CK2AGOT - Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons

[Thaiga]

Omboru​

The island of Omboru is located to the south of Walano, across the Smiling Sea. The smallest of the three major islands (at around 350 miles across and less than 100 miles wide), it consists of densely-packed jungle and appears to be the most lightly-inhabited of the three main isles as well. The island has one main port-town located in the Heartvale, region of Omboru straight north from the Isle of Birds. It primarily serves as a means to transport the exotic hardwoods as Omburu is one of the two islands where the famous Goldenheart tree can be found.

Pacific inspired paintings by Chantal Foster​

Its wood is fabled to make the best bows, with the exception of dragonbone. The dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold often traded for goldenheart from the Summer Isles, but since the Slavers' Wars the princes of the islands have forbidden export of the wood and explicitly reserved it for the swan ships’ archers.

It might be argued that Omboru’s people are indirectly responsible for the current threat of bloodshed on Walano since their unification is used by the warmongers of Lotus Point to justify their own conquest. Not even remotely peaceful but highly effective, it became a dangerous precedent for the whole region. It started justifiable enough when then-Princess Abraya Mo of Heartvale, the eastern part of Omboru, led her people west to Cape Omburu on the pretence of saving the goldenheart trees from Lady Bhatana Xhanu who had reportedly became too infatuated with fire. After her success however Princess Abraya made a very controversial decision and actually executed Lady Bhatana on the grounds of her being “too dangerous to the sacred trees”. She then went even further and declared Cape Omburu, and its surrounding lands of Smiling Cliffs and Xhala, to be “under her protection”, and elevated herself as the Queen of all Omboru. In a chilling twist of fate (or according to some twisted plan), eleven years after her conquest Queen Abraya executed Lady Bhatana’s daughter, Lady Pojja, claiming that she was afflicted by the same madness that consumed her mother. Eerily, Lady Pojja was exactly the same age as her mother when she died. The Queen then further bent the customs of her people and exiled the whole Xhanu family from the isle, confiscating their land and installing her second daughter Joza as the new Princess of Omburu (making her Princess of Omboru and Omburu, by respective means of being a daughter of the Queen and in her own right). Recently a young man by the name of Qhondo Xhanu came to Omboru to stake his claim on the Cape, but was not only rebuffed, but altogether imprisoned by the Queen. He was not exiled however, but humiliatingly forced to live and serve in Heart Hall, prohibited to leave.

Despite all this violence. the manifestation of love in the Summer Islanders’ pantheon and Queen Abraya’s chosen patrons, Sallar and Shanta, must nonetheless be really pleased with her for really living up to their standards of free communal love. In her youth Abraya travelled extensively on a merchant swan ship “Heartstring”, visiting both Westeros and Essos all the way up north to Braavos. There she met Illaro Ennaenor, a local moonsinger and healer. Despite some differences, the pair fell in love and Illaro went back with his beloved all the way south to her tropical homeland. The pair had five children together. Despite her unfortunate condition, their eldest daughter Sanda followed in her mother's footsteps to the letter and in time brought home a foreign husband of her own, Zonario the Valyrian (or so he claimed). This man however was not so kind-hearted and tranquil as his father-in-law and instead possessed an insatiable appetite for both revelry and power. In light of what happened next some even suspect that he might be somehow involved with the death of the Queen’s husband since it happened so suddenly and so soon after Zonario’s arrival. Since the Summer Islander’s mourning customs substitute sorrow and mourning with celebration of the life of the deceased that includes drinking rum and making love, this was exactly what followed after Illaro’s unexpected departure. The Queen herself participated heavily in this spectacle of debauchery, as well as all of her family, including Zonario. Roughly nice months later she gave birth to a daughter that Zonatio readily claimed as his own, two whole years before he had children with his wife, Abraya’s daughter. Since that night the trio lived openly together, both women considering Zonario as their shared husband. Soon enough however Zonario’s overindulgence caught up to him and he died at the age of nine-and-forty. Both the Queen and her daughter remain unremarried.

Zonario’s daughter with the Queen is married to the heir of Last Lament. Princess Sanda’s son by him, silver-haired Eskender, happily honours the traditions of both his parents as he is not only generally promiscuous, but he even has a natural-born child with his uncle’s wife, who is also a kinswoman to both of them.

 

[Thaiga]

Sea of Songs​

Singing Stones​

Made famous and named after the jagged mountain peaks and curious rock formations which cause the winds to make “singing” sounds as they pass over the isles, the Singing Stones are a small group of islands found to the west of most of the other Summer Isles. Whilst all the islands are mountainous compared to the rest of the Isles, the largest and most easterly of them, Singstone, is home to the Harmony Peaks, a short cordillera particularly known for its sounds.

Spooky by Dmitry Zaviyalov​

The residents of the isles are said to be able to tell which direction the wind blows merely by the nature of the hum that resonates through the stones as the wind passes through the pock-marked surface. The tale of how the stones came to sing has long descended into myth and legend, but most relate to Waro, Spirit of the Winds, who is said to dance through the mountaintops of the Singing Stones with every breeze that passes over the islands, whispering to those that call the islands their home so that they might know his will for the day, speaking in a voice that alternates between dulcet resonance and shrill whistling.

Waro is revered by sailors of the great Swan Ships that the Summer Isles are most famed for. Their prayers request a strong, never-ending breeze that will carry them to their destination swifter than any other vessel, but seek for it to be in harmony with the calm, even waters beneath the sails, so that they may reach it safely. Waro, however, is said to be a temperamental god, capable of both devastating rages capable of felling even the most deeply-rooted Goldenheart tree, and lingering silences, in which the seas grow still, and motionless. Offerings of nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and other spices, thrown into a passing breeze are said to appease him, and gain his favour for a journey, but only in those trips that promise to bring good fortune to the Summer Isles and its people.

The current Prince on Singstone, Maras Jho, is a cruel old drunkard. His blatant neglect and abuse towards his family forced his firstborn, Koroxhar, to flee from the isle, a deed that made him “dead in the eyes of his father”. With nothing to lose and with desire to learn, Koroxhar ended up all the way north in Braavos where he, or a man calling himself so, was last seen entering the House of Black and White.

Three Exiles​

The Three Exiles are a trio of islands found to the west of Omboru and Jhala, just south of the Singing Stones. Considered barren and unpleasant by Summer Isle standards, the Three Exiles are still a lush paradise of beaches and tropical forest compared to the Stepstones to the North.

When defeated in the ritualised battles and wars that take place on rare occasions in the Isles, warriors and the families for which they fight are usually not executed or mutilated in any way, but rather exiled. If those defeated show penitence and are not deemed a future danger to the peace of the Isles, they are permitted passage to the Three Exiles, where they must remain, either for the rest of their days or until their debt is paid, depending on the severity of their crime.

It is worth noting that the “payment” for many debts is made in the form of an extrajudicial agreement concluded between the convicted and the victim or their family, when the former is given some kind of task by which they could atone for the crime. Such a task, in addition to or sometimes instead of paying actual compensation, could be cutting and installing “stone money”, or Raay.

AI by me​

The typical Raay stones are carved out of crystalline limestone and shaped like a disk with a hole in the centre. In the best-worked ones, the thickness gradually decreases from the centre to the rim or in two or three steps. The central hole has about 1/6 of the diameter of the stone. The smallest stones may be no more than a palm. The largest extant stone measures at 12 ft in diameter and weighs almost nine thousand pounds. After the Raay is carved and installed, everyone can learn about what happened by the inscription or image on the stone, although some of these, especially the older ones, prefer to keep their secret.

Sometimes the Raay is enough to warrant the exile’s return, sometimes it is just an addition and the exiled will spend the rest of their life looking at their own deeds carved in stone. However, those likely to cause future conflict are exiled from the archipelago entirely, and must seek new lives elsewhere, their past holdings forfeited to their victorious rivals.

Naturally the isles also have more ordinary and permanent inhabitants. Traditionally they are being led by the Princes on Golden Exile. The current one, Princess Jalataya Luxho, is prone to long periods of profound melancholy which is somewhat understandable given her unfortunate marriage life (although her current husband Ralabhar, who is almost twenty years her younger, is a kind and dutiful young man, even if a bit dull). Her first husband, to whom she was a second wife, was the Accursed Prince Quhuru Qhoqua of Indigo Straits that died in a weird accident three years after he condemned a local mystic to death by fire. The second husband, Lusaxharo Gowonu, lived and served at the court of the Golden Head Mutilator and allegedly took part in his atrocities. He died in horrible agony from a tumour that made his stomach grow larger than many Raay stones.

Princess Jalataya’s eldest son Dolzhallar left the isle and renounced his father’s name upon marriage in an attempt to shield himself or at least his children from Quhuru’s alleged curse.

Isle of Love​

The Isle of Love is one of the smallest of the major islands that make up the Summer Isles archipelago, and is found just north of Moluu. Despite this, every Summer Islander is expected to spend some time upon the island, amongst those that share their bodies and talents within the Temples of Love, where the affection of Sallar and Shanta, the Two Halves of the Summer Islander deity of love, is said to be felt most strongly. Surrounding the Temples is a hardwood grove, including unfathomably large Ebony and Blue Mahoe trees. Each has been carved into the form of Sallar and Shanta, locked in an embrace, but the roots are untouched by the process, meaning the figures continue to live, as they have done for hundreds of years.

A temple of love by Marc Simonetti​

Sallar and Shanta are considered the greatest of the gods revered by the Summer Islanders, the manifestation of love. The strength and beauty of the two lovers is said to reside in all born upon the isles, and expression of their gifts forms the fundamental basis of the islanders' beliefs of freedom of love. Once a single being, Sallar and Shanta were split by the trickery of the Spider God, Isana, and separated by sea, land and sky. For a millenia Shanta wept, and Sallar raged, for both were so desperate to feel the embrace of the other, until the lesser gods that roamed freely on the isles when they were still new to the world rose up against Isana. But the Spider God was too devious, and spun trap after trap for those that sought to overthrow his control of the isles. Only when Zhoza, The Goddess of the Waters and Waro, Spirit of the Winds joined with them could they defeat Isana, and reunite the Two Halves once again. Since that day, Sallar and Shanta have remained in an eternal embrace, never once separated from each other, and their intertwined bodies adorn walls, stones and trees across the islands, reminding the residents that they too may be whole when they find their equal Half.

