The Kingdom of the Iron Islands

## Kingdom of the Iron Islands

The Kingdom of the Iron Islands was one of the four independent kingdoms in Westeros, ruled by the Iron Kings. Re-founded in 66 AC after half a century of subjugation by the Targaryen kings of the Iron Throne, the kingdom has since defended its independence under the rule of the Iron Kings.

The great houses of the Iron Islands include House Greyjoy of Pyke, House Goodbrother of Hammerhorn, House Harlaw of Harlaw Hall, House Drumm of Old Wyk, House Saltcliffe of Saltcliffe, and House Blacktyde of Blacktyde. The predominant religion is the faith of the Drowned God, and followers - led alone religious leaders - of other religions have been exceedingly rare in the Islands since the expulsion of all the septons and septas from the Islands by Goren Greyjoy in 37 AC.

The Kingdom of the Iron Islands became defunct after 98 AC, revived briefly and was finally dissolved in 103 AC.

## History

### **Aegon's Conquest and Targaryen Rule**

Prior to Aegon's Conquest, the Iron Islanders were a powerful and expansive people whose domains stretched far beyond their rocky, storm-swept archipelago. As of 0 AC, the Islands and the Riverlands were both ruled by King Harren Hoare, renowned for his cruelty and the construction of the mighty keep of Harrenhal on the shore of the Gods' Eye.

After Black Harren and his sons burned alive at the hands of Aegon I Targaryen, and House Hoare was extinguished, the Islands fell into infighting, with several powerful houses vying for dominance. In 2 AC, Aegon came to the Islands and subjugated the Ironborn, forcing them to bend the knee but allowing them to elect who would rule over them on the king's behalf. The Ironborn chose Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke, who became the first Lord Paramount of the Iron Islands.

For the next six decades, the Ironborn chafed under the rule of the Targaryen kings. Attempts to return to the old ways of raiding, reaving, and taking from their neighbors elicited harsh repudiation from their dragon-riding overlords. The greatest instance of Ironborn resistance to the new order was the expulsion of all adherents of the Faith of the Seven from the Islands in 37 AC: a reluctant allowance by King Aenys Targaryen after Lord Goren Greyjoy successfully subdued two rebellions in the Islands.

### **The End of Targaryen Rule**

Though Vickon Greyjoy and his successors were cautious and did not actively seek to defy the Targaryens, lest they face a similar fate to that of Black Harren and his sons, by the reign of Maegor the Cruel the Islands were growing restless. Small, isolated reavings targeted lone merchant ships and isolated coastal settlements. Though such actions were condemned by the lords of Pyke, little was done to stop them. With Maegor's death, the regency of Jaehaerys, and rumors of a strange sickness claiming the lives of the Targaryens' dragons, many in the Islands began to wonder if the time to reclaim their sovereignty was nigh.

In 55 AC, the North seceded from the Iron Throne, and like hungry dogs the Ironborn descended on the western coast of the newly-independent kingdom. Bear Island, Deepwood Motte, and even Barrowton suffered greatly at the hands of the reavers, whose thirst for plunder and battle was slaked... for a time.

By the 61 AC, the frailty of Targaryen grip over its outlying kingdoms was plain for all to see: the dragons were dying, as were their riders. The Third Dornish War failed that same year, and the Iron Throne struggled to recover from the events leading to the North's secession, and which had taken an even higher toll in the years that followed. The iron was hot, and Victarion Greyjoy struck it true when he called for the first Kingsmoot in over 5,000 years.

Backed by the Drowned Priests, Victarion's call spread across the Islands, and soon their lords had gathered beneath Nagga's Bones to choose their king in the manner of old. All present knew that doing so was tantamount to treason against the Iron Throne, but what did they have to fear from the dragon, when the dragons were dying from a curse brought on by their own tainted blood? With the support of the Harlaws and Blacktydes, Victarion Greyjoy was elected Iron King by the Kingsmoot.

