The Iron Islands

The **Iron Islands** is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms. Until Aegon's Conquest it was ruled by the Kings of the Iron Islands and then briefly the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers.

The Iron Islands are home to a fierce seafaring people who call themselves the ironborn. While some say the archipelago is named after the abundant iron ore on the islands, the ironmen claim it is instead named after their own unyielding nature. It is often said that every captain is a king aboard his own ship, so the islands are also called "the land of ten thousand kings".

The isles are ruled by House Greyjoy from their castle of Pyke. Notable houses have included Blacktyde, Botley, Drumm, Goodbrother, Greyiron, Harlaw, Hoare, Merlyn, Stonehouse, Sunderly, Tawney, and Wynch. Bastards of noble origin from the Iron Islands receive the surname Pyke.

## History

### The Great Council, 300 - 301 AC

Following the death of King Tommen I in a riot, Hand of the King Mace Tyrell called a Great Council, which elected **Myrcella I Baratheon** as the Lady of the Seven Kingdoms. A regency council, made up of Mace Tyrell, Randyll Tarly, Nestor Royce, Petyr Baelish, and Ser Jaime Lannister, was established to rule until Myrcella came of age. **Aegon Targaryen**, claimant to the Iron Throne, who also put his name forward during the council, was forced to call off his conquest and flee to Essos with the remnants of the Golden Company.

### The Long Winter, 301 - 306 AC

**302 AC:** As winter arrived in the south, a planned invasion of the Iron Islands was infinitely delayed. The weather, however, brought the Ironborn to the negotiating table eventually, and the archipelago was returned to the fold of the Seven Kingdoms.

### Years of Consolidation, 301 - 306 AC

The Years of Consolidation was the period of time in were the War of the Five King's came to an end and saw the reintegration of Westeros into one realm once more under Queen Myrcella I Baratheon following the Great Council of 301 AC.

### A Queen's Marriage, 306 AC

As the Long Winter passed and spring once again brought life to Westeros, Queen Myrcella married Willas Tyrell in King’s Landing. The ceremony was the first event in years to bring the whole of the Realm together in merriment and promised an age of bounty and unity.

### War of the Two Dragons, 309 AC

Coming from the far east, Aegon Targaryen returned to the Seven Kingdoms with his aunt and wife **Daenerys Targaryen** at his side, and they brought dragonfire and twenty-thousand swords to try and reclaim the Iron Throne for their dynasty. Their attempt at conquest ultimately failed, however, and the Realm persevered under Queen Myrcella.

### A Dynasty of Roses, 336 AC

**324 AC**: King-Consort Willas Tyrell passed away in illness and the young Prince Tommen inherited Highgarden, becoming the Lord Paramount of the Mander. As the latter was rather young, Queen Myrcella bestowed the honor of Warden of the South to her former betrothed, Prince Trystane Martell.

**336 AC**: Queen Myrcella I passed away and her son Tommen II Tyrell followed her as the sovereign of the Realm. His ascension to the throne was subject to some controversy, as he subsequently abolished the titles Lord of Highgarden and Lord Paramount of the Mander, an named his firstborn, Prince Alester, the Prince of Highgarden. This act signified the formal unification of the Crown and the Reach under the Dynasty of the Rose.

### The Foraging, 358-59 & 368-69 AC

Anticipating a grueling civil war to unfold among the greenlanders in 357 AC, the men of the Iron Islands picked up their axes and shields and set sail toward the western shores with renewed vigor to reap the riches hoarded by the Westermen. Fair Isle and Kayce were hit the hardest by the reaving parties, but the lands of Banefort, Westerling, and Crakehall were raided as well.

The Lannisters couldn’t mount a proper response due to their campaigning in the Reach, but when the Greyjoy claimed he had taken no part in the raids and simultaneously ignored Casterly Rock’s demands to serve justice among his vassals, the fury of the Lion was invoked.

### War of the Last Dragon, 378 - 381 AC

Following her conquests in Essos, Daena Targaryen, Queen of the Narrow Sea, invaded Westeros with her army of sellsails and mercenaries to once again bring the Seven Kingdoms under the banner of the dragon. After several years of brutal fighting Queen Daena and Drogon, the Last Dragons, were finally brought down, ending once and for all the final remnants of the Targaryen dynasty.