Violence of any kind whilst on the Isle of Love is punishable by immediate exile from the Summer Isles. As all men and women are considered equal on the island, no family or house may claim dominion over the island.

Xola Ygha is the current Queen of Love, overseeing the operations and ceremonies on the Isle.

Moluu​

Tahitian War Galleys in Matavai Bay, Tahiti by William Hodges (1776)​

Moluu is one of the larger major islands of the Summer Isles, although considerably smaller than the isles of Walano, Omboru and Jhala. Just to the north is the Isle of Love, west is the Fragrant Isle and to the east the Three Exiles.

No amount of hyperbole about jagged volcanic peaks rising above lusciously green rainforest and powder-soft beaches lapped by crystal-clear lagoons can do justice to the beauty of this island. Moluu is a festive island of moonlight, sweet amber wine and the rhythmic drumming and hip-wiggling of traditional Summer Isles’ dance. A supposed birthplace of The Daughter of Dance, called Rala by some Islanders, another lesser deity of the islands and a popular figure amongst the youth. Said to be the wife of the Parrot Prince, and lover to nearly all of the gods, she supposedly takes the form of either a Bird of Paradise or a butterfly with wings of unparallelled vibrancy. She is said to bring joy to the hearts of men, relieving them of their worries and stresses, instead encouraging enjoyment and revelry in all aspects of life.

Moluu’s reigning Prince however does not seem to particularly enjoy his life at the moment. The Peculiar Prince Jaros Monye inherited the isle from his wife, late Princess Qubya Monye. Ever since her death Jaros refuses to remarry, instead opting to very frequent visits to the temples of love on the nearby Isle of Love. At least he did until a brothel disease irrevocably consumed his mind and his eyesight for good measure. Now Prince Jaros stumbles in the perpetual darkness, screaming nonsense and running amok around his palace, hiding in its corners from Isana, the Spider God, that the Peculiar Prince is convinced is there to steal his body and soul.

Fragrant Isle​

Despite being rather petite and covered in thick tropical jungle, Huahine (also known as the Fragrant Isle) that lies in the middle of the Straits of Moluu is thriving with coconut plantations, vanilla orchids, banana groves, breadfruit trees and watermelon fields. Beyond its lush landscapes and bright blooms, the Isle is also a culturally preserved sanctuary with sacred temples hidden throughout dense vegetation. The name Huahine, a variation of one the Summer Tongue’s words for a woman, presumably refers to a mountain ridge that some say resembles the outline of a pregnant woman—a symbol of the island's irrefutable fertility.

A view of Huaheine by John Webber (1778)
(in this engraving the outline is a bit more human-like, but I preferred the colourful version)​

Huahine is exceptionally green—perhaps with envy, since fewer travellers know about her sandy shores and lush hillsides than her much bigger and much more renowned neighbours, Moluu and Jhala. For this reason, though, Huahine has retained the alluring essence and authenticity of early Summer Isles. The locals pride themselves on preserving what they genuinely believe is the most picturesque island in the whole Summer Sea. Some even claim (and managed to seduce a couple of maesters to this idea) the Fragrant Isle to be the cradle of the Summer Islanders’ culture.

The isle currently flourished under its plump and merry Lord Kwasdo Ajaxos, an absolute delight of a man, even if a bit stubborn.

A loving and gentle father, Lord Kwasdo did not retract his intention for his simple-minded and somewhat fickle eldest daughter Rhatana to follow him as his successor even when his new wife that he took after the death of Rhatana’s mother gave him four healthy children (their eldest unfortunately died later after a bite from a frenzied monkey). Even though Lady Chakoya now claims in his presence to support his decision, it is doubtful that this proud and volatile woman will actually stand by and let her “retard of a step-daughter steal her childrens’ rightful place” (a notion that she was allegedly overheard making in one of her frequent fits of rage).

 

[Thaiga]

Jhala​

Jhala is the largest of the Summer Isles, measuring over 600 miles from tip to tip and over 200 miles in width. It is located west of the Fragrant Isle and south of Omboru, across the Indigo Straits.

Jhala is the largest of the known Summer Isles by landmass, but less populous than Walano to the north. So beautiful and lush is the island that its name alone has grown synonymous with an expression of surprise, although its dual meaning is rarely known outside of the Isles themselves. Home to leagues of vibrant forest filled with all manners of life, valleys and waterfalls of stunning allure, beaches of green and black sand so fine that it flows like water and hills laden heavy with flowers, Jhala is considered by many to be the closest mankind will come to paradise during life. Prized goldenheart trees grow in the vast forests of Jhala and there, apes called silver pelts can be found in the mountains and there is a wide variety of crocodiles in the rivers.

Bleeding Woods​

The western shore of Jhala, separated from the Sweet Lotus Vale by the Golden Mountains range, is covered in thick growth of bloodwood, a highly-valued timber akin to weirwood, but with black bark, that leeches a vibrant red dye that can be used to stain a wide number of things, from clothing to tapestry, or being added to food to colour it elsewise.

Red Bloodwood bleeding by John Tann​

This region is traditionally ruled by the Jaluru family. Its current matriarch is Princess Shanika who inherited the land following the death of her husband, the Wise Prince Koroxhar, who was also her uncle and in his time inherited the land from Shanika’s father, the Chaste Prince Xhelimo. Xhelimo was a very cruel man that suffered from cancerous growth and made it everybody’s problem. When it was discovered that his own grandson/nephew was suffering from the same affliction, Xhelimo ordered for him to be tied to the stake and poked with flaming torches to see if would “burn out the sickness”. Naturally it did not and the poor young man died on that stake. Xhelmo the kinslayer was found dead in his chamber a year later. Even if it did seem a little suspicious, nobody really asked questions.

Indigo Straits​

The Indigo Straits is a body of water in the Summer Islands. It separates the islands of Omboru, to the north, from Jhala, to the south.

Indigo Moon by Peter Lik​

The very popular Princess Rojja Qhoqua rules over the Indigo Shore from her Shorestower with her husband and kinsman Xhakan whose mannerisms some consider to be a bit mincing, especially after the pair was seen jointly bawling their eyes out at the particularly tragic performance.

 

[Thaiga]

Tales of Two Vales​

The isle of Jhala is dominated by two towering mountain ranges which run along the coasts, dividing the interior into several pleasant river valleys - Red Flower Vale in the east of the island and Sweet Lotus Vale in the west.

Red Flower Vale​

AI by me​

Deep within this valley, Zhoza’s Falls, the birthplace of the Red Flower River, can be found, with a small town of Sunshadow at its feet.

AI by me​

Considered some of the largest and tallest waterfalls in the Known World, Zhoza’s Falls are named for the Goddess of the Waters, Zhoza, who is said to reside within the crisp, fast-flowing water of the area.

After she was taught the ways of love by Sallar and Shanta before they were split into separate beings, Zhoza, the Goddess of the Waters gave life to man, and is considered by the Islanders to be the mother of all those in the Known World. When she was weakened by her altercation with Chlaena, Zhoza has since shunned the open, deep waters of the sea, instead crafting herself a place to reside inland. The fast-flowing waters that run through the isle of Jhala in both directions start in the same central mountain range, and Zhoza is said to bathe in the swirling waters at its base. Though most commonly she appears as an ethereal being whose hair flows down her back like the waters in which she resides, she can take the form of any creature or beast that lives beneath or besides rivers, lakes or seas.

During the reign of the Usurper, Red Flower Vale (named for the bright red flowers endemic to this particular piece of land) was the site of a major power struggle, which ended with Prince Jalabhar Xho being sent into exile and took up residence in the Red Keep of King’s Landing where he regularly petitioned Robert Baratheon for aid in retaking his homeland. The Usurper always entertained the notion of conquering the Summer Isles (because of who he was as a person), but continuously told Jalabhar and put it off until the next year (probably for the same aforementioned reason). Although Robert always put off Jalabhar's request for help, he never firmly declined him, telling him "Next year" instead of "No". But soon enough the poor man finally took the hint and, tired of being seen as an amusing curiosity at best and an annoying beggar at worst, the exiled Prince took his leave and departed from King’s Landing back to his homeland in hopes of winning his former subjects’ favour. Surprisingly it eventually worked and he was reinstalled as the Prince of the Red Flower Vale following the exile of the man that exiled him.

The exiled exile Dubaku Rotumu, who was a bastard-born child of Jalabhar’s sister and a warrior in her husband’s household, said husband being the Arrogant Prince Xaro Qo of Walano. In an interesting twist of fate, when Dubaku was exiled from Red Flower Vale, he ended up at the court of Princess Dubaya Qo of Sweet Lotus Vale just on the other side of the Zhoza’s Ridge that separates the two Vales. Through convoluted inheritance she eventually inherited after that same Arrogant Prince Xaro and became the Princess of both Sweet Lotus Vale and Walano. Reportedly she despised her kinsman and predecessor and in a bit of a cruel mockery she installed Dubaku as her representative in the Summer Palace of Lotus Point.

Oddly enough, after the death of Princess Dubaya now-the-Prince-again Jalabhar Xho of Red Flower Vale for some reason invaded Lotus Point, forced it under his jurisdiction and later left it for his son Udo as part of his inheritance. Then Dubaku’s own son, in another amusing twist named Jalabhar, revolted and seized the land on Walano from Udo, eventually proclaiming himself as the rightful King of the whole Walano isle.


But we digressed. Before the Pompous Prince Jalabhar became the Prince again, he sailed from King’s Landing a year before The Restoration, along with his lover Syrianne and their infant daughter, and came begging to the court of his sister’s husband, already mentioned Arrogant Prince Xaro of Walano. Before he was forced into exile, Jalabhar was actually married to Jalataya Rotumu, his usurping nephew’s cousin, but right after Dubaku’s coup and Jalabhar’s flight Prince Xaro ordered the poor girl murdered and her body unceremoniously disposed of.

