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.

Geography
The Iron Islands is an archipelago in Ironman's Bay, located in the Sunset Sea off the western coast of Westeros. They are roughly west of the riverlands, northwest of the westerlands, and south of the north.

The main grouping of islands numbers thirty-one, with the seven major isles being Pyke, Great Wyk, Old Wyk, Harlaw, Saltcliffe, Blacktyde, and Orkmont. Eight days sail northwest of Great Wyk is a smaller grouping of thirteen clustered around the Lonely Light. Some of the Iron Islands are used for sheep grazing or are uninhabited. The islands are ruled from Pyke, the seat of House Greyjoy on the island of the same name.

The Iron Islands is the smallest of the regions of the Seven Kingdoms. The Iron Islands are small, barely-fertile rocks with few safe harbors. The seas around the isles are stormy, frequently wreaking havoc with their considerable force.

People and Economy
The inhabitants of these harsh isles are known as Ironmen, especially by the rest of Westeros, but they also call themselves the Ironborn. The Ironborn are a seafaring people, and some do not like to be far from the sea. The priests of the Drowned God likewise seldom stray far from the sea. The Ironborn are considered independent, fierce, and sometimes cruel. They live in a harsh land and hold no love for the peoples of the mainland Westeros, whom they consider green and weak.

The Faith of the Seven and the old gods find small favor with the Ironborn, as their allegiance is given to their native Drowned God. Because of the scarcity of the Faith, there are few knights in the islands. Some ironmen believe in returning to the Old Way of reaving and paying the iron price.

The islands are sparse and rocky with a thin, stony soil that makes it hard for the smallfolk to farm, often having to do without the animals that might make their job easier, such as oxen or horses. While their mines do not produce the precious metals of the Westerlands, iron is abundant on the isles. Lead and tin can also be obtained. Most Ironborn feel the dangerous and backbreaking labor required to mine these metals is work suitable only for thralls. With so little wealth on the islands themselves, it is not difficult to understand why the Ironborn of old turned to raiding. Archmaester Haereg suggests that need for wood was what first drove the Ironborn to raid the mainland.

The Dance of Dragons
When the Dance began, the Ironborn were ready. Dalton Greyjoy, the Red Kraken, had spent years prior building ships, training fighters, and smelting swords. And so when the war began, both sides jostled for the support of the Iron Islands. The Greens sent Lord Dalton a raven, asking for their help against the Velaryon fleet in return for the position of Master of Ships. The Blacks asked for the ironborn to sack the west, and fight their enemies. King's Landing is far, far away... While the riches of the west were but a stone's throw away, and so Dalton Greyjoy and his fleet descended upon the Westerlands, reaving and raiding like they had done years past.

They took Fair Isle, and Kayce, claiming the castles as their own. Riches and salt wives were hauled off as the Ironborn sacked Lannisport, burning the fleets before returning to raiding the coastlines. Dalton Greyjoy was but a boy at the time, but he lead the capture of Kayce himself, and under his leadership, the ironborn razed and reaved the West. When the war ended in 131 AC, Rhaenyra bid Dalton return both Fair Isle and Kayce, but only Kayce was given back to the Westerlands, in defiance to the Queen's orders. It was not to last.

The Sundering of the Isles
Dalton Greyjoy was killed by a salt wife on Fair Isle in 133 AC, and Fair Isle erupted in rebellion, pushing out the invading ironborn who fled back to the isles. Dalton Greyjoy had left no true heir, only a host of salt sons. Both Toron Greyjoy and Rodrik Greyjoy, children at the time, were propped up for the throne, with ironborn fighting amongst ironborn for their choice. It was in this chaos that the Lannisters struck- sailing from Casterly Rock, they took full advantage of the infighting, killing many ironborn lords and bringing devastation upon the Islands, just like the ironborn had done to them but a few years earlier. Rodrik Greyjoy was captured and gelded, leaving Toron Greyjoy the lord of Pyke and the Iron Islands.

