The Westerlands

 

Geography

The westerlands are known for their rugged hills, rolling plains, fertile fields, and broadleaf forests. The land contains lakes and rivers, and the hills conceal systems of caves and caverns.   The region lies along the coast of the Sunset Sea, with Ironman's Bay and the Iron Islands to the north. A salient of the northeastern westerlands extends near the ruins of Oldstones and the Blue Fork. Castles on the northwestern coast include Banefort and the Crag. Faircastle is located on Fair Isle, while Feastfires and the market town of Kayce are found on a peninsula jutting into the sea.   Also along the coast is Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, a fortress carved out of a massive hill of solid rock. Near the Rock is Lannisport, a port and one of the largest cities of Westeros. Three days ride from the Rock is the village of Oxcross. Inland castles near the Rock including Ashemark and Sarsfield, as well as the ruins of Castamere and Tarbeck Hall.   The headwaters of the Tumblestone and the Red Fork begin in the westerlands and flow east into the riverlands. The main pass through the eastern hills is guarded by the Golden Tooth, a castle which controls access to the river road leading to Riverrun. Further south is the Goldroad, which runs east to King's Landing. Deep Den watches this road, with Hornvale to the north and Silverhill to the south.   The southern westerlands contain more flatland than the rest of the country and includes Cornfield and the forest by Crakehall Castle. The Ocean Road leads south from the Rock past Crakehall to Old Oak and Highgarden in the Reach. Also located in the westerlands are Greenfield and Wyndhall.  

People and Economy

Full of hills and crags, the westerlands are dotted with mines from which pour gold and silver in astonishing quantities. There are gold mines at Casterly Rock, the Golden Tooth, Castamere, Nunn's Deep, and the Pendric Hills. The west also has silver mines at Castamere and Silverhill. The mines of the west have made House Lannister the wealthiest of the Great Houses of Westeros.   Besides farming, there is also some fishery in Lannisport and on Fair Isle.  

Military strength

The military strength of the Westerlands holds around fifty thousand strong, though this count includes even green boys, and depletes most castles of any protection. During Aegon's Conquest, King Loren I Lannister marched a host of twenty-two thousand from the westerlands to battle.   The Lannister fleet at Lannisport consists of twenty or thirty cogs, carracks, galleys, and dromonds, while lesser lords have two or three ships for patrolling. The total naval power of the westerlands is fifty or sixty large ships.  

History

Before the Andals

Little is known of the time before the coming of the First Men. Like the rest of Westeros, the children of the forest and giants lived in the westerlands and fought with the First Men when they came. After the Pact at the Isle of Faces, the children only kept the forests. The hills of the west were once inhabited by lions, but they are believed to all have been slain.   First Men lords, some of whom were petty kings, included the Baneforts, Brooms, Crakehalls, Farmans, Footes, Greenfields, Hawthornes, Morelands, Plumms, Reynes, Westerlings, and Yews. The coastal First Men were often raided by the ironborn from the Iron Islands.   During the Age of Heroes, the legendary hero and trickster Lann the Clever acquired Casterly Rock in some manner from House Casterly. According to legend he is the ancestor of the Lannisters, who became the Kings of the Rock with Casterly Rock as their seat. Westermen believe that Lann made off with some of the inheritance of Garth Greenhand by posing as one of his sons.  

Kingdom of the Rock

The Lannister Kings of the Rock gradually conquered or acquired neighboring territory, including the lands of the Reynes and the Baneforts. They initially resisted the coming of the Andals, but later Lannister kings allowed the Andals to marry into the westermen nobility. New houses formed by the intermarriages included Houses Brax, Drox, Jast, Kyndall, Lefford, Marbrand, Parren, Sarsfield, and Serrett. In contrast to most kings of First Men origin, the support of the Andals allowed the Kings of the Rock to expand their power. When King Gerold III Lannister died without male issue, a council crowned his daughter's husband, Ser Joffrey Lydden, who became the first Andal King of the Rock, Joffrey Lannister.   With Andal support the Lannisters extended their rule to the Golden Tooth and Fair Isle and engaged in border wars with the Kings of the Trident and Kings of the Reach. The growing strength of House Lannister allowed them to expel the ironborn from the western coasts, and King Gerold the Great raided the Iron Isles and brought hostages back to the Rock.   Some of the eastern hills of what is now the westerlands were historically ruled by Kings of the Rivers and the Hills, such as the Mudds and the Teagues. Lord Torrence Teague used his spoils after raiding the west in his successful campaign to become river king.   Ser Eustace Osgrey mentioned that a famous relative of his defeated an attack by the Kingdom of the Rock by killing a Lannister king, Lancel V.   Westermen fended off an attack by Halleck Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers.  