Jalabhar and his unofficial family lived in Lotus Point for some years after that, but eventually Prince Xaro arranged a beneficial marriage for his incessant brother-in-law, tying him up with the lord of Highgrove right in the middle of the Red Flower Vale. With the help of his newly acquired inlaws Jalabhar then managed to oust his nephew from the Red palace in the Red Flower Bay and finally became the proper Prince again in the year 306AC. Soon his second natural son was born. As the years went by, Jalabhar grew tired of his pale mistress and actually fell in love with his wife Fulataya. She gave him two children. When poor forgotten Syrianne was found dead at the age of six-and-fifty under some questionable circumstances, there was nobody to really care enough to question it, even her own children did not try to investigate and Jalabhar did not either. Contrary to that, when his wife Fulataya was found to suffer from the brother disease however and died soon after from the shock of that realisation, Jalabhar became so unconsolable that he cut all contact with the opposite gender and bitterly mourned for his wife for twelve long and lonesome years.

His son Udo, known as the Peaceful Prince for his peaceful surrender of Walano, is the current ruler of the Red Flower Vale. He is married to a lowborn woman named Xharra who is absolutely obsessed with him. However Udo’s appetite for food seems to have hindered his other appetites or at least the means to satiate them and the pair only has one son. Udo’s sister Quhura briefly occupied the seat of Grovesfort in Highgrove but was insistently asked to vacate it for reasons unknown. She is married to Xaro Monye who is supposed to succeed as the next ruler of the isle of Moluu when its current Peculiar Prince finally finds his rest.

Sweet Lotus Vale​

Right across the mountain from the Red Flower Vale lies the Sweet Lotus Vale, so named for the abundance of lotus flowers blooming on the waters of Sweet Lotus River that runs through the valley.

AI by me​

Head of Ebony​

Just like the Stone Head to the north and the Golden Head north-west, Ebonhead is named after the giant face formed out of the whole side of the mountain at the southernmost point of the island, its intense, unblinking eyes fixed on the ruarza tegun further south.

AI by me​

The city of Ebonhead lies at the mouth of the Sweet Lotus River, on Parrot Bay, north-west along the shore from the Ebon Head.

African Fishing Village by Jared Koh​

This was once the seat of Xanda Qo, the famed warrior-princess who united the Islands and helped drive off the slavers. Her daughter Chatana inherited her crown and ended the wars with a decisive victory, but was unable to maintain the unity of the islands, which later fragmented into independent kingdoms.

Upon the Head’s frowned brow a whole fort was carved. This fort, called Ebonrock, is still in use today and occupied by the Jolly Princess Totara Qo and her husband Luhuru, formerly a corsair from the Isle of Flies.

 

[Thaiga]

Head of Gold​

The south-eastern part of the island is a peninsula, the Golden Head, extending into the Summer Sea. It is named, much like the Stone Head to the north-east and the Ebonhead to the south, after the enormous torso carved from a piece of solid mountain protruding from the waves, this one staring with much concern west towards Valyria. Shortly after sunrise or before sunset the head turns a bright gold colour, hence the specification.

AI by me​

Safe behind this guardian lies the land called Goldenheart, with the port town of Hearthaven and the Golden Lodge of the local Prince Chibundo Biabaku, a foppish man clad in riches passed down from his famous grandfather he was named after, he seems obsessed with carnal pleasures. Fortunately for the women, he likes them a great deal more than his father, the infamous Prince Jaramogo the Mutilator.

When Chibundo’s great-grandfather Tal was executed (unfortunately we do not know by whom or for what crime), Chibundo’s grandfather, also Chibundo (for his prowess known as the Bladesman), succeeded him. However when this second Chibundo died, instead of his son the seat went to his brother Simbhar.

When he too died just ten years later, the Bladesman’s son Jaramogo challenged his nephew Tal and subsequently exiled him in perpetuity.

Soon it became apparent that this new Prince Jaramogo has a burning hatred for the fairer sex as he began to abduct and torture women both highborn and low. Unfortunately it is unclear how many lowborn women he butchered, but four of his highborn victims are widely known.

Lady Oluhura Onuxho of the Parrot Shore was a known sadist herself. It would seem that she was arrested for her crimes by her liege for exactly the same crimes that would be inflicted upon herself, so nobody really has any pity for her. However this might have been the pivot point for Prince Jaramogo where he discovered his own disposition towards very excessive violence as his next three victims were killed in rapid succession.

His second known highborn victim was Abraya Tomburu. She was abducted from her home on the Isle of Birds and tortured with fire until her death in the second month of the year 340AC. His third victim, Emejja Ojokulu, was taken just a month after from her home in Tamarinu, the tip of the Golden Head peninsula. She too was burned, but this time more rapidly and with a bigger fire. The fourth and last known highborn victim was Pojja Tomburu, kinswoman to his second victim who was also taken from the Isle of Birds another mere month after the previous one. The Mutilator took her eye, a chunk out of her cheek, and chopped off her hand; the poor woman succumbed to her injuries and died terrified in the putrid dungeon.

After Pojja his abductions seemed to stop, although it is mostly unanimously accepted among the islanders that he did not in fact stop, he just satisfied himself with less conspicuous victims.

It is unclear if the Mutilator’s first wife, Xhataya Jaluru, should be considered as his victim or if her injury and ensuing death came as the result of an accident. Most believe it to be the former, of course. After her death the Mutilator almost immediately married again, but fortunately for his new wife he died less than a year after Xhataya.

It is worth noting that the Mutilator seemed to mutilate only women. None of the men that reportedly died in his dungeon exhibited any signs of torture of any kind. One however did lose his mind, but even that is disputed as he might have been imprisoned already insane.

Head of… Lizard?​

Off the Golden coast lies the small island of Lizard Head, so-named for the lizards that bask in the sun on its shores. Although small, Lizard Head is home to one of the few true fortifications upon the isles - Iguanulo, a moderate keep of stone, bloodwood and mahogany, owing to its easterly position relative to the rest of the islands.

(Found on the internet as “Fort from Assassins Creed 4 Black Flag”, if anyone knows the author please contact me)​

This location means that the isles are most commonly the first landed on by raiders and corsairs sailing from the Basilisk Isles to the east. The people of Lizard Head are skilled archers subsequently, and the colourful feather cloaks of the families that rule the isles are a common sight upon the Swan Ships that patrol in the area. The easternmost island, upon which the Iguanulo keep is built, is currently held by Laro Biabaku, nephew of the briefly aforementioned Tal the Exile through Tal’s sister Dubaya, whereas the rest of the islands belong to Laro’s friend, Alabhar Ebaharos.

 

[Thaiga]

Parrot Bay​

Parrot Bay is a body of water south of the isle of Jhala. At its southern end are the isles of Xon, Doquu and the group of small islets called the Bones.

Parrotshore​

Parrotshore, a stretch of land between the waters of the Parrot Bay and the Ebonhills that separate it from the Two Vales, is a home to a particularly mischievous variety of parrots that seem keen on bringing amusing chaos wherever they are.

Araras Azuis by Fátima Corrêa​

With this kind of neighbourhood the Parrotshore could be expected to be a place of fun and laughter, but unfortunately it recently was a place of grief and despair.

Old Princess Koraxha Gowonu and her husband, Lord Doshuru of Koj, had five children. When Lord Doshuru died in the year 341AC at the age of three-and-sixty, Princess mourned him, of course, but he died in his sleep, old and content, so it was sad but expected.

Little did she know that it was just the beginning. When life was done with Princess Koraxha, all of her children were dead or in their last days, her own mind gone from all the pain and heartbreak. When that broken heart finally gave up, people of Parrotshore were openly talking about witchcraft.

After all this death two complete orphans still stand, the last descendants of the Bewitched Princess Koraxha. Princess Simpaya, the elder one, is the current ruler of Parrotshore. Her brother Salabhar resides in the Ebonwatch on the southern slopes of Ebonhills. Most of their distant kin relocated to the Vales, and now warily look out for the news from their homeland as if waiting for a sure sign that the curse was over.

The Bones​

Made up of three small, rocky islets, the Bones are as close to the Stepstones as the Summer Isles get. Largely mountainous, the islands of the Bones feature beautiful craggy rock formations seemingly carved by some enormous hand. Legend says that Zhoza, Goddess of the Waters, chiselled these rock formations out of solid stone over the millennia through the smashing of the waves up against the rocks. From the constant barrage of water the rocks became so white they resembled the bones, hence the name.

AI by me​

Two of the isles are ruled by two of the three Ballono brothers from Parrotport right across the bay while the third is expected to take over their mother’s affair in the town. The middle brother Xhakan got himself the isle of Xon, closest to the shore. The eldest, Thoan, resides on the Great Bone and styles himself as the Prince of The Bones, apparently incorporating the nearby isles of Xon and Doquu into this name. He is married to Xatalha Dako, sister of Lord Koroxhar of Doquu.

Xon​

The volcanic nature of Xon isle is the architect of its appeal and manifests in the dark heart of the stone used in the old buildings and the black sand of the beaches.

When visiting, one can feel it on the skin. The iron-rich thermal springs provide warmth emanating from the island's inner depths. The same heat cooks the traditional Xonean stew, a local dish that joins vegetables with meat and a smoky touch of sulphur after being under the ground for five to seven hours. The isle also offers natural pools carved by time in the stone, invaded by the fresh waters of the Summer Sea and simultaneously heated by the volcanic rock.

From this same volcanic rock a lonesome tower was chiselled out of a small bare islet just off the southern tip of the isle. Done by an unknown party so long ago that no islander really knows when and why it came to be there, it became the seat of the local ruler when the populace to rule over grew big enough to warrant one.

AI by me​

Doquu​

The southernmost of the major islands that make up the Summer Isles, which is best known for its odd nobility and reports of random and seemingly incorporeal specks of light that can be seen here at night.

AI by me​

The only major town on the island is Far Harbour, which is located on the eastern coast of the island, right across the Parrot Bay from the city of Ebonhead. The rulers of this isle are known to be quite eccentric and at times actively insane. It is said that the elderly or dying members of House Dako set off into the south across the Sunset Sea, never to be seen again. For this reason (and some others) the nobility of Doquu are widely avoided if not actively shunned by the royalty of the rest of the Summer Isles.

