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Iron Islands

From Bronze and Iron: An Andal Invasions AGOT Roleplay Project
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"The islands are stern and stony places, scant of comfort and bleak of prospect. Death is never far here, and life is mean and meager."
- A Clash of Kings[1]


Short Description

The Iron Islands lay in the Ironman's Bay. West to them lies Lonely Light and in the North is the Giant's Fist.


Terrain and Culture

Pyke

Pyke is one of the larger islands of the Iron Islands, a harsh and stony archipelago. East of Saltcliffe, southeast of Great Wyk, and southwest of Harlaw, Pyke lies but a day's sail from Harlaw’s shores. Pyke is not as vast or wealthy in resources as Great Wyk, Harlaw, or Orkmont. [2]

On Pyke is the seat of House Greyjoy. Pyke is so ancient that no one can say with certainty when it was built, nor name the lord who built it. Like the Seastone Chair, its origins are lost in mystery. [3]

Below the towering cliffs, sheltered from the worst of the storms, lies Lordsport. The seat of House Botley. Lordsport offers the safest anchorage on Pyke and serves as the primary point of arrival for ships braving the perilous waters to Pyke.

To the north, along the rocky coast, stands Iron Holt, the seat of House Wynch, another of the island’s powerful houses. The seas around Pyke are notorious for sudden storms and treacherous currents, and cold winds sweep ceaselessly across the island’s barren hills.[2]

Once that isle was ruled by rock kings and salt kings, before the rise of Urron Greyiron. [4]

Notable House

Hardstone Hills

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Notable House

  • House Farwynd of Deadlock
  • House Farwynd of Sealskin Point
  • House Freeborn
  • House Goodbrother of Hammerhorn
  • House Goodbrother of Crow Spike
  • House Goodbrother of Corpse Lake
  • House Goodbrother of Downdelving
  • House Sparr
  • House Tidewood

East Wyk

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Notable House


Old Wyk

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Notable House

  • House Drumm
  • House Goodbrother of Shatterstone
  • [[House Stonehouse


Harlaw

Harlaw is the easternmost of the Iron Islands, lying northeast of Pyke, a day's sail across Ironman’s Bay, and southeast of Orkmont and Blacktyde. To the south, across the wide grey waters of the bay, lies the coast of the Westerlands, with Banefort visible on clear days from Harlaw’s high shores. [5]

Second in size only to Great Wyk, Harlaw is by far the wealthiest and most densely populated of the Iron Islands. While other isles remain stark and thinly peopled, Harlaw boasts more villages, holds, and keeps than any of its kin. The island is dotted with small stone towns and harbors where longships are built and repaired, and trade flows through its markets. Beneath Harlaw’s low hills lie rich veins of lead, tin, and iron . [5]

Once Harlaw was thick with ancient forests, but these were long ago felled by the shipwrights of the isles. Even so, the ironborn here have adapted; while horses are rare across the Iron Islands, the islanders ride sturdy Harlaw ponies and ox-carts remain a common sight along the winding roads. [2]

Harlaw is ruled from Ten Towers, the great seat of House Harlaw, whose power on the isle is unrivaled. Though noble houses such as the Volmarks and Stonetrees hold large lands and boast fierce captains, even they bend the knee to Ten Towers. [2]

Notable House


Saltcliffe

Saltcliffe lies south of Great Wyk and west of Pyke. The isle takes its name from the towering sea-cliffs that line much of its rugged coastline, worn smooth and pale by centuries of salt spray and storm. The waves of Ironman’s Bay crash ceaselessly upon these cliffs, carving sea caves and narrow inlets beneath the grey skies. [5]

Saltcliffe is less notable than its neighbors and the islands stony soil yields little. A single castle rises on the northwestern coast of the isle, a weathered stronghold perched high upon the cliffs, overlooking the restless sea. [5]

Notable House

Blacktyde

Blacktyde is the northernmost of the seven great isles of the Iron Islands, lying north of Orkmont and northwest of Harlaw. [5]