The Red Kraken's Revenge
Toron Greyjoy would not forget, however. In the year 150 AC he struck back. The ironborn fleets once again wreaked a bloody swathe on the West, sacking villages and raiding the coast. They would destroy most of the coastal houses' fleets as well, though those of Casterly Rock and Lannisport would survive. For half a year did they raid before returning to the Iron Islands, the next step in a bloody cycle that seemingly had no end. The ironborn had struck, but it was surely only a matter of time before the West once again responded in kind.

Baela's Peace
The ironborn would attack again, in 159 AC, though these were far less focussed than that of Toron Greyjoy but nine years prior. These raids were far less successful than those before; with heavy casualties on both sides. It was now, though, that the Crown intervened, in 160 AC. Queen Baela Targaryen, known throughout the realm as a peacemaker, set to repairing ancient grudges and righting wrongs. To prevent such violence happening again, she arranged marriages between many noble houses of the Iron Islands and the Westerlands, achieving a level of peace that none had thought possible. Toron Greyjoy still railed against the Westerlands, but he could not disobey the Queen, and he died but three years later. The ironborn began to raid further afield, and trade between the two flourished.

For a time there was relative peace in the Iron Islands, raiding only in far off lands, though some still grumbled of the return to the Old Way. Lordsport grew, and marriages sprung between places such as the North, and the Reach. For once in their short life since Aegon's Conquest, the Ironborn began to make a name for themselves other than as simply raiders and reavers.

The Conquest of Dorne
This reputation would return however in 208 AC, when Westeros set its sights south, to Dorne. Daenaerys Targaryen, fearing her own naval power was not enough, sent a raven to the Iron Islands, allowing them to raid the coasts of Dorne, as they were not subject to the crown, and so the laws against the Old Way did not apply here. The ironborn raided along the coast of dorne, destroying what remained of the Dornish fleet and any sellsails they had purchased. The Greenblood was set ablaze by the ironborn, and then the Torrentine, with ironborn forces succeeding in capturing even Dawn for a short time from the Daynes, before being reclaimed by a Dalt. Once the war had ended in 210, the ironborn left Dorne triumphant, their holds packed with booty and salt wives, with even a woman of the Martell family taken by the raider Harras Greyjoy.

The Affair of the Lion and the Kraken
This was not all he had gained, for the young Greyjoy had also formed a fast friendship with the Lady of Casterly Rock, Genna Lannister. Between the two of them, in Dorne, they spoke of a way to truly put the wars and violence of the past behind them, one more marriage in the vein of Baela's Peace. And so a betrothal between the young Erena Greyjoy and the heir to the rock, Lann Lannister was arranged, though many in both regions grumbled this was a step too far. None thought this more than Lann himself, and when the lady of the rock unexpectedly passed, Lann broke the betrothal, an act that would anger the ironborn immensely.

The Festival of Lannisport
And so, in return for the dishonour they had been shown, the Ironborn once again sailed West. They chose their time well, when the Lannisters and Westermen were in their cups one fateful night. The ironborn fleet, through guile and subterfuge, attacked the Lannisport fleet at anchor, burning their ships and setting their raiders amongst the city. Once again, Lannisport was sacked, ironborn rushing through the streets, the fleet destroyed, riches and salt wives aplenty hauled off. The crown would answer, of course, but the Ironborn claimed it to be a matter of honour, and that while the Lord Greyjoy could not condone the actions of his men, he could not truly blame them either. In return, he sent back twelve ships filled with riches, and several of the commanders of the raid to be executed by the Lord Lannister, including Lord Drumm himself. It was obvious to all that these captains were old and grey, or of little worth, with only a few names of note sprinkled in. Many others were sent out of the iron islands for some time, perhaps to prevent any further retribution, sent to raid the Summer Isles while the Lannister of Casterly Rock seethed in his castle.

The Disappearance of Lonely Light
More recently unease finds a home in the Iron Islands, as ghostly ships are seen in the night and the inhabitants of Lonely Light seem disappear into the fog. Some whisper that the Drowned God has come calling, angered; others whisper of dark eldritch powers and the ghosts of the sea-dead, returning from the depths to torment the living. Alas, these tales are only whispers… but even the wildest rumors may hold a shred of truth in the mists of Sunset Sea.