The current Lord Koroxhar is no exception. After a warrior in his court voiced his displeasure with Koroxhar’s rule, insulted lord called for a trial by combat in which he cut off the offender’s hand and ate it in from of his bleeding for (the latter later died from blood loss).He also forced his own cousin Makhan into exile to have free access to his wife Chataya with whom he produces a son (or two, although the second one, Dhobol, could have been fathered by someone else as Chataya seems to not be particularly picky).

According to the Summer Islanders, at one time they attempted to colonise the western coast of Sothoryos, which lies to the south-east of their islands (far south of Basilisk Point). However, these attempts were all defeated by the same misfortune and bad luck which destroyed other colonies on the continent.

 

[HistoryDude]

The Summer Islands sound like an interesting place. Tyrion would love these guys, especially with their whole free love thing (and I think he references them favorably in ASOIAF).

How did the islands become divided again after their (legendary) unification?

Is all of the extra wars and expansionist kingdoms a result of the game engine? Or is something else at play there?

 

[streaker77]

Princess the town, Chijja Qho, for her sometimes too industrious nature half-jokingly and half-mockingly called “the Lazy”,

Thats a ck2 moment right there, I have seen quite a few innacurate nicknames appear in my games (Queen Nyel in my game was a badass dragon rider who fought against the Lannisters, only for the game to reward her by calling her Nyel the ''Feeble'' .

then-Princess Abraya Mo of Heartvale, the eastern part of Omboru, led her people west to Cape Omburu on the pretence of saving the goldenheart trees from Lady Bhatana Xhanu who had reportedly became too infatuated with fire.

Very creative interpretation

executed Lady Bhatana on the grounds of her being “too dangerous to the sacred trees”.

I wonder what the execution customs for summer islanders are, being forced to drink poison?

Interesting stuff about the Raay stones, I had never heard of them.

he Peculiar Prince Jaros Monye

Cant blame him for being a little odd and insane having to balance all of those traits, what is the red colored paranoid trait?

Amazing AI art as always, particularly for the Red Flower Vale and Ebonhead.

a foppish man

Learned a new word today lol

he exiled Prince took his leave and departed from King’s Landing back to his homeland in hopes of winning his former subjects’ favour. Surprisingly it eventually worked and he was reinstalled as the Prince of the Red Flower Vale

Nice little detail there.

The rulers of this isle are known to be quite eccentric and at times actively insane. It is said that the elderly or dying members of House Dako set off into the south across the Sunset Sea, never to be seen again. For this reason (and some others) the nobility of Doquu are widely avoided if not actively shunned by the royalty of the rest of the Summer Isles.

Reminds me of House Farwynd in the Iron Islands.

Awesome chapter and probably one of your most detailed ones, as someone that struggled finding material for the Summer Islands when I did my own (much less detailed) look at the islands, I like how you covered every one of the isles which is very impressive and a lot is probably going to be head canon for me, I really like how you used a lot of pacific references/influences as well, that was very interesting.

 

[Thaiga]

The Summer Islands sound like an interesting place. Tyrion would love these guys, especially with their whole free love thing (and I think he references them favorably in ASOIAF).

Oh, he'd definitely love the place. He and Varys should've sailed there when they had the chance.

How did the islands become divided again after their (legendary) unification?

Judging by the scarse lore on that, Xanda Qo's daughter Chatana Qo led the islanders in the Slavers' Wars that lasted a generation. The Summer Islanders prevailed, but Xanda "wed unwisely and did not rule as well as she fought", whatever that might mean, and the islands fell into disunity after her death

Is all of the extra wars and expansionist kingdoms a result of the game engine?

Yes, unfortunately it would seem that it's almost impossible to make CK2 not explode into war every five minutes, so this bit of lore was apparently not emulated.

Nyel the ''Feeble''

Yeah, I remember that. CK2 did her real dirty. Usually when I catch something like that in my game and can't think of any at least semi-reasonable justification for it I just erase that nickname entirely, but it's easier done with still-living characters cause I can't right-click on the dead.

Very creative interpretation

Thank you! I'm glad the queen's adversary had those traits cause otherwise it was a very un-islander-like thing to do. One randomly warmongering islander is already one too many and my immersion suffered XD

I wonder what the execution customs for summer islanders are, being forced to drink poison?

Posion is very likely. Also hanging or drowning maybe?.. Exile on a little boat out South into the unknown sound like a pretty sure way to kill a person and not spill his blood too.

Interesting stuff about the Raay stones, I had never heard of them.

I'm glad you liked it! I've been kinda fascinated by them ever since I heard of them. Ancient bitcoin/NFT XD I hope the polynesians will forgive me for butchering their name and perverting their purpose though ^^''

what is the red colored paranoid trait?

It is indeed paranoid. I have a mod, extended traits, and it adds a trait "wary" for the old "paranoid" icon and adds this red "paranoid". It's supposed to be rarer than the wary trait and literally mean paranoid, as in mental condition.

Learned a new word today lol

Same tbh XD found it in thesaurus and was like BINGO!

Nice little detail there

I actually totally forgot about Jalabhar's existance and only found out about his fate when I started writing this chapter. Poor man, he was supposed to be an unforgetable curiosity XD

Reminds me of House Farwynd in the Iron Islands

Definitely! I think the devs also saw this similarity cause the city on Daquu actually is named Far Harbour.

one of your most detailed ones

It was very gloomy and rainy for the last couple of days here and it would seem that I became kinda starved for some sun and fun lol I didn't intent on doing it this thorough, but I started reading about Polynesia and that pretty neat wiki for the reddit Iron Throne RP and got carried away a bit lot XD

a lot is probably going to be head canon for me

This is one of the highest praise I could ever think of tbh. Thank you! I hope your people will revisit the Isles under more peaceful circumstances and have a great time there!

---

In the meantime we finally covered literally all of the lands of the known world. But! This is not the end yet. Cause now it's time fooor... the filler episodes! XD Although the last three might be considered as the beach episodes, we still need a chibi and a theatre ones. Which I (probably) won't do. Another but though! I will make some chapters about the religions and religious authorities, where appropriate. And about the Citadel, the Banks, the societies, the mercs and the mountain clans. Just cause I want to XD Some of them probably won't have that much of gameplay pictures and will traditionally consist of meticulously regurtitated info from the wiki with some pretty illustrations for it, but hey, I'm already doing it so might as well continue. Thank you all for the ride and I will see you on the finish line!

 

[streaker77]

And about the Citadel, the Banks, the societies, the mercs and the mountain clans.

I would find that very interesting if that is what you end up doing, especially the Mercenary companies

 

[Thaiga]

I would find that very interesting if that is what you end up doing, especially the Mercenary companies

I'm very pleased to hear that! I definitely will, eventually. Right now however I'm in my hyperfixation mode (perks of being bipo) and I might have gone a bit overboard (as usual) and... ummm... kinda stole/invented a calendar - names for the months, the days, the hours (those that do not have the canon names)... and am in the process of repurposing different holidays to fit the asoiaf world, with lots of words and some pretty pretty pictures XD if that is something that might be interesting, I would be glad to share that too when I'm done.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thanks for your work, time and art.

 

[Thaiga]

Religion​

There are many faiths, and many faithful. Belief in high powers and supernatural threats runs deep through the culture of the known world and influences most aspects of life. A multitude of religions are followed by different cultures and peoples throughout the known world. These can range from widespread belief systems followed by great numbers of people, to more localised faiths followed only by a select group. Individual religious devotion in all societies is, of course, on a spectrum, from devout adherents to those that just go through some of the motions by rote as a cultural norm. Some people are also irreligious and privately don't believe in any gods or religious systems.

Map found in the archive of the Citadel, unfortunately the author’s name is damaged beyond recognition (heavily modified by your humble author)​

 

[Thaiga]

Westeros​

In Westeros there are only three religions that can boast a significant number of followers.

The fragment of the same map found in the archives with the author’s name gone (again, modified)​

 

[Thaiga]

The Old Gods​

The Weirwood Tree by Patrick Jensen for Game of Thrones (Telltale Games)
​

It is a folk religion, passed from generation to generation. The old gods are nameless deities of stream, forest, and stone. They were worshipped across Westeros by the children of the forest, and eventually by the First Men, some time after signing the Pact. Since the arrival of the Andals who brought with them their own religion, the old gods are no longer dominantly worshipped in the south of Westeros. Only in the north does a majority of houses still worship the old gods. North of the Wall, the free folk also continue to worship the old gods, although some accounts state that there are clans who worship different gods (dark gods beneath the ground in the Frostfangs, gods of snow and ice on the Frozen Shore, or crab gods at Storrold's Point), however there is no reliable confirmation of this.

History​

The old gods were originally worshipped by the children of the forest in most of Westeros in the Dawn Age, thousands of years before the arrival of the First Men from Essos via the Arm of Dorne. The First Men warred with the children and, believing that the greenseers of the children could see through the eyes of the weirwoods, cut down the weirwoods where they found them.

According to legend, the greenseers of the children of the forest used dark magic to stop the migration of the First Men to Westeros. Hundreds of greenseers gathered, possibly at the Isle of Faces or Moat Cailin. Some stories claim they sacrificed a thousand captive humans to weirwoods, while others claim the greenseers used blood from their own youths.

The Hammer of the Waters resulted in the Breaking, the shattering of the Arm of Dorne into the Stepstones and the Broken Arm, separating Westeros from Essos. Unfortunately for the children, it was too late, for the First Men already had a foothold in Westeros. At some point, the greenseers attempted to use the hammer of the waters, working from the Children's Tower of Moat Cailin, to break the lands of Westeros in two. However, this created the boggy Neck instead of separate landmasses. It is unknown if this occurred during the same event as the breaking of the Arm of Dorne, or at a different time.

The histories say that the crannogmen grew close to the children in the days when the greenseers tried to bring the Hammer of the Waters down upon the Neck. Despite the lack of complete separation, the bogs and swamps of the Neck have proved an effective natural defence, and the First Men-held Moat Cailin never fell during the Andal invasion of Westeros.