Though counted among the major islands of the archipelago, Blacktyde is less notable than its neighbors. The isle is sparsely populated, its stony hills supporting little more than sheep and goats. Scattered along its coasts stand small fishing villages, where hardy folk harvest fish, crabs, and mussels from the cold, churning sea. Many of Blacktyde’s smaller islets remain uninhabited, save for seabirds and seals. [5]

Notable House

Orkmont

Among the seven great isles of the Iron Islands, Orkmont lies in the middle of it, a land of jagged hills, bare rock, and iron-rich soil. [5]

Once Orkmont was thick with forests, but in the distant past the shipwrights of the Iron Islands stripped its woods for timber, feeding the longships that carried the ironborn to distant shores. Now only stunted scrub and thin grasses remain, and the land is dominated by stone and ore. [5]

Beneath the hills of Orkmont lie some of the richest veins of iron, lead, and tin in all the islands. These metals are the lifeblood of the isle’s trade and forgecraft, worked by skilled smiths into swords, axes, and mail. Though much of this metal finds its way to the forges of Lordsport, many of the finest weapons of the isles are still shaped on Orkmont’s own anvils. [5]

Orkmont is the seat of the mighty House Greyiron, the Iron Kings.

Notable House

Lonely Light

Far to the northwest of the Iron Islands, beyond the shores of Great Wyk and past scattered islets barely large enough to hold a single hearth, rises Lonely Light. It stands upon the largest of a remote cluster of barren rocks scattered amidst the endless grey expanse of the Sunset Sea. The voyage from Great Wyk takes eight days by sail, through waters frequented by seals, sea lions, and spotted whales and great walruses. [5]

Atop the rocky isle stands the lone keep of House Farwynd, crowned by a great beacon fire that burns without ceasing. It is from this light that the isle takes its name, serving as both a guide and a warning to those who dare the far western seas. Beyond Lonely Light lie no charted lands, only the unending grey horizon. [5]

The Farwynds of Lonely Light are a queer folk, even by the measure of the ironborn. It is said that they are skinchangers who take the forms of sea lions, walruses, or even whales that haunt the deeps. Darker tales claim that they consort with seals to birth half-human children. [6]

From the Lonely Light’s beacon, many bold captains have launched westward, lured by tales of lands beyond the sea. Few return, and those who do speak only of endless waters beneath an empty sky. [5]

Notable House

  • House Farwynd of Lonely Light

The Giant's Fist

The Giant's Fist is the traditional name given to the peninsula which stretches from the Neck in the east, all the way to Cape Kraken in the far west. The Fist is predominantly populated by First Men who are most similar in culture to the North and the Neck respectively, however most of their landowning and lordly elites have been supplanted by men from the Iron Islands. The Giant's Fist is currently ruled from Ironmark, held by House Greatiron.

The Giant's Fist is defined by three key features. Firstly, a giant primordial forest covers almost all the land from the Neck to the coasts. These forests are dense, composed primarily of spruce, fir and pine - with several hidden groves of weirwoods nestled in its deepest reaches, where even the Ironborn cannot find them. The second most notable feature of the Giant's Fist are its impressive range of cliffs, spanning its entire southron coastline from the Neck all the way around Cape Kraken, where any harbours are hard to find, and safe harbours nigh impossible. The final notable feature of the Fist are the high ridges that break through the canopied forest, breaking up the landscape and dividing parts of the land. Giants still dwell in these parts, and if they do not take umbrage at intruders, the bears will.

Map of the Giant's Fist c. 31 A.I.

Notable House

History

The Dawn Age

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The Age of Heroes

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The Coming of the Andals

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References

  1. ↑ George R.R. Martin. (1998). A Clash of Kings - Theon I. Voyager Books.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings, (Bad Hersfeld: Random House LLC US, 2000) Theon I
  3. ↑ George R. R. Martin, The World of Ice and Fire, (London: HarperVoyager, 2014) pp. 193
  4. ↑ George R. R. Martin, The World of Ice and Fire, (London: HarperVoyager, 2014) pp. 183-186
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 George R. R. Martin, The World of Ice and Fire, (London: HarperVoyager, 2014) pp. 175-178
  6. ↑ George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire: A Feast for Crows, (Bad Hersfeld: Random House LLC US, 2005) The Drowned Man.
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