Pyke

**Pyke** is a castle located on the island of the same name, which is one of the eight major Iron Islands. It is the seat of House Greyjoy, whose lord is known as the Lord Reaper of Pyke. The Greyjoys have been Lords of the Iron Islands since Aegon's Conquest. The Greyjoys claim the island is named after the castle.

## Household

The household for Rayn Greyjoy, the nominal Lord of the Iron Islands, includes Whalebane and Ironhand, as well as the rest of the crew of the *Leviathan*, and Dagon Botley serves as his steward. Freya Greyjoy, as heir presumptive to Pyke.

## Layout

Ancient Pyke was originally built on a cliff jutting out into the sea, but over time the cliff has eroded, leaving the castle's keeps and towers standing on three barren islands and a dozen small stacks of rock, surrounded by water. The towers are connected by swaying rope bridges. The keep, its towers, and walls are made of the same grey-black stone of which the rest of the island is composed. In the thousands of years the castle has stood, it has become covered with green lichen. Since there is no safe anchorage at Pyke, ships sail to nearby Lordsport.

A curtain wall encloses the headland of fifty acres and the cliffs around the foot of the wide stone bridge which extend out to the largest islet. The stables, kennels and livestock are located on the headland. The Great Keep, the Kitchen Keep, and the Guest Keep each sit on their own islands. Towers and outbuildings are located on stacks beyond them, linked to each other by covered archways where the pillars stood close and by long, swaying walks of wood and rope when they did not.

* The Great Keep of Pyke is massive and caps the largest islet. It is connected to the mainland by the great stone bridge and to the Bloody Keep by a covered stone walkway. The long, smoky Great Hall contains the Salt Throne.

* The Bloody Keep is one of the largest sections of the castle. It lies on its own island, further out than the Great Keep. Its halls are larger and better furnished, with some suites having high and gloomy ceilings. The Bloody Keep received its name a thousand years ago when the sons of the river king, Bernarr II Justman, were slaughtered within it and their pieces returned to their father on the mainland. To get to the Great Keep one must use a covered stone walkway.

* The Kitchen Keep sits on its own island. It lies further out from the mainland than the Great Keep. Dishes include fish stews, black bread, spiceless goat, and onion pie. Ale, mead, and wine are served at Pyke.

* The Sea Tower rises from the outermost stack, which is sheer and crooked. It is the oldest part of the castle, round and tall. The base of the tower is white from centuries of salt spray, the upper stories are green with lichen, and the top is black with soot from nightfires. To get to the Sea Tower, one must cross three bridges, the last of which is made of rope. The tower's door is moldy grey wood with rusted iron studs. Twisting stairs lead to the damp and drafty solar of Lord Greyjoy, which is warmed by a brazier. The kraken banner of House Greyjoy flies from an iron mast above the Sea Tower.

* The gatehouse is separated from the Great Keep by the high bridge. The walls of Pyke run in a crescent moon from cliff to cliff, with the gatehouse providing entry, located in the center portion of the wall and including an iron portcullis to provide additional protection should the wall be attacked. There are three towers to either side; the southernmost tower is new, made of a paler grey stone, after the old southern tower had been destroyed during the Ironborn Rebellion when Maelor Targaryen's dragon breached the walls.

## History

### Antiquity

Pyke is so old that its original builders and lords are unknown. The castle was once larger and located on the island of Pyke, but unstable earth led to some portions of the cliff falling into the sea. The surviving structures are built upon stone stacks.

Qhored I Hoare, King of the Iron Islands, murdered the sons of Bernarr II Justman, King of the Trident, at Pyke while they were his hostages.

### Iron Throne

In the aftermath of Aegon's Conquest, Vickon Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke, became the new Lord of the Iron Islands, ruling from the Seastone Chair at Pyke.

The black council of Rhaenyra Targaryen sent ravens to Pyke seeking the aid of Lord Dalton Greyjoy during the Dance of the Dragons. The overtures to Pyke from Aegon II Targaryen were ignored, and the Greyjoys eventually aided Rhaenyra by attacking the Westerlands. Dalton was killed at Faircastle in 133 A.C.

When the Iron Islands were invaded by Westermen amid the Ironborn's struggle for power in 134 A.C., Pyke resisted House Lannister's assault. Rodrik Greyjoy, the half-brother of Lord Toron Greyjoy, was captured and taken to Casterly Rock to be a fool, however.

### The Ironborn Rebellion

Main Article: Ironborn Rebellion

After Ragnor Greyjoy claimed the Salt Throne and launched an invasion of the Riverlands, his forces retreated to the Iron Islands to regroup. A joint force of Baratheon and Targaryen soldiers, as well as the dragonriding princes, Maelor and Lucerys Targaryen, launched an assault on the island of Pyke, quickly taking Lordsport and besieging the stronghold. On the first day of the Short Winter, when Prince Lucerys was killed by a well-placed scorpion bolt, Maelor Targaryen breached the castle walls, and the troops flooded in, led by Arlan Strongarm. Ragnor Greyjoy took his own life, and his wife, Helya, yielded the castle to the enemy. She and her sons, Beron, Harlan and Ygon, were all executed by dragonfire, and their charred bodies were hanged from the remaining castle walls. The youngest Greyjoy on Pyke, Freya, was taken to be raised as a ward of King Aeric Targaryen in King's Landing.

### Aftermath

Dagon Botley was chosen by the Iron Throne to maintain the Iron Islands until Freya Greyjoy was old enough to return and rule. Though, this proved to be a fruitless endeavour, as the quickly broke away to claim their own de facto independence, being sworn to House Greyjoy in name only. Pyke itself, now a ruin, was residence to Aggar Wynch and his band of ironborn. On the 23rd Day of the Fifth Moon in 152 A.C., the presumed long-dead Rayn Greyjoy returned to the Iron Islands with his sister, and reclaimed the castle by butchering the squatting ironborn, leaving a maimed Aggar Wynch alive to spread word of his arrival.