### **The Kingdom of the Iron Islands**

As a nation extant from the Iron Throne, the Kingdom of the Iron Islands quickly returned to their ancient customs: reaving, raiding, and ravaging across the lands of Westeros. The Kingdom of the North had already been reminded of the Ironborn's wont, and with the rise of Iron King Urras, the Riverlands, Westerlands, and Reach began to once more dread the sight of black sails on the horizon.

Iron King Victarion's reign was long and storied, not least of all because it was a welcome (for the Ironborn) return to tradition. In the course of his twelve year reign, Ironborn reavers' boots trod the soil of every kingdom in Westeros, and exacted plunder and blood from the same. When his twelve-year reign ended, no new Kingsmoot was called: instead, the kingship passed to Victarion's son, Torgon.

Though a good ruler by most accounts, many believed that Iron King Torgon's sympathies ran too close to those of the Greenlanders. He outlawed reaving and attempted to shift the focus of the Islands to their mines and their capacity for trade. Many spoke out against him - Lord Lodos Drumm and Lord Wulfgar Goodbrother, most notably - but the lords of Harlaw remained closely-tied to the Greyjoys, and their strength checked the ambitions of the other lords for a time.

In 79 AC, as famine loomed over the Iron Islands, Iron King Torgon made a deal with Lord Redwyne: food aplenty would be imported from the Arbor, and in exchange the Iron King would take a Redwyne maiden to bride. This was the final straw for many of the more traditional lords of the Islands: urged by the words of the drowned priest Cromm Wavewalker, Lord Goodbrother and Goremund Drumm led a small group of raiders to attack the convoy ferrying Lord Redwyne's dower - and his daughter - to Pyke. Iron King Torgon demanded both men face justice for their crimes, but only Goremund appeared. Whatever transpired in the meeting may never be known for certain, but Goremund did not leave the chamber alive, and Lord Lodos soon raised his banner in rebellion, joined by Lord Goodbrother.

### **The War for the Seadragon Throne**

The year of strife began with clear battle lines drawn across the Islands: the houses of Old Wyk and Great Wyk arrayed against those of Pyke and Harlaw. Pious Saltcliffe had hosted Cromm Wavewalker a few moons past, but was reluctant to throw their support behind either side. Calls for aid to Blacktyde and Orkmont went conspicuously unanswered.

The war raged back and forth for much of the year, with minor victories on both sides interspersed by more significant tactical and strategic upsets. Early victories by Andrik and Aeron Harlaw saw the death of one of Lord Drumm's sons and the capture of his daughter. In retaliation, Urragon Drumm led a fleet of ships to catch a portion of the Greyjoy fleet at anchor. In the subsequent battle, Maron Greyjoy was slain, tipping the balance again.

After Aeron Harlaw freed Esgred Drumm and defected to the rebels, the tides of the war seemed to be turning in favor of the rebels. At Lordsport however, Lord Goodbrother was killed, and Urragon Drumm oversaw the massacre of a large number of Harlaw prisoners out of fear they would turn against their captors.

As the war drew to a close, Blacktyde made contact at long last with Pyke, apologizing for their neutrality and vowing to assist them in the coming decisive battle. Blacktyde, loyalist Harlaw, and Pyke forces met with those of the Wyks and Aeron Harlaw in the straits between Old Wyk and Orkmont. Yet as the battle reached its peak, the Blacktyde ships turned against the Greyjoys, and the loyalists were soon crushed. At the behest of Cromm Wavewalker, Lodos Drumm cut Torgon Greyjoy's throat and refused to give his body to the waves - a grievous insult to the defeated Iron King.

Young Veron Greyjoy bent the knee to Lodos, whom Cromm had already crowned the new Iron King with the support of Goodbrother and Blacktyde. Andrik Harlaw and his heir were deposed, and Aeron Harlaw given lordship of the largest of the Iron Islands in exchange for his fidelity. Saltcliffe and Orkmont would soon submit as well, completing Drumm paramountcy over the Islands.

