Stormlands
The people of the stormlands are like unto their weather, it has oft been said: tumultuous, violent, implacable, unpredictable. - The World of Ice and Fire[1]
The Stormlands, also known as the Kingdom of the Storm, is located to the south-east of Westeros, bordering the Riverlands and the Blackwater to the north, the Reach to the west, Dorne to the south, and the coast of the Narrow Sea to the east. The Stormlands is renowned for its autumn storms that rip through deep forests, stony mountains, and wind-battered cliffs, and beyond[1]. The region is dominated by its enormous woods, and timber is never in short supply[2]. The Stormlands has been nominally ruled by House Durrandon since the Dawn Age as Storm Kings, and for millennia the men of this land have existed as a largely homogenous group with shared customs, traditions, and heritage.
The First Men of this region are known as Stormmen. They are a harsh, martial people, where strength and resilience are highly prized, and a man's competence is oft more respected than bloodline. The Stormmen value a fierce warrior, praising battle-talent and a man's prowess as the highest virtues. As such many second sons and ambitious smallfolk seek out fame, fortune, and glory as wandering sellswords, brave mercenaries, and valiant adventurers both within and far beyond the confines of the Stormlands seeking their next conquest.
Life is rarely easy here, and success is largely defined by defiance against the elements and uncompromising stubbornness with much of the land actively resisting attempts to tame it. While competition is fierce between the nobility, outsiders face a united front if they encroach on the hard-earned prosperity in the Stormlands, though local raids, minors wars, and feuds are a regular occurrence. To outsiders, the nobility of this land are known as Stormlords[3].
With the Coming of the Andals much of Durrandon control eroded, and the unity of the Stormmen was undone. By 31 A.I. Massey's Hook, much of Cape Wrath and the Rainwood, and the Isle of Tarth paid little heed to the Storm Kings, and existed independently.
Main Regions
History
The Coming of the Andals
First Century A.I.
Few Andals arrived in the Stormlands in the early days of their coming. Houses Manning and Pyle landed on the southern edge of Blackwater Bay, while House Polander settled on the Severisles in the Red March. The most impactful of the first Andals in the Stormlands, however, was House Morne, which settled on the eastern portion of Tarth. In 31 A.I., the Mornes launched a conquest of Tarth, and expelled House Evenstar from their ancestral seat after a year's long war. Ser Galladon of Morne named himself king in 40 A.I., and refused to bow to Storm's End when Durrandon messengers were dispatched following his crowning.
The Storming of Tarth followed in 42 A.I., and House Morne was ejected from the isle after two years, with Evenstar Hall and Tarth itself granted to House Blacktyde of Tarth. Storm King Qarlton II Durrandon led this reconquest, and his rule would see the Pyles, Polanders, and Mannings subjugated under the Storm Throne. Qarlton expanded his dominion to the southern edge Blackwater Rush by 56 A.I.
The Storm Kings saw relative prosperity for a time after this. They launched a raid upon the Yronwoods in 67 A.I, and after Qarlton II's death in 75 A.I., his son Durran XIX joined the Reach in expelling House Risley from Goldengrove in 79 A.I. In 86 A.I., Ser Prentys Strickland attempted to land on the Hook, and forcibly convert the populace to worship of the Seven, but an alliance between Storm King Durran XIX Durrandon and King Kermit Massey saw his host shattered.
Second Century A.I.
This would be the end of Durran Stormcrowned's achievements by and large, however. His realm fought several wars that all ended in defeat for the Stormlands, and saw many homes empty come winter. A foray into the Blackwater was shattered by Vance and Darklyn forces in 103 A.I., and an attempt at fighting the Yronwoods again resulted in failure two years later. With his ambitions falling flat, the Storm King fell into depression. He abdicated suddenly in 110 A.I., and left the realm to join the Night's Watch with three of his sons. The remaining sons then squabbled over their inheritance, resulting in a crippling civil war called the Great Stag Duel.
