H O U S E G R E Y J O Y
“We Do Not Sow”
House Greyjoy claims descent from the mythic Grey King of the Age of Heroes and makes their seat at the ancient Ironborn castle of Pyke, though they are neither the keep's original builders or lords. A number of High Kings of the Isles were selected from House Greyjoy in the ancient days of the Kingsmoot, and it was Vickon Greyjoy whom the Ironborn selected to rule the Iron Islands after Aegon the Conqueror brought upon the extinction of Harren the Black and the entirety of the Hoare line. They have been Lords of the Isles ever since, swearing fealty directly to the Iron Throne. Recent events however, have called the Ironborn's loyalty to the crown into question. [ ⚔ ] M E M B E R S O F H O U S E
Greyjoy Family Tree
Veron Greyjoy, 116 AC, Lord of the Iron Islands, Son of the Sea Wind and Lord Reaper of Pyke, captain of the Kraken's Kiss
Gwynessa Goodbrother, 113 AC, Lady of Pyke and the Iron Islands
- Rodon Pyke, 131 AC, a base born son of Veron and a Farman daughter during the Dance, captain of the (ship name to be determined)
- Marlon Greyjoy, 135 AC, Heir to Pyke and the Iron Islands, captain of Nagga's Tooth
- Victaria Greyjoy, 151 AC, a daughter born after years of miscarriages, living at Pyke [ ⚔ ] M I L I T A R Y S T R E N G T H
The strength of the Greyjoys is the strength of the Isles themselves. While the levy of Pyke is not as sizable as those of Harlaw or Hammerhorn, when the banners of the Iron Islands are raised, the reavers and sailors number nearly twenty thousand, and the Greyjoys, as the family that sits the Seastone Chair, have personal command over the most formidable fleet both in the Iron Islands and across Westeros, one hundred longships nearly three times the size of those found in the rest of the Isles; the Iron Fleet.
[ ⚔ ] R E C E N T H I S T O R Y
The Iron Islands saw a resurgence during the colossal civil war now known as the Dance of the Dragons when both the Greens and the Blacks courted the Ironborn for their longships. Dalton Greyjoy, the young lord of the Iron Islands known throughout Westeros as the Red Kraken, was presented with two offers. The Greens offered a position on the Small Council as Master of Ships if he were to sail the Iron Fleet around the continent to battle Corlys Velaryon in the Narrow Sea. Rhaenyra Targaryen and the Black Council, however, simply wanted the Ironborn to raid their enemies. One of these enemies was House Lannister, whose lands lied far closer to the Isles and were ripe for pillage and plunder.
As such, the Red Kraken chose Black over Green and set the Iron Fleet on the coasts of the Westerlands. For the better part of two years, the Ironborn once again ruled the Sunset Sea as their ancestors had, and Dalton personally led the attacks that captured the Banefort, Fair Isle, and Kayce. The reavers of the Isles even attempted to assault Casterly Rock, but could not breach the walls of the Lannister castle, instead putting Lannisport to the torch, escaping back to their homes with hundreds of salt wives and their weight in gold.
When the Dance came to an end and the regency of Aegon the Third began, Dalton was commanded to seize his raiding and return to the Isles. He refused, and was only stopped when a girl known only as Tess slit the Red Kraken's throat with his own dagger while he slept in Lord Farman's chambers before throwing herself into the ocean. Dalton died young and without taking a rock wife, with his closest heirs being a litter of infants born of salt wives. The resulting power vacuum, compounding by an invasion of Western forces in retaliation to the previous years of raiding, devastated the Iron Isles.
Eventually, after almost all of the Greyjoys, salt born or otherwise, were either taken hostage or killed, Dalton's eldest brother, Veron, seized control of Pyke and the Seastone Chair. This was due in no small part to his alliance with House Goodbrother. He soon began the process of reining in his bannermen. He had all highborn women taken during the Dance taken home, even taking responsibility for a bastard son born to him and a daughter of Fair Isle.
Thereafter, Veron restricted the Ironborn to reaving the lands of Essos and the Summer Islands, and after he had properly secured his reign, even led a sizable fleet of longships on numerous voyages to the Disputed Lands, working, to the chagrin of many of both his bannermen and Westerosi lords, as both sellsail and sellsword in the innumerable petty wars of the Free Cities and Slaver's Bay. He often worked in exchange for shipments of food and building materials to be delivered to the Isles rather than pure coin, though he did not restrain his followers from taking both thralls and salt wives.
For many years, the Lords of the Isles swore Veron an uneasy fealty. Many said he had abandoned the Old Way and sought to turn his people into glorified mercenaries and sow connections with the green lands. Despite this, Veron has spent the past two decades not only feeding his people, but steadily adding ships to the Iron Fleet.
[ ⚔ ] P O I N T S O F V I E W
Member
Kuro,
Little Bill