Targaryen Era

Loren I Lannister, King of the Rock, mustered his armies to fight Aegon Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, during Aegon's Conquest. Allied with Mern IX Gardener, King of the Reach, they assembled the enormous Host of the Two Kings. However, they were no match for Targaryen dragons. King Loren escaped the so-called Field of Fire and submitted to Aegon. His primacy in the westerlands as Warden of the West was confirmed by the Targaryens. Since this time the westerlands have been part of the Seven Kingdoms controlled by the Iron Throne.   During the Faith Militant uprising, Prince Aegon Targaryen and Princess Rhaena were besieged by the Poor Fellows at Crakehall. Lord Lyman Lannister later gave sanctuary and lent Aegon limited support when he challenged his uncle, King Maegor I Targaryen. Several houses from the westerlands fought for Aegon at the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye, including houses Farman, Tarbeck, Parren and Westerling. When Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen announced his claim to the throne in 48 AC, Lord Lyman was one of the great lords who supported him.  

Recent Events

The Westerlands is a region that remained rather quiet during Aegon’s day. They managed the consistent incursions by the Ironborn as a matter of habit but Loreon Lannister had little interest in the court of the new King. Between that and the wealth of the region they managed to be perhaps the most peaceful region in all of Aegon’s realm, the watchmen of Lannisport touted as the best guards in all the world, this skill and quality extending to the many small armies of the Lords of the Westerlands who made short work of banditry and Ironborn both.   In this peace however a blind eye was turned to those of the Faith who dispensed sectarian justice to the people of the Westerlands who ran afoul of the faith of the Seven. By the time Loreon passed and his son Lyonel took the seat at Casterly Rock, many of the Lords of the Westerlands, Lyonel included, backed the Warrior Son’s and Poor Fellows, either because they helped maintain peace in the region, or because they did such a fine job of disrupting the Westerlands neighbors.   The Westerlands proved an absolute hotbed for the Warrior Son’s, a place where they could find safety, and support of every kind before heading out to spread the good word and swing the seven pointed mace to any who had need of either. One of the most notorious Warrior Son’s still riding the Realm today, the Dog of the Red Hills is well known to the Westermen and serves not only as an agent of chaos in the realm beyond the West, but as a bridge between the nobility and the smallfolk of faith.   So supportive of the Faith is the West that during the royal progress of Prince Vaenor and Princess Rhaela, the Lords of the West provided mere token forces to ‘help’ break the siege at Crakehall when the Poor Fellow’s went after them. Not long after with the death of King Aelyx and the rise of King Baelon, Lord Lyonel Lannister provided refuge for Vaenor and his sister wife, using them as a tool against Prince Baelon and his brutal treatment of the Poor Fellow’s and Warrior Son’s. Many Westerland houses rode in support of Vaenor at the battle of Blackwater Fork, Farman, Tarbeck, Parren and Westerling all raised their banner alongside Lannisters, and all found sound defeat as King Baelon and Balerion the Black Dread ran the field.   Since the defeat of Prince Vaenor the West has largely quieted like in King Aegon’s time, choosing to act behind the scenes primarily supporting Roland Doggett, the Red Dog. Though having shown their hand in support of Prince Vaenor they suffer the occasional punishment from King Baelon who has left the Ironborn to rape the coast and in 43 AC burned the seats of houses Lydden, Brax and Lefford for failing to heed a summons to answer accusations that they supported the Red Dog allowing his men to travel the Rivers and West unimpeded. The houses however survive and for their fortunes and the support of house Lannister make swift progress in restoring their keeps and strength despite the recent death of Lyonel, which has left the seat of Casterly Rock to his son, Lyonel the younger. With few obstacles that money cannot move, the Westermen look toward King’s Landing with the recent summons hoping to avenge their losses and satisfy their bottomless ambitions.