After the Duel, Beron the Boring was crowned king in 115 A.I., but Balder continued to call himself king in the Slayne. Beron I marched on the Slayne with the full might of the Stormlands, and returned it to the fold in 120 A.I. Afterwards, Andals across the kingdom started fomenting dissent or causing chaos. In 122 A.I., House Uller usurped Tarth from the Blacktydes, necessitating a costly war to reconquer it six years later. Morne was sacked, and all septs on the isle were burned. Andals were pushed to resettle on Morningside Isle, and prohibited from re-establishing themselves on the main island of Tarth. House Leygood seceded and swore fealty to Duskendale in 128 A.I., and Beron I lost that war within eight months. Duskendale further expanded to the Baywater Woods due to his weakness. House Sloane arrived somewhere around 130 A.I. and promptly began pillaging the countryside, with many lords failing to capture their leader, Isembard. Their work would continue for years until Isembard's host moved on to other regions, having raided the Stormlands to his contentment for near two entire years uncontested.
In 130 A.I., the Yronwood kingdom collapsed, and Lord Harras Dondarrion moved to secure the Stone Way. He held it for only a year, and was forced to return it to the Wyls after intervention by King Dagos Dayne. The Durrandons had no hand in such a conflict, for their attention was fixed firmly on the Blackwater and vengeance against House Leygood. The Stormlands assembled a coalition to break Duskendale and return it to a first man king, Ormond Darklyn. From 132-136 A.I., Stormmen, Reachmen, Rivermarkers, Rivermen, and Duskmen pushed each other back and forth over the Blackwater Rush. The deadliest war the Blackwater has seen in generations filled the Rush with so much blood that it ran more red than black, and the greater war goal was abandoned. The Durrandons settled for the return of the Baywater Woods, a costly victory that left Beron I feeling hollow.
In 143 A.I., the Andals attempted to seize the Hook. House Toyne and House Bar Drox invaded after defeating the Massey fleet, but within a year, the winter returned. They had invaded during the Year of the False Spring, and were forced to retreat, leaving the Hook but conquering the surrounding islands of Sweetport Sound, Longbar, and Gullet Isle. The Stormlands weathered this second, brutal winter rather well, but the Storm King relied heavily on House Konugtun's generosity, for the war on the Hook dangerously stretched the stores of Storm's End.
In 146 A.I., after the sudden death of his chosen heir, Silas, Storm King Beron I saw fit to end the independence of Greatstock after a hundred years of tradition. Fearing that the Andal lords of Duskendale would have an influence over the young lordling that ruled it, and wishing to expel the Andal House Follard, the Storm King dispatched his armies to bring Greatstock into the fold. Lord Brock Peasebury was installed after the initial claimant, Samwell, died of sickness during the campaign. It took two years.
In 148 A.I., the Masseys bent the knee to the Durrandons. The pressure of a future Andal invasion, and their crushing defeat on sea, made it clear to them that their survival depended on the Stormlands.
In the same year, the Marcher lords banded together to form a united front against the Storm King, finding Beron I's generosity to the Dornish refugees and enforced peace with the new Dayne kingdom an affront to their very way of life. They crowned Mace Caron their king, and marched to war, aiming to slaughter the Dornish and Sisterfolk near their lands. The Marcher Rebellion lasted for a year, after the Storm King's host broke army after army of relentless Marchers. Despite his defeat, Mace Caron was never captured, and fled. The Marcher lords were imprisoned and ransomed back to their families, and their taxes were raised for their crimes. Lord Waldon Dune, for his family's loyalty, was made lord of Broad Arch and the Valor Meadows, the title stripped from House Clover for rebelling with the Marchers. The Clovers would then on rule Cloveridge. House Dondarrion also remained loyal, despite being offered the crown by the Marcher lords. Storm King Beron I would die two months after the war's end, having grown feeble in his old age.