Some maesters, such as Yandel, suggest that the fates of the Arm of Dorne and the Neck were not magical in nature, but were natural occurrences relating to the sinking of land and the rising of ocean waters. Archmaester Cassander argued in Song of the Sea: How the Lands Were Severed that flooding was caused by what he called the Song of the Sea - a slow rising of the oceans over centuries, caused by a series of long, hot summers and short, warm winters that melted the ice in the frozen lands north of the Shivering Sea.

According to tradition and legend however, the cataclysm proved the strength of the children's power, and may have proved instrumental in bringing the First Men to agree to the terms of the Pact on the Isle of Faces. It was entered into by the greenseers and wood dancers of the children of the forest and the chiefs and heroes of the First Men on a small island in the middle of the large lake, known as God's Eye, in the Riverlands. The children retained the standing forests and the First Men were able to settle the open lands i.e. the coastland, high plains, bright meadows, mountains, and bogs, while agreeing not to put any more weirwoods to the axe. Faces were carved on all the trees of the island to cement the agreement, so that the gods could bear witness to the Pact, giving its name the Isle of Faces. The sacred order of Green Men was established to maintain and keep watch over the Isle of Faces.

The signing of the Pact marked the end of the Dawn Age and the beginning of the Age of Heroes. It marked 4,000 years of friendship between men and the children. It endured all through the Age of Heroes and the Long Night and the birth of the Seven Kingdoms until finally there came a time many centuries later, when Andals crossed the narrow sea.

The Andals brought their Faith of the Seven with them. Seeing the old gods as little more than demons, they destroyed the great white trees wherever they found them. Almost all weirwoods in the south were cut down, and the worship of the old gods was supplanted with the gods of the Andals. House Blackwood in the riverlands serves as an exception. The old gods are still worshipped in the north, however, and by the free folk living beyond the Wall.

Customs​

Worshippers of the Old Gods visit godswoods, groves contained usually within castles throughout the Seven Kingdoms, where a heart tree can be found. These trees and the places they stand are considered to be sacred. They are not to be defiled by bringing animals such as horses into them. Once all noble houses had a godswood with a heart tree in its centre until the First Men, in their wars against the children of the forest, cut down many of the trees, as did the Andals later on, replacing the old gods with their own in the southern kingdoms. Although godswoods can still be found in the south, they now serve as secular gardens.

The heart trees are usually weirwoods, and godswoods are often the only places where living weirwoods still remain until one goes north of the Wall. Weirwood itself is a species of deciduous trees endemic to Westeros, now found most commonly in the north and beyond the Wall. The five-pointed leaves and the sap of weirwoods are blood-red, while the smooth bark on their wide trunks and wood are bone white. Most weirwoods have faces carved into their trunks. This was done by the children of the forest in ancient days, and is now done by the free folk as well as other descendants of the First Men, such as followers of the old gods in the Seven Kingdoms praying to heart trees in godswoods. In some cases sap has collected in the crevices of the carved faces, giving the trees red eyes which have been known to drip sap as if the trees were weeping. A weirwood will live forever if undisturbed.

The wood of the weirwood is excellent, though expensive, timber because it does not rot. It can be used in crafting bows, spears, and arrows, as well as a building material. For example, Greenfield, originally known as the Bower, the seat of House Greenfield in the Westerlands, was originally made entirely of weirwood. Weirwood is used in the Black Gate of the Nightfort and the rafters of Harrenhal and Whitewalls.

Weirwood can also be used to make furniture. The meeting table of the Kingsguard in the Red Keep is made of white weirwood fashioned into the shape of a shield and supported by three white stallions. At the Eyrie, the throne of House Arryn as well as their Moon Door are carved out of weirwood.

Speaking of doors. The famous “Goat of Armour”, an armourer shop at the top of the Street of Steel founded by the Qohorik master Tobho Mott, has doors carved out of weirwood and ebony showing a hunting scene. On the other side of the Narrow Sea, in Braavos, one of the main doors of the House of Black and White is made in the same way, with one door made of weirwood and the other made of ebony. Its chairs are also made of the two materials.

house of black and white by lincoln Renall​

Even further east, the doors of the room in the House of the Undying with the "splendour of wizards"—a mirage depicting the Undying Ones in their prime—are also made of weirwood and ebony.

The singers of the children believe that the weirwood trees are the gods themselves, and that when they die, they become part of the godhood. Human worshippers believe the old gods watch through the trees and it is said that the old gods only have power where the heart tree faces can see, and since the destruction of most of the heart trees in the south they have no power there.

There are no priests, no holy texts, no songs of worship, practically no rites that go with the worship of the old gods and prayers are done in silence. It is said that the sigh of the wind and the rustle of leaves are the old gods speaking back to worshippers.

An oath might be made in front of a weirwood tree, or with a hand placed in the mouth of the weirwood’s face. Worshippers of the old gods believe that no man can tell a lie in front of a heart tree, as the old gods know when men are telling a lie as through the eyes of the weirwoods the old gods judge the people in front of them. Various actions, such as incest, slavery, and kinslaying are considered offensive to the old gods, although, as regards kinslaying, the degree of kin and circumstance of killing one’s kin (e.g., in war) hold significant influence. The laws of hospitality are considered to be sacred.

A marriage ceremony also takes place in front of a heart tree. The bride's father, or the person standing in his place (usually kin or whoever else is closest to living kin), will escort the bride to her future husband and those presiding over the marriage. Thus far, all the wedding gowns that have thus far been described for a follower of the old gods have been a shade of white. Marriage ceremonies are rather short. The bride is escorted to her groom, who awaits her in front of the weirwood tree in the godswood, and a ceremonial conversation follows, where the identity of the bride, of the groom, and of the person giving the bride away are established. The bride is asked to accept her husband, and upon her agreement ("I take this man") bride and groom join hands, kneel before the heart tree, and bow their heads in token of submission. When they rise following a moment of silent prayer, the groom removes the maiden’s cloak, and places the bride’s cloak around her shoulders, after which he will carry her to the feast in his arms. The wedding ceremony is followed by a feast, which in turn is followed by the bedding.

Marriage vows said at swordpoint are not held to be valid, but even if the marriage occurred under force, a lord might claim the marriage to be legal if e.g. lands are at stake. Lords in Westeros once had the right to the first night, the custom of bedding newly-wed women before their husbands. Queen Alysanne convinced King Jaehaerys I to abolish it, but it is still practised illegally in some parts, especially in the far north, as "where the old gods rule, old customs linger".

Blood sacrifice was performed in the past. For example, thousands of years ago, the entrails and bodies of the condemned criminals and traitors were sometimes placed in the branches of weirwoods after their executions. The Skagosi allegedly still maintain this practice, but there is no definitive proof.

Noble houses bury their dead in the crypts beneath their castles. For example, the Starks bury their deceased family members in the crypts below Winterfell, and Boltons lay their dead to rest beneath the Dreadfort.

I Saw the Face of God and It was Weeping​

If one wishes to pay their respects to the Old Gods, there are a few places where weirwood still can be found.

North of the Wall weirwood grows the most obvious and abundant. The most notable examples are:

• Giant weirwood grove atop the Cave of The Last Greenseer. Location undisclosed, visitation prohibited
• Weirwood Grove in the Haunted Forest half a league north of the Wall, where the new Old Gods followers of the Night’s Watch used to take their vows. Visitation is strongly discouraged
• Enormous eight foot wide weirwood in the middle of a small freefolk village called simply Whitetree, currently inhabited by the descendants of the infamous free folk leader, warrior witch, and raider Morna White Mask. The carved face is long and sad, red tears of dried sap leak from its eyes, jagged mouth is large enough to swallow a sheep

Whitetree by Sergey Glushakov​

In the tamer North there are fewer trees than in the wildlands, but the noteworthy examples can still be found in:

• The Godswood of Winterfell. An ancient weirwood with a melancholy face carved into it is standing over a pool of cold black water at the centre of the grove

Wolves of the North Cover by Cristi-B​

• The forests of Skagos. Visitation is strongly discouraged

Weirwood Tree by Monique Johnson​

• The Godswood of White Harbor within the Wolf's Den. Weirwood heart tree with angry carved face is massive, with branches breaching walls and windows
• The Godswood of Sea Dragon Point, now known as Brandon's Lament, located on the highest hill near the Greywolf’s Den. Contains a number of weirwood circles of the Children of the Forest

Ancestral Tree by Roman Grishin​

• The isle in the larger lake near the crofters’ village in the wolfswood west of Winterfell. Weirwood is gnarled and ancient

Some trees can also still be found in the Riverlands. Most notable examples can be found in:

• The Isle of Faces. One of the few places in southern Westeros where weirwood trees still exist in relative abundance. Every weirwood on the island has a face. Visitation prohibited

Isle of Faces by Kaija Rudkiewicz​

• The Godswood of Harrenhal. Weirwood heart tree with a terrible face still retains thirteen slashes given to it by Prince Daemon Targaryen and these marks are said to still bleed every spring

Weirwood tree by Benco42​

• The Godswood of Raventree Hall. Hundreds of ravens roost at night in its weirwood of colossal size whose upper branches could be seen from leagues away. Lord Tytos Blackwood, current Lord Larys’ grandfather, once said that the tree “had not shown a leaf for a thousand years and in another thousand it will have turned to stone”.

Raventree (before revival) by Elena María Vacas​

Fortunately he died only by the end of the year 319AC and had been proven wrong to his (probably absolutely delighted) face by his nephew Roger who spent all his time with the tree ever since he laid his eyes upon it. His family claims that even as a babe he would throw a violent fit every time anyone tried to take him from the godswood. It would seem that the Old Gods heard young Roger’s pleas and by the second half of the year 318AC the tree was in full bloom. Lord Tytos got to die in the enormous shade of the tree he never believed would live again. Some evil tongues claim that Roger revived the tree by some very nefarious means, namely sorcery and blood sacrifice, but there is no evidence of it whatsoever. By the time Roger’s alleged victim, his wife Walda of House Frey, had died in the year 342AC the Raventree’s blood-red canopy had been looming over Raventree Hall for over two decades.

