen settled in the riverlands, marrying women in Widow Fairs and taking service as guards and men-at-arms. The northmen strengthened the riverlords and led a partial revival of worship of the old gods in the region.