Riptide

**Riptide** is a legendary weapon, whose origins are told in Ironborn tradition and folklore. A large battle-axe whose bearded blade is made from strangely forged Valyrian Steel.

## Ironborn Mythos

The drowned priests tell, from ancient oral tradition, that Riptide was made by the Drowned God himself as a gift to the Grey King to aid him in his quest to defeat Nagga and the Storm God. The blade was forged by the blue fires of an Ice Dragon's breath, away in the cold waters of the Shivering Sea. The Grey King drowned hundreds as sacrifices to the Drowned God, so their souls would be imbued into the blade and give it magical properties. The waves hammered it into shape, folding it's metal a thousand times as the clash of massive tides struck so strong and loudly the Storm God's thunders fell silent. The sea wind sharpened it's edge, blowing sea gales so strong and fast it wiped away the Storm God's clouds, whistling sea shanties of Ironborn yore to the far seas of the world. The sea salt tempered its metal, quenching it in brine so strong it wiped away all impurities, that not even the Storm God could corrupt the blade, the salt boiling seafoam so tall and wide it painted the cliffs of Saltcliffe white as chalk. With this mighty weapon now in hand, the Grey King defeated and cut down the legendary demon tree Ygg, who fed on human flesh, carving the first longship from Ygg's hard pale wood. With his ship and weapon, the Grey King then set sail to defeat the first of the sea dragons, the terrible Nagga, a beast so large it devoured krakens and leviathans whole, drowning whole islands under the massive waves it created when angry. The Grey King, helped by the Drowned God, managed to slay her on the shores of the island Old Wyk and built there his hall out of her bones. Her jaws became his throne and her teeth made his crown. He warmed his hall with her living fire. However, when the Grey King died, the Storm God drowned out her fire and the sea took the throne. Only her bones that made the pillars and beams remain.

Many came to seek the mighty Grey King's favor. They hailed him from afar at Nagga's Hill and sought to catch a glimpse of him preparing his reaving parties. Gifts of food and gold were brought to curry favor. Weapons and jewelry were brought in his honor whenever they could be spared. Those that truly impressed him were made a part of his story, a grand tale where each night, was a feast, each drink was a toast and each lover, a grand affair. It's said that the Grey King had a hundred sons who fought a bloody and long war after his death. The sixteen who survived divided the Iron Islands amongst themselves. The Greyirons eventually inherited his kingdom. The Blacktydes, they inherited legendary Riptide.

## The Citadel's Archives

The Maesters of the Citadel would have none of this. They call it but another legend, told along by sailors around driftwood fires as they drink to the Old Way. When the Ironborn were feared wherever the waves were heard, when our strength was in our ships, not our stories. The truth, they say, is most likely the same as all Valyrian Steel blades owned by Ironborn houses: Reaving. Riptide has been under House Blacktyde for time immemorial, enough time that how the blade came into the house's possession is very much unknown, at least through written accounts.

Maesters have been long intrigued for this axe in particular, however. For it's axe head is not only much heavier than normal Valyrian Steel, but much darker than normal for a Valyrian blade, it's ripples smoky grey instead of the common darker hue. It's theorized by them that the blade may very well be from the early days of the Freehold, making it old enough to be from the time the Grey King as ancient legend tells, forged by an earlier process of Valyrian smithing, which made harder, heavier blades. It was also once thought that mayhaps the blade was a forgery, made to only appear Valyrian, but after being tested personally by Maester Kirth when writing his book Songs the Drowned Men Sing, it was shown that the blade has indeed Valyrian qualities, being much stronger and sharper than steel and that, although it's color, it appeared genuinely Valyrian, forged and folded. Archmaester Thurgood’s Inventories list the weapon as a Valyrian Steel blade as well, theorizing that the axe, as described by Maester Kirth, may have very well been taken from a Valyrian ship during the early times of the Freehold, implying that Ironborn reavers were already attacking on the Summer Sea as early as the Age of Heroes.

Nonetheless, the blade now lays on the hands of Sigrun Blacktyde, Lady of Blacktyde, an Ironborn shieldmaiden with a bloody reputation. She has taken the axe to Essos during her raids on the east, jokingly referring to it as "The Piecemaker". The blade is not only considered sacred by House Blacktyde, but also a duty. The Blacktydes feel obliged to use it, to reave and fight, as such fine weapon shouldn't stay hanged on a castle wall. A blade from the Drowned God, forged in wave, gale and salt, with the blood of Nagga and the runes of the Grey King, can only be truly honored through combat, with the blood of it's enemies dripping from it's edge. And it's owner intends on plenty of blood to feed it.