Westerlands

The Westerlands is a region in the west of the continent of Westeros. Before Aegon's Conquest, it was known as the Kingdom of the Rock. People from the Westerlands are known as Westermen. The customary surname of bastards of noble origin born in the Westerlands is Hill.

The Westerlands is ruled from Casterly Rock by House Lannister. Notable bannermen have included Banefort, Brax, Broom, Clegane, Crakehall, Farman, Lefford, Lydden, Marbrand, Payne, Prester, Reyne, Serrett, Swyft, Tarbeck, and Westerling.

Geography
The westerlands is known for its rugged hills, rolling plains, fertile fields, and broadleaf forests. The land contains lakes and rivers, and the hills conceal systems of caves and caverns.

The region lies along the coast of the Sunset Sea, with Ironman's Bay and the Iron Islands to the north. A salient of the northeastern Westerlands extends near the ruins of Oldstones and the Blue Fork. Castles on the northwestern coast include Banefort and the Crag. Faircastle is located on Fair Isle, while Feastfires and the market town of Kayce are found on a peninsula jutting into the sea.

Also along the coast is Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, a fortress carved out of a massive hill of solid rock. Near the Rock is Lannisport, a port and one of the largest cities of Westeros. Three days ride from the Rock is the village of Oxcross. Inland castles near the Rock including Ashemark and Sarsfield, as well as Castamere and Tarbeck Hall.

The headwaters of the Tumblestone and the Red Fork begin in the westerlands and flow east into the riverlands. The main pass through the eastern hills is guarded by the Golden Tooth, a castle which controls access to the river road leading to Riverrun. Further south is the Goldroad, which runs east to King's Landing. Deep Den watches this road, with Hornvale to the north and Silverhill to the south.

The southern westerlands contain more flatland than the rest of the country and includes Cornfield and the forest by Crakehall Castle. The Ocean Road leads south from the Rock past Crakehall to Old Oak and Highgarden in the Reach. Also located in the westerlands are Greenfield and Wyndhall.

People and Economy
The Westerlands are not the largest, most populous, or most fertile part of the realm, but they are the richest. Full of hills and crags, the land is dotted with mines from which pour gold and silver in astonishing quantities. There are gold mines at Casterly Rock, the Golden Tooth, Castamere, Nunn's Deep, and the Pendric Hills. There are settlements which become ghost towns once nearby mines stop producing ore. Besides farming, there is also some fisheries in Lannisport and on Fair Isle.

History
131 AC

Pertaining to the Westerlands, much of the Dance of the Dragons would occur in the same manner as it did in canon. Though, in the aftermath, Jason Lannister and would be spared at the Clubfoot’s request. Though, in exchange for such a pardon, the Lannisters, along with the Hightowers, would pay the exorbitant ransom for Prince Viserys Targaryen, who was held in the cluthces of foreign powers across the Narrow Sea.

134 AC

In the wake of the Dance of the Dragons, the Red Kraken's raiding continued along the coast of the Westerlands for the better part of two years. With no royal command coming to cease the raiding, the raids only came to a close when the Lady Johanna Lannister's Westermen defeated the Ironmen at Kayce, and slew Dalton Greyjoy's favourite uncle. In the wake of the fighting at Kayce, Lady Johanna Lannister sent a fleet to retake Fair Isle, with the aid of ships from the Shield Islands the Arbor. After such, Lady Johanna and her Westermen sacked the Iron Isles, and brought the young son of the now dead and defeated Dalton Greyjoy back to Casterly Rock, where the boy, Rodrik Greyjoy, was gelded and made the fool of the young Lord of the Rock. This would become known as the Sundering of the Isles.

150 AC

The Red Kraken's Revenge would see an Ironborn fleet come to the West for the first time since the Dance. The once young son of Lord Dalton Greyjoy, the now grown Lord Toron Greyjoy, led a decisivie Iron Fleet. With this fleet, the Lord of the Iron Isles and Pyke smashed the fleets of Casterly Rock and Lannisport and went on to lead a great campaign of raids against the coast of the Westerlands for the next half year.

151 AC

Following the half year raids of the Red Kraken's Revenge, what some in the West refer to as the truth of the Red Kraken's Revenge gradually began to reveal itself. When coin was needed to fund repairs, when aid was needed by vassals from a liege, House Lannister of Casterly Rock was absent. Absent behind tourneys and melees, balls and feasts, whores, and Lord Payne's three daughters. And so, as the Crakehalls appealed to their liege for aid, they heard little. Instead, the Houses of the Westerlands were forced to turn, for the first time, House Lannister of Lannisport.

159 AC

Nine years since the raids of Lord Reaper Toron Greyjoy, a new generation of Ironborn warriors had grown up, and they too, like those come before them, desired a chance to prove their worth, their mettle, and take for themselves bounty, thralls, and salt wives aplenty. But, this time, the Ironborn would return to a refortified West, one not so easily plundered, but one still able to be bled.

160 AC

Yet, even though 159 AC had seen a considerable return of the Ironborn menace, with Queen Baela I Targaryen throwing off her regents, known as the Black Council, the young Queen finally and truly became Queen, and arranged a series of marriages between the Houses of the Westerlands, and those of the Iron Islands, in what would become known as Baela's Peace. For the most part, save a few minor raids, this peace would hold for nigh on two decades.

210 AC

During the Conquest of Dorne, the Lady Genna Lannister and Harras Greyjoy, the son of the Lord Reaper Dagon Greyjoy of Pyke, would become fast friends, as the two shared similar hopes and interests for their lands. By the Conquest's conclusion, the two would agree on a betrothal between their two Houses in an event remember as the Affair of the Lion and the Kraken. Though, it was one that would later be broken by the Lady Genna Lannister's son, Lann Lannister, after his mother's untimely death.

212 AC

Following the insulted issued by Lord Lann Lannister in 210 AC by breaking off the betrothal between their two Houses. The Ironborn launched a great and unparalled assault on Lannisport. The Festival of Lannisport, or as it would become know the Slaughter of Lannisport, and, the Great Sacking of Lannisport, would be a black day for the Westerlands, as it would see the Ironborn steal away with a great amount of gold and bounty, while Lannisport and her fleet were left aflame in agony.

213 AC

Following the Great Sacking of Lannisport, the Lord of the Rock would attempt to levy a new tax on the Houses of the interior. With the intervention of the fast recovering House Lannister of Lannisport, the tax would be brought down to agreeable rates, and those Houses which had at first refused to pay the tax, would ultimately concede and provide their liege his due. This tax would become known as the Lion's Share.

Major Houses of the Westerlands

 * House Banefort of the Banefort
 * House Brax of Hornvale
 * House Broom of the Broomfort
 * House Crakehall of Crakehall
 * House Farman of Fair Isle
 * House Lefford of the Golden Tooth
 * House Lydden of Deep Den
 * House Marbrand of Ashemark
 * House Payne of Payne Hall
 * House Prester of Feastfires
 * House Reyne of Castamere
 * House Serrett of Silverhill
 * House Swyft of Cornfield
 * House Tarbeck of Tarbeck Hall
 * House Westerling of the Crag