• The Godswood of Riverrun. Slender weirwood with a sad-looking face

Red Tree of Mystery by Nathanael Mortensen​

Unfortunately, since the exact location of the legendary Howling Hill, where the Weirwood Alliance between the First Men of House Durrandon and the Children of the Forest defeated the Andal warlords and adventurers invading the Stormlands, has been lost to history, the only place a solemn-faced weirwood tree can be found in all the Stormlands is in the Storm’s End Godswood.

The Weirwood Tree by Lunar Morrigan​

The Reach fairs just marginally better. The whole region, despite being the most fertile part of Westeros, can boast only two weirwood trees. They can be found in:

• The Godswood of Highgarden. Three weirwoods known as the Three Singers, possibly planted, like every other plantable thing in the Reach, by Garth Greenhand, have grown so large and tangled that it seems like one tree

Weirwood by dblasphemy​

• The yard of the Ravenry castle on the Isle of Ravens in the Citadel of Oldtown. An ancient, moss-covered weirwood fills the castle’s yard. Ravens fill not only the tree, but also the yard, windows, and battlements. This is where this book is being written. Please consider this line as a formal invitation to visit. Just show this page to the acolyte that acts as gatekeeper at the Seneschal's Court and tell him that the owls are not what they seem. He’ll know.

The Westerlands are not making any Old Gods follower too happy either. Their only weirwood, Casterly Rock's godswood, is a cave within the mountain, called the Stone Garden. It contains a twisted weirwood, whose tangled roots have almost filled the cave, choking out all other growth.

AI by me​

Lords of the Eyrie tried to plant a weirwood in their godswood, but unfortunately none would grow in the hard stone of the Giant's Lance. Their garden thus lacks a heart tree.

Dorne also has none. Since this was where the First Men arrived first, it would make sense that they would cut them down here first. It is also a desert that unfortunately cannot boast of particularly lush tree life at all.

Equally unfortunate is the fact that the thin soil of the Iron Islands does not support the growth of weirwoods either. Also no giants ever made their homes here, nor did the children of the forest walk what woods there were. The Old Gods worshipped by these elder races are therefore likewise absent.

While these three places have a reasonable and valid excuse to not have any weirwood trees, the absence of them in the Crownlands, especially in the Red Keep and Dragonstone, was absolutely inexcusable. Both situations are currently being rectified with two sturdy saplings grown from branches brought all the way from Winterfell and planted in the Royal Godswood and Aegon’s Garden respectively. New weirwood trees were also planted at Summerhall, Mantarys and Oros Twice-Burned while potted saplings were sent to Braavos, Pentos, Myr, Tyrosh, Lys, Ny Sar and Volantis.

Other religions of the First Men include the Lady of the Waves and the Lord of the Skies, worshipped on the Three Sisters before the coming of the Andals, and the Drowned God, which is still worshipped on the Iron Islands. The ironborn believe the demon tree Ygg had pale wood and fed on human flesh, suggesting a possible connection with weirwoods.

 

[Thaiga]

The Drowned God​

"The Drowned God" by jamesfletcherdesign​

The Drowned God, also called He Who Dwells Beneath the Waves, is a sea deity worshipped by the ironborn of the Iron Islands, stoneborn of the Stepstones (mixing it with personal beliefs of every individual reaver, almost like the pirates that dwelled there before the Liberation) and whatever-they-call-themselves on Basilisk Isles (what those are mixing their belief with only the Drowned God knows). The religion of the Drowned God is old, predating the Andal invasion. All attempts of the Andal invaders to supplant it with the Seven have failed. Most ironborn have naught but scorn for the Seven of southern Westeros and the old gods of the north.

The faith of the Drowned God is unique to the Iron Islands. He is seen as the creator of the seas and father of the ironborn, who believe they come from his watery halls. The Drowned God is said to have made the ironborn in his own likeness, to reave, rape, carve out kingdoms, make their names known in fire and blood and song and to hold dominion over all the waters of the earth. Some ironborn wish a return to the Old Way and paying the iron price.

The ironborn believe that the Drowned God has fewer power the further removed from the sea they are. Even in strange lands where other gods are worshipped, some ironborn might believe that a large amount of men who have been drowned give the Drowned God strength in the area.

The ironborn believe that the Drowned God is opposed by the Storm God. This malignant deity dwells in the sky and has hatred for men and all their works. The Storm God resides in a cloudy hall, and sends cruel winds, lashing rains, thunder and lightning down upon men. The Drowned God and the Storm God are said to have been at war against one another for "a thousand thousand years".

History​

The faith of the Drowned God teaches the ironborn that they came from the watery halls of the Drowned God, and were created in his likeness. The priests preach that the ironborn are related to fish and merlings, and not the other races of mankind.

However, some ironborn acknowledge the more widely accepted view that the ironborn descend from the First Men. In his manuscript Strange Stone, Maester Theron suggests that the religion of the Drowned God originates from the undersea fathers of the Deep Ones. In his work he postulates that both the Seastone Chair and the ancient fortress at Battle Isle that serves as the foundation for the Hightower of Oldtown were constructed by Deep Ones, a race of half-men sired by creatures of the sea upon human women. Theron based his claims on the similarities of the black stone of the Seastone Chair and that of the fortress. The manuscript states that these Deep Ones are the source for the legends of merlings and their fathers for the Drowned God of the ironborn. The manuscript contains lavish, detailed, and somewhat disturbing illustrations, but some maesters also consider the text impenetrable in some parts due to Theron's little skill with words.

The Andals eventually reached the Iron Islands during their invasion. According to Archmaester Haereg’s exhaustive History of the Ironborn, the newcomers attempted to force worship of their own gods, the Seven, onto the ironborn. The native ironmen would not accept the Seven, but they did allow the worship of the Seven to coexist with their worship of the Drowned God. Although the Andals intermarried with the ironborn, the Drowned God remained strong on the Iron Islands and in time, most Andals on the isles converted.

Harras Hoare was the first Hoare king to marry an Andal. The priests of the Drowned God saw the kings of House Hoare as ungodly usurpers. Haereg suggests that the priests held that opinion because the Hoares allowed the Faith of the Andals to come to the Iron Islands for the first time.

During the reign of Wulfgar Widowmaker, the first sept on the Iron Islands was built on Great Wyk. When his great-grandson Horgan gave permission to construct a second sept on Old Wyk, a bloody rebellion began under the goading of priests. The sept was burned, the septon was pulled to pieces, and the worshippers were drowned in the sea. Horgan Priestkiller began to slaughter priests in retaliation.

King Harmund II Hoare was the first ironborn king who raised his sons in the Faith, although he practised a self-made version of it. He accepted the Seven as true gods, but also continued to honour the Drowned God. He spoke about "the Eight Gods" and decreed that a statue of the Drowned God should be raised at the doors of every sept. Opposed by adherents of both religions, Harmund eventually decided that the Drowned God was an aspect of the Stranger.

The priest known as the Shrike led a rebellion against Harmund II's heir, Harmund III Hoare, and the king was overthrown within a fortnight. Harmund's younger brother, Hagon Hoare, was crowned in his stead. Hagon the Heartless denounced the Faith, rescinded Harmund's edicts, and expelled the septons and septas. Every sept in the Iron Islands was quickly aflame.

Halleck Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers, spent most of his time in the riverlands and only nominally supported the Drowned God. Halleck's son, King Harren the Black, was killed in the burning of Harrenhal during Aegon's Conquest. In the aftermath of Harren's death, the priest Lodos claimed to be the living son of the Drowned God. Although Qhorin Volmark insisted he was Harren's heir, Lodos rejected the claim. A barefoot Lodos was crowned King of the Iron Islands with a driftwood crown by twoscore priests gathered at Nagga's Bones on Old Wyk. During the invasion of the Iron Islands by King Aegon I Targaryen to put down several rebellious would-be kings, Lodos turned to his god and called on the krakens of the deep to drag down Aegon's warships. When the beasts failed to appear, Lodos filled his robes with stones and walked into the sea to "take counsel" with his claimed father, the Drowned God. Thousands followed Lodos. Their corpses would wash up on the shores for years to come, except for Lodos's own body.

Lodos and his followers by Shen Fei
(found on Reddit, unfortunately not found on author’s official page)​

In the aftermath of the Conquest, Vickon Greyjoy, the new Lord of the Iron Islands, allowed the Faith of the Seven to return to the isles, as King Aegon I Targaryen supported the Seven. In 37 AC a man claiming to be Lodos the Twice-Drowned, returned from the halls of the Drowned God, led a revolt in the Iron Islands against the new king. Vickon's son, Lord Goren, swiftly descended with a hundred longships on Old Wyk and Great Wyk where most of Lodos's followers were concentrated. Thousands of his disciples were put to the sword. Lord Goren then sent the pickled head of Lodos to King Aenys I Targaryen, who in return gave Goren leave to expel the septons and septas from the Iron Islands. It would take another century for another sept to open upon the islands. At the time of Greyjoy's Rebellion, a sept of the Faith stood in Lordsport, but it was not rebuilt after its destruction during the war.

The Grey King​

According to ironborn legend, Nagga was the first sea dragon, able to feed on krakens and leviathans and drown islands when angry. Legends say the Grey King slew the sea dragon Nagga, after which the Drowned God turned the sea dragon's bones to stone. From the bones was made the Grey King's Hall. which he heated with Nagga's living fire. This Hall had been warmed by Nagga's living fire and on the walls hung tapestries made of silver seaweed. The men sworn to the Grey King ate at a table shaped like a large starfish while seated on thrones made from mother-of-pearl. He took a mermaid as his wife so his children could live on land or in water. He also wore a crown of driftwood and Nagga’s teeth so all who knelt before him would know his power came from the sea and the Drowned God himself.

The Grey King upon his throne by Arthur Bozonnet​

The Grey King brought fire to the earth by taunting the Storm God into setting a tree on fire with a thunderbolt. He taught men to weave nets and sails. The Grey King allegedly carved the first longship from the pale wood of Ygg, a demon tree which fed on human flesh.

The Grey King's skin turned as grey as his hair and beard as he ruled over centuries (some say for 1,007 years). Eventually he cast aside his driftwood crown and walked into the sea to descend to the watery halls of the Drowned God to take his place at the right hand of the god. The Storm God snuffed out Nagga's fire after the Grey King's death and the sea stole his throne, with Nagga's bones the only remnants of the Grey King's Hall.

