Affair of the Lion and the Kraken

The Affair of the Lion and the Kraken refers to the short-lived betrothal between a daughter of House Greyjoy and the heir to Casterly Rock. Such a betrothal was first discussed beneath the Dornish sun during the Conquest of Dorne, as the Lady Genna Lannister and Harras Greyjoy, the son of Lord Dagon Greyjoy, found a fast friendship. Alas, when the Lady of the Rock suffered an untimely death, her son, the new Lord of the Rock, denounced the betrothal and broke it off.

Affair of the Lion and the Kraken
The Conquest of Dorne would prove an event for all the great families of Westeros. From the frigid Starks to the sunburnt Martells, all were present in Dorne, and so, the Lions of the Rock, and the Krakens of Pyke were no different. Across the span of the war, as the other kingdoms ravaged their way across Dorne, looting and burning as they pleased, a friendship blossomed in the strangest of places.

The Lady of Lannister and the Ironborn Harras Greyjoy would grow friendly while in Dorne, a thing which, of course, angered a great many of their collective vassals and peoples, but nonetheless, they persisted. War was a dark thing, and there were few happy moments across its cursed face. Yet, the true reasons for why this betrothal came about may never be known past those who made it, though at the time the whisper of increased trade to replace the ever-withering Lannister wealth was rumoured, but whatever the reasons, it was tentatively decided that the heir to the Rock would wed a child of Pyke, of Lord Greyjoy himself, and finally, once and for all, mend those rifts between the two neighbouring kingdoms.

And so, once the Conquest was final and the war complete, the men and women of the Isles and the West sailed home. Lord Greyjoy and his son discussed what had been first discussed in Dorne, and with a hearty agreement, the Lord Dagon Greyjoy would travel to the Rock on two separate occasions to discuss the betrothal in further detail. By the time the Greyjoys arrived for the first meeting, sailing into Lannisport, a city they would come to know all too well, rumour had spread, and the peoples of their respective kingdoms and beyond knew well of what was to happen.

Alas, soon after the second meeting between the Lord of Pyke and the Lady of the Rock, Lady Genna Lannister found herself ill and fast a cold corpse. In her place, and so recently after - in private - a date for the wedding had been agreed, the young heir to Genna Lannister rose, but this heir, this heir was not the same as his mother. This heir cared noit for the same things, nor for the peace his mother had desired. In an event celebrated by many across the West, by those who denounced the Ironborn as heathens and barbarians, the betrothal was smashed, and the Lord of the Rock rose, proud and regnant.

But, the Lion of the Rock had not considered all this could bring. . . A score of Greyjoy’s vassals had opposed the match with the Lannisters, and so when the Lion rebuffed the Kraken and insulted the honour and pride of Pyke, of the Iron Islands, the more belligerent of the Ironborn lords, ladies, and captains were fast by their liege’s side, whispering in his ear that this offence could not go unanswered, whispering of how this betrothal had been sworn before both a Septon and a Drowned Priest, and so, in 212 AC, the Lord Reaper of Pyke conceded to his vassal’s demands. ..