### **The Drumm Kingship**

Under Iron King Lodos Drumm, reaving of the Riverlands and the Reach began again. This pleased traditionalists like those on Blacktyde and Harlaw, but it soon became apparent that there was only so much the Iron Islands could gain from reaving. King Lodos' projects at home were costly, and he was - at best - an absentee ruler, his eyes fixed on far horizons to raid and plunder, rather than on fixing divisions at home. He began the construction of the Seadragon Throne, as well as the Crimson Fleet.

The riverlands and Reach began to defend themselves more thoroughly as the Iron Throne reacted to Lodos' attacks, and the islander’s trips were less and less lucrative. King Lodos began to steal himself up in his throne room, talking about a journey that would bring them to the Stormlands and the Vale, places he thought fertile and plunder-filled. However before this could happen, his ship was found dashed against the rocks of Orkmont, and his corpse was never recovered.He ruled for ten years before perishing in a storm, leaving the throne to his son, Urragon One-Eye.

Urragon's reforms were swift. Raiding of the Westerosi coasts ceased almost altogether, though occasional raids to the Far North continued. Instead, annual raids - often led by Aeron Harlaw or Veron Greyjoy - would see fleets of Ironborn ships sail far afield to plunder the rich coasts and tradeways of Essos. Trade was stimulated between the Islands and their fellow independent kingdoms in Dorne and the North, with vital Ironborn metals exchanged for more mundane but crucial resources.

Urragon also oversaw the creation of the Salt Council and the Revenants - the Iron King's advisors and bodyguards, respectively - and the appointment of great lords from each of the Iron Islands to the council. Urragon’s one good eye is hungry however, and as his Ironborn squabble and speak of riches, his gaze turns east, to the long-untouched land of Westeros. Lands that once were Ironborn, that have forgotten the call of the waves and the prayers of the Drowned God. To unite the Islands again, to give them purpose and soothe their tempers, appease their lust for gold and battle... to achieve these things would give the Greenlanders good cause for fear.

## Great Houses of the Iron Islands

### House Drumm of Old Wyk

*Main Article: House Drumm*

House Drumm of Old Wyk are one of the oldest houses in the Iron Islands, and the family of the current dynasty of the Islands' rulers. With more of the blood of the First Men flowing through their veins than other houses, the Drumms hail from Old Wyk: one of the smallest, and the holiest, of the Iron Islands.

During the War for the Seadragon Throne, House Drumm raised their banners in revolt against Iron King Torgon Greyjoy, after his murder of Lord Lodos Drumm's brother Goremund. The subsequent conflict saw the deaths of countless Ironborn, and the ascension of Iron King Lodos Drumm. After his death, kingship of the Islands passed to his son Urragon, called "One-Eye."

### House Greyjoy of Pyke

*Main Article: House Greyjoy*

After the extinction of House Hoare at the hands of Aegon the Conqueror, lordship of the Iron Islands under the Iron Throne fell to House Greyjoy of Pyke. In 61 AC, as the influence of the Iron Throne waned, Lord Victarion Greyjoy seized the opportunity to declare independence from the Iron Throne. For nearly two decades, Iron King Victarion and his son Iron King Torgon ruled, until the deposition of their dynasty by the Drumm-led rebels in 79 AC.

Despite this, House Greyjoy remains a significant power. Their seat, the castle of Pyke, is perhaps the best fortification in the Iron Islands, and the island upon which it sits - also called Pyke - boasts the only major port town in the Iron Islands.

### House Harlaw of Harlaw

*Main Article: House Harlaw*

One of the richest and most powerful houses in the Iron Islands, the Harlaws rule over the island of the same name: the easternmost, richest, and most densely-populated of the Iron Islands. Their cadet branches and vassals comprise a staggering number of the Ironborn's fortresses, fleets, and fighting forces.

Long steadfast allies of the Greyjoys of Pyke, House Harlaw assisted the ascension of Iron King Victarion Greyjoy, and brought their might to bear in support of Iron King Torgon Greyjoy during the War for the Seadragon Throne. The defection of Aeron Greyjoy to the rebel cause resulted in a major tipping of the war's balance, and in return Aeron was granted lordship of Harlaw after the newly-crowned Iron King Lodos Drumm disinherited Aeron's father and brother.