Nagga's Hill, located on the isle of Old Wyk in the Iron Islands, overlooks Nagga's Cradle, the body of water between Old Wyk and Great Wyk. A ruin, called the Grey King's Hall, is located on its top, with nine steep and wide stone steps which lead to where the hall's doors once stood. Forty-four stone ribs indeed rise from the ground like large white trees as wide as a dromond's mast and twice as tall. Maesters do believe the pillars of the hall are the petrified remains of a sea creature, but there is scepticism if they are large enough to have actually belonged to a sea dragon.

Ironborn Kingsmoot concepts, GOT season 6 by Kieran Belshaw​

The Grey King is said to have had a hundred sons who fought after his death. The sixteen who survived divided the Iron Islands amongst themselves. All of the great houses of the islands claim descent from the Grey King, including House Greyjoy, with the exception of House Goodbrother, who claim descent from the Grey King's leal eldest brother.

The Drowned Men​

The priests of the ironborn are believed to speak with the voice of their god, therefore they wield considerable power, as the one to call a kingsmoot. A drowned priest is said to be able to sour wells and make women barren with his gaze.

Priests of the Drowned God bless new ships by speaking invocations and pouring sea water over the ship's prow. When performing a blessing on a human, the priest has the person kneel and symbolically “drowned”. He pours a stream of sea water upon the person's head or has their head placed in the water while stating "Let [person] your servant be born again from the sea, as you were. Bless him with salt, bless him with stone, bless him with steel." The kneeling person then responds, "What is dead may never die." The priest replies, "What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger". Many ironborn are symbolically drowned as infants by being briefly dipped into a tub of seawater.

the drowned god by lincoln Renall​

There are also some more fervent priests, mostly the followers of the infamous Aeron Greyjoy, who believe that true believers must actually be drowned. Priests and their acolytes then work the arms, pump the chest, and repeatedly breathe the kiss of life until the devotee revives.

What Is Dead May Never Die by Donato Giancola​

Not all men are successfully revived, however Aeron himself is said to have never failed in a resuscitation. Aeron's disciples and their acolytes are known as the Drowned Men. They wear roughspun robes of mottled green, grey, and blue, the colours of the Drowned God. They carry driftwood cudgels to show their devotion in battle, and skins of saltwater to perform ritual anointment as well as to sate their thirst and strengthen their faith.

Priests of the Drowned God constantly wander the Iron Islands without a permanent home, although they never go far from the sea. Generally priests wander barefoot and poorly clad in seawater robes. Most of them are illiterate, so the prayers and rituals are orally taught. Lords and smallfolk are obliged to give them shelter, and some priests only eat fish. The priests primarily make use of those things that can be taken from the sea, such as driftwood for makeshift shelters and sealskin for tents. Most only bathe in the sea.

The greatest of all the priests of the Drowned God, Galon Whitestaff, decreed that ironborn must not make war on other ironborn and forbade them to carry off each other's women or raid each other's shores. He also made the Iron Islands into a single kingdom by calling a kingsmoot at Nagga's Hill on Old Wyk, making it a traditional place to hold them.

Kingsmoot​

Kingsmoots were great councils held by inhabitants of the Iron Islands in which kings were chosen by longship captains. There are conflicting accounts of the time of the most recent kingsmoot. While Archmaester Haereg's History of the Ironborn states there has not been a kingsmoot for four thousand years, according to Maester Denestan's Questions, it has been two thousand years. Despite the laws being essentially obsolete, the ironborn still hold a custom that any captain who owns a ship may participate when a kingsmoot is held, as it is said among the ironborn that "every captain is a king upon the deck of his own ship". Candidates may try to sway their fellow captains with a speech of prowess and gifts to show generosity; only once a vast majority call out a candidate's name to proclaim him king does the kingsmoot end.

The Kingsmoot by MarcSimonetti​

In antiquity, each of the Iron Islands was ruled by a rock king and a salt king chosen in a kingsmoot by the island's captains. The kings were usually from the same noble house and were often father and son, but sometimes they were from rival houses. Priests of the Drowned God called for kingsmoots whenever a king died.

The prophet Galon Whitestaff summoned the numerous rock and salt kings to Old Wyk for a kingsmoot, during which Urras, the salt king of Orkmont, was chosen as the first High King of the Iron Islands since the Grey King. After Ironfoot's death, the driftwood crown was claimed by his son, Erich the Ugly, but Galon, despite being half-blind and feeble, arose in fury and declared Erich an unlawful king since he had not been chosen in a kingsmoot. An assembly at Old Wyk instead chose Regnar Drumm the Raven-feeder and condemned Erich to death, although Erich avoided his fate by abdicating and breaking Urras's crown.

Following the death of Urragon III Greyiron a kingsmoot was called by his family while one of the king's sons, Torgon Greyiron, was raiding the Mander. The king's younger sons were hoping that one of them would be elected king, but the ironborn chose Urrathon Goodbrother instead. Urrathon IV's first act was to have all of the late king's sons at the kingsmoot executed. Thus Urrathon became known as "Badbrother". He ruled for two years and made many enemies due to his cruelty. Torgon, the only surviving son of the previous king, returned to the Iron Islands and declared the kingsmoot decision unlawful as he had not been present to put forth his claim as was his right. The priests, people and captains agreed and Urrathon was put down and hacked to pieces by his own captains. Torgon the Latecomer succeeded Badbrother as king. Although he was not chosen in a kingsmoot, Torgon ruled fairly for forty years. He was succeeded by his son, Urragon IV Greyiron, who also became king without a kingsmoot and no priest denouncing him. This Urragon's reign was long but undistinguished. His dying wish was for the high kingship to pass to his great-nephew, Urron Greyiron, known as Urron Redhand.

The priests of the Drowned God however were determined not to lose the power of kingmaking for a third time after Urragon's assumption of the throne and, before that, Torgon Greyiron's usurpation from Urrathon IV Goodbrother. Urron put an end to the institution of kingsmoot when he descended with his axemen on Nagga's Hill on Old Wyk, slaying all captains, the thirteen salt and rock kings, and half a hundred priests and prophets assembled for the choosing. Urron made the high kingship hereditary. Calling himself simply King of the Iron Islands, Urron had his crown be made of black iron instead of the traditional driftwood. During Urron's reign of twenty-two years, the rulers of the various Iron Islands were reduced to lords, and several ancient lines that refused to bend the knee were extinguished. Along with the kingsmoot, Galon Whitestaff's decree against ironborn making war upon each other ended. Urron Redhand and his descendants had to deal with half a dozen major rebellions and at least two major thrall uprisings. House Greyiron is said to have ruled the islands for a thousand years, until the coming of the Andals.

Customs​

The Drowned God has no temples, holy books, or idols. "Lord God who drowned for us" is part of the litany of the Drowned God's priests. When the sea becomes more rough, with the waves growing larger and the wind rising, some might say that "the Drowned God wakes".

Several different types of ritual executions exist to appease the Drowned God. Blood sacrifice is done by slitting the throat of thralls, after which the bodies are given to the sea. Priests of the Drowned God preach that ironborn must not shed the blood of other ironborn. Therefore sacrifice might be done by drowning someone, preferably in salt water, as it means no blood is spilled. The executioner should be the person in command.

A death at sea is considered to be a goodness from the Drowned God. "What is dead may never die" is a phrase uttered on such occasions. When an ironman dies, it is said that the Drowned God needed a strong oarsman. It is believed that the deceased is summoned to the Drowned God's watery halls, where he can drink and feast for all eternity, with mermaids attending his every want. The ironborn believe that “no true son of the sea would want to rot beneath the ground” as it would make him unable to find the Drowned God's watery halls.

Mermaid by Armando Savoia​

The ironborn believe that the Drowned God gives every man "a gift", something in which he excels. He helps bold men, but not cowards.

A Song of Rock and Salt​

Ingolf tager Island i besiddelse (Ingolf takes possession of Iceland) by Johan Peter Raadsig (1850)​

Thralls, or indentured servants, were commonly used by the First Men who ruled Westeros prior to the coming of the Andals. For instance, Morgon Banefort, the Hooded King of Banefort, used thralls in his twenty-year war against Loreon I Lannister, King of the Rock. Some of the First Men of the Vale who did not submit to House Arryn after the Battle of the Seven Stars were reduced to thralls. After Lord Lymond Hightower of Oldtown defended against the ironborn king Theon III Greyjoy, he temporarily used thralldom to punish the captured ironborn through forced labour. Some of the free folk clans who dwell in the lands north of the Wall also practised thralldom.

As time passed, however, south of the Wall thralldom came to be only practised by the ironborn of the Iron Islands and it still somewhat survives there despite multiple attempts to eradicate it.

One of the most infamous of those attempts was made by King Harmund III Hoare, known as Harmund the Handsome, who was raised in the faith of The Seven. Going against tradition, he announced that ironborn reavers would be hanged as pirates, outlawed the taking of salt wives, declaring the children of such unions no more than bastards with no right to inheritance, and was considering outlawing thralldom in the isles when a priest of the Drowned God known simply as the Shrike began to preach against “the blasphemer”, and the lords of the Iron Islands listened when other outraged priests of the Drowned God took up the cry.

Septons and their followers stood by King Harmund, but the Shrike managed to overthrow Harmund in a rapid and bloodless rebellion. Afterward, Harmund was confined to the dungeons of Hoare Castle and the Shrike took the deposed king's tongue so he may never again speak "lies and blasphemies". Harmund was also blinded and his nose cut off so "all men might see him for the monster he is". Harmund's brother, Hagon Hoare, was declared king and restored traditional ironborn practices. He allowed the mutilation of his own mother, Dowager Queen Lelia Lannister, whom the Shrike blamed for turning her husband, Harmund II Hoare, and their sons away from the Drowned God to the Faith of the Seven. Lelia's lips, ears, eyelids, and tongue were removed, after which she was sent by longship back to the Rock, which led to war with House Lannister.