His successor was Storm Queen Elenei I Durrandon, the first ever ruling Storm Queen. She was named his heir after the tragic death of Silas, and won the respect of the other claimants by defeating them each in single combat. She inherited a realm of peace, thanks to Beron I's struggles and sacrifices. For near a decade, she oversaw a period of stability. During this time, she mothered three bastard girls and one bastard son. She refused to take a husband, vowing to never marry and claiming her children were the progeny of the storms themselves.
In 159 A.I., ten years after her ascension to the Storm Throne, Elenei I launched an offensive against the Rainwood. Seeking to restore Durrandon rule to what she considered a long-rebellious province, and wanting to secure her southeastern flank against potential Andal invaders, she took the Estermont Isles with the aid of House Blacktyde. While she did this, the Green Queen marched on Red Watch in righteous fury, and in revenge for the seizure of the Estermont Isles, conquered Corningstone and razed Stonehelm, the ancestral seat of House Swann. This war lasted two years. Afterwards, Elenei spent the summer years preparing for an offensive into the Rainwood itself, looking to avenge the slight of Stonehelm's pillaging and to fulfill her dream of uniting the Rainwood with the Kingdom of the Storm. In 163 A.I., Elenei I claimed to have reforged a ceremonial bronze greatsword using lightning. She told tale that she went out into a great storm, and when the blade was struck, it became a wholly new metal. Sharper, lighter, and stronger, this new blade was named Tempest, and would become something of a family sword for House Durrandon.
In 167 A.I., Elenei I launched her offensive to reclaim Corningstone and shatter the marcher lord Mertyns. The terrain had changed, however. During the interwar years, the Green Queen had shrouded the Rainwood in a vexing fog, and the lands outside of the Rainwood along Cape Wrath and the Drench were stricken with a deadly, massive flood. The lands from Corningstone to Weeping Tower, and from Corningstone to Griffin River, became a treacherous, muddy mire. After a year of heavy fighting in this muck, Elenei I turned her men back home, and the Green Queen had won another victory against her.
In 170 A.I., Elenei I and her long-time lover, King Gwayne V Gardener, made an ambitious move and attempted to unite their realms. With both monarchs still ruling, a realm of two crowns was forged against Andal influence and Andal invasion, but it has yet to have its first true test... Six years later, Elenei I and Gwayne V marched together on Duskendale, and shattered the kingdom. Andal vassals such as Toyne and Cargyll declared themselves independent kings from Darklyn authority, and House Dorwent swore to the Rivermark instead of Duskendale. During the war, House Peake and Dondarrion marched on House Dune to expel them from the Stormlands, and killed the lord's second son. Elenei I returned home, but died before she and Gwayne V could marry and truly unite their realms. Her death was seemingly at the hands of the gods, struck by lightning from Tempest in her own throne room.
In 180 A.I., after a council to determine the heir, Storm Queen Vika I Durrandon was crowned Elenei I's successor. Vika I was left to resolve the problem with House Dune, and she continued to back them over the wishes of the Marchers, angering the Dondarrions. They attempted to rally support against the Storm Queen, but when none came to his aid, Lord Brandon Dondarrion made a desperate move. He surrendered himself to Storm's End, and attempted to assassinate Vika I. He died to the guards, though this would only be the first attempt on Vika I's life in her early reign. Fearing that Vika I would come to conquer him, King Thaddeus Toyne orchestrate an assassination attempt against her. But this also failed, and she learned that the Toynes masterminded the plot, leading to the Stormlands crushing the Toyne navy in the Gullet. Supporting the Darklyns, the Durrandons ousted the Toynes from Driftmark, and put an end to his fledgling kingdom.
In 182 A.I., a year after defeating the Toynes, Vika I turned her attention south. Attacking in concert with Reach and Marcher forces, Durrandon and Dondarrion forces poured into the Stone Way. For three years they pillaged and sacked across the land, taking not just Castle Wyl, but many castles south of it. With winter starting to set in, the Stormlands took Castle Wyl as their prize, and returned home. Vika I held that castle for five years, before it ultimately fell to a Dornish counterattack led by Dayne. She did not dispatch any of her own troops to this effort, however, and left the Marcher lords led by Dondarrion to hold the line.