Hagon the Heartless was brought down by the westermen led by Ser Aubrey Crakehall, who wanted vengeance for the mutilation of Lelia. The knight had Hagon mutilated the same way that Lelia had been, and then had him hanged. When the westermen conquered Great Wyk in the seventh year of fighting, Ser Aubrey considered restoring Harmund to the throne but instead decided to give the broken man the gift of mercy and ordered that Hoare Castle be razed. Surprisingly, Aubrey then claimed the kingship of the Iron Isles for himself. The Lannisters did not support this decision, and the reign of "King Aubrey" lasted less than half a year before he was captured by the ironborn and sacrificed to the sea by the Shrike.

Centuries later, Lord Quellon Greyjoy had desired stronger ties with the green lands, so he tried to reform the ways of the ironborn and integrate them with the rest of the Seven Kingdoms by freeing thralls, forbidding most reaving, discouraging salt wives, encouraging marriages with the mainland, and bringing maesters to the Iron Islands. With Quellon's death, the title of head of House Greyjoy and Lord of the Iron Islands passed to Balon Greyjoy, his eldest surviving son. Lord Balon rejected most of his father's reforms, and his desire to return to the Old Way led to the failed Greyjoy's Rebellion against the rule of the Usurper Robert Baratheon.

Thralls of the ironborn may only be obtained by paying the "iron price" (capturing them by raiding) under the Old Way. Captives taken during raids become thralls bound to their captors in service, but unlike the slaves in the Free Cities these thralls are no man's property and they may not be sold nor obtained by paying the "gold price." They are allowed to marry and have children, and unlike the children of slaves the children of thralls are free if born on the Iron Islands, although some ironborn believe the children must be still dedicated to the Drowned God. The children of thralls cannot be taken from their parents until they are at least seven years old, the age when most ironborn begin an apprenticeship or join a crew.

Most male thralls are set to work in the fields or the mines (tasks the ironborn consider unsuitable for free men) for their entire lives, although the situation in the mines usually results in a shorter life-span. Educated thralls who are able to read, write, and do sums are instead set to work as stewards, tutors, and scribes. Skilled craftsmen, like stonemasons, are considered to be of even more value.

Older women are made into scullions, cooks, seamstresses, weavers, or midwives, although they are not often taken on raids. Fair maidens and girls near their first flowering are most often taken captive on raids, becoming serving girls, whores, or household drudges upon the isles. The fairest of the young girls taken as thralls are made into salt wives by their captors.

Viking raiders scene by the absolute legend Angus McBride​

In Ironborn culture a rock wife is an ironman's true spouse, an ironborn woman, while a salt wife is a concubine. An ironborn may keep several salt wives, but only one ironborn rock wife. Salt wives are bound to their captors in a religious ceremony, though it is considered a lesser ceremony than that of their rock wife, with the ceremony of a rock marriage being more solemn. The number of salt wives speaks of a man’s status, power, wealth, and virility.

Unlike Dornish paramours, salt wives have a low status in the society of the Iron Islands, on the same level of thralls. Houses descended from thralls and salt wives, such as the Codds and Humbles, are held in low regard and looked down upon by the members of older ironborn houses. The salt wives are not, however, considered whores or slaves and their sons are not considered to be bastards. The ironborn see both the sons by a rock wife and by a salt wife to be legitimate and they all may inherit property or lands. Although the "salt sons" are placed behind the sons of a rock wife in the order of succession, they can indisputably inherit in lieu of trueborn heirs born of a man's true, freeborn rock wife from the Iron Islands. One example of this is of Lord Toron Greyjoy, the salt son of Lord Dalton Greyjoy who died without having taken a rock wife, even though a war of succession did ensue in the Iron Islands on his father's demise.

Dalton Greyjoy, known as the Red Kraken, was the Lord of the Iron Islands, Lord Reaper of Pyke, and the head of House Greyjoy during the late reign of King Viserys I Targaryen and then the Dance of the Dragons. A daring and bloodthirsty man, the Red Kraken is said to have laughed after hearing of the outbreak of war.

(I forced the AI to make me a variation of that Ivar the Boneless chariot scene because it lives rent-free in my head ever since I saw it)​

The Red Kraken chose black over green, deciding to attack the nearby westerlands, vulnerable with Lord Jason Lannister campaigning in the Riverlands. Jason's wife, Lady Johanna, barred the gates of Casterly Rock but was unable to protect the rest of the West. Dalton burned the fleet of House Lannister and sacked Lannisport, carrying off gold, grain, and trade goods. Hundreds of women and girls were taken as salt wives, including the favourite mistress of Jason and their natural daughters. Dalton led the capture of Kayce, and after the fall of Faircastle and Fair Isle he claimed four of Lord Farman's daughters as salt wives, giving the fifth, the "homely one", to his brother Veron.

After the Dance, Ser Tyland Lannister, Hand of the King to Aegon III Targaryen, ordered Lord Dalton Greyjoy to return the women of the Westerlands captured by his ironmen during the war. The Red Kraken refused to do so, however, claiming that only the Drowned God could end the bond between a man and his salt wives. When Lady Johanna Lannister began building a new fleet on behalf of her son, Lord Loreon Lannister, Dalton's ironmen burned her shipyards and abducted another hundred women. Dalton never took a rock wife, although he had twenty-two confirmed salt wives and boasted of having a hundred.

He was killed while sleeping in Lord Farman's bedchamber at Faircastle in 133 AC. Tess was a woman of humble birth, taken as one of his twenty-two salt wives. Accounts differ as to what is known of her; whether she was thirteen or thirty, pretty or plain, virgin or widow, where Lord Greyjoy found her, how long she had been a salt wife, whether she was mad with jealousy or despised him for his reaving and raping. All that is known for certain is that she cut his throat open from ear to ear with his own dagger after he had his pleasure with her, then threw herself naked and bloody into the sea below.

As the Red Kraken had never taken a rock wife, his heirs were two young salt sons at Pyke, Toron and Rodrik. Dalton also had three sisters and several ambitious cousins. Toron was not yet six and his salt wife mother could not hope to act as a regent as a rock wife could, and within hours of the Red Kraken's death a bloody struggle for succession broke out among the ironborn. Hundreds of ironmen were killed as Fair Isle rose in rebellion. Faircastle held out for a time, but the castle fell after Gunthor Goodbrother slew Alester Wynch while fighting for another of Dalton's salt wives, Lysa Farman, daughter of Lord Farman of Faircastle who was already deceased by that time.

After Lord Alyn Velaryon defeated the Braavosi fleet in the Stepstones during the Daughters' War, Lord Unwin Peake attempted to rid himself of Alyn Oakenfist by sending him to end Dalton's insurrection. Having arrived to find Dalton already dead, Alyn Oakenfist left a third of his fleet with the westermen and returned home for the crownlands.

A bloody struggle for power broke out in the Iron Islands after Dalton's death. Little Toron was seized by his aunts and their husbands, and his mother was put to death. Meanwhile, his father's cousins and the lords of Harlaw and Blacktyde raised up his half-brother Rodrik, while another pretender rose up in the form of Sam Salt, supposedly descended from the black line.

The bloody struggle had raged for half a year when in 134 AC Lord Jason Lannister's widow, Johanna Lannister, avenged Dalton's raids by having her men-at-arms sail to the Iron Islands with the fleet of Ser Leo Costayne, the lord admiral of the Reach. Lord Toron's defenders beat off the Lannister assault on Pyke, and thus he remained upon the Seastone Chair. However, among the ironborn slain were two of Dalton's sisters and nine of his cousins. His younger son, Rodrik, was taken captive, gelded, and made into Casterly Rock's new fool.

Dalton's Valyrian steel longsword Nightfall that he claimed as a teenager off a dead corsair when sailing with his uncle to plunder the pirate towns of the Basilisk Isles, eventually passed to House Harlaw. The Red Kraken's life is included in Archmaester Mancaster's Sea Demons: A History of the Children of the Drowned God of the Isles.

 

[streaker77]

At the Eyrie, the throne of House Arryn as well as their Moon Door are carved out of weirwood.

I did not know that

Even further east, the doors of the room in the House of the Undying with the "splendour of wizards"—a mirage depicting the Undying Ones in their prime—are also made of weirwood and ebony.

The House of the Undying Chapter in the books was my favorite of the series.

There are no priests, no holy texts, no songs of worship, practically no rites that go with the worship of the old gods and prayers are done in silence. It is said that the sigh of the wind and the rustle of leaves are the old gods speaking back to worshippers.

While I find the Weirwoods very interesting, I wish the actual process of being an old gods follower was a little more fleshed out, especially for the poor/common folk who dont have acess to a Weirwood/Godswood to meditate under.

The Godswood of White Harbor within the Wolf's Den. Weirwood heart tree with angry carved face is massive

I guess it has a right to be angry given the presence of the Manderlys and their septs.

ord Goren then sent the pickled head of Lodos

The Mantaryans probably approve

and on the walls hung tapestries made of silver seaweed.

I hope they changed it out pretty regularly.......cant imagine that would smell great

nd skins of saltwater to perform ritual anointment as well as to sate their thirst

No thanks

The greatest of all the priests of the Drowned God, Galon Whitestaff, decreed that ironborn must not make war on other ironborn

I think the Ironborn of CK2 must have missed this declaration

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thank you for the time and artwork. What is the source of iron in Ironborn and Iron Islands? Were they the first to use iron weapons? Is there an iron deposit in the islands?

I recently read that the source of the first iron weapons (OTL) were probably made from meteorite iron.

 

[HistoryDude]

Ah, the beginnings of the religion chapters! This will be fun!

It's interesting that neither the Old Gods nor the Drowned Gods have a formal liturgy. It makes one wonder how the commoners worship. I suppose it also gives priests more power - there's no holy book that they must bow to, after all.

These maesters remain as naive and dismissive of magic as ever. If the Second Long Night ever comes, I will be there to laugh at those presumptious men!

What is this about the Deep Ones? Should we be worried about them invading the surface world and breeding? Are there any cities like Innsmouth on Planetos? Especially on the Iron Islands? Not that I'm surprised it's the Ironborn claiming that relation - the Drowned God is basically Cthulhu.

 

[lone_wolf7660]

Hello my paradox friends, I returned. Woah I have lot more things to read now lol.