The Faith of the Seven, often simply referred to as the Faith, is one of the dominant religions in the Seven Kingdoms. The Faith worships the Seven Who Are One, a single deity with seven aspects or faces (although the less educated, who do not grasp this concept, often believe that there are seven different gods). In association with the seven aspects of their god – the Father, the Mother, the Crone, the Smith, the Maiden, the Warrior, and the Stranger – the number seven is considered holy.
The Faith arose among the hills of Andalos in Essos, where the Andals lived. The Andals brought the Faith to Westeros when they invaded the Seven Kingdoms, largely supplanting the local worship of the old gods. In the Reach, the Starry Sept was constructed at Oldtown, which became the center of the Faith and the home of the High Septon, the Father of the Faithful and the voice of the new gods on earth, for thousand of years, until the construction of the Great Sept of Baelor (depicted) in King's Landing was finished. During Aegon's Conquest, the High Septon convinced Lord Manfred Hightower to open his gates to King Aegon I Targaryen, thereby ensuring a peaceful surrender. He later anointed Aegon, after which it became traditional for the High Septon to give their blessing to every new king. Although the Targaryens had converted to the Faith on Dragonstone before Aegon's day, they still continued their Valyrian customs of incestuous marriages. Such a marriage resulted in the Faith Militant uprising, when the Faith took up arms against King Aenys I Targaryen. The Faith warred against House Targaryen for the remainder of Aenys's reign, and the entire reign of his successor, Maegor I. During the reign of Jaehaerys I Targaryen the issues between the Crown and the Faith were finally resolved, although the Faith received several constrictions as a result. *Read more...*
The Free City of Tyrosh began as a military outpost of the Valyrian Freehold. Located on the northernmost and easternmost of the Stepstones, from this fortress city with its high walls the Valyrians meant to control the shipping through the area. Tyroshi merchants (depicted) transformed Tyrosh from a military outpost to a mercantile city following the discovery of a unique variety of sea snails whose secretions could be used to create a dye popular with Valyrians. Within a generation, Tyrosh grew into a major city, where even until this day trade is considered to be a more honorable profession than arms.
Tyrosh is ruled by an Archon, who is chosen from among the members of a conclave of the wealthiest and noblest of the city. Renowned for their greed, the Tyroshi constantly fight (often with Myr and Lys) to gain control of the Stepstones and Disputed Lands. In 96 AC, however, Tyrosh joined together with Myr and Lys to for the Triarchy, known in Westeros as the Kingdom of the Three Daughters. Together, the three cities fought against the army of Prince Daemon Targaryen and Lord Corlys Velaryon over the Stepstones. They later gave their aid to King Aegon II Targaryen during the Dance of the Dragons, when Aegon fought against his half-sister Rhaenyra, her husband Daemon, and her former father-in-law, Lord Corlys. After the Triarchy had torn itself apart, Tyrosh returned to warring against Myr and Lys.
The Band of Nine sacked Tyrosh after they conquered the Disputed Lands. When they continued on to the Stepstones, they installed the wealthy merchant Alequo Adarys as the King of Tyrosh, replacing the archon. Though the Band of Nine was defeated in late 260 AC, Alequo continued to hold control of Tyrosh for another six years, until his queen poisoned him. *Read more...*
Robert's Rebellion (282 AC-283 AC), also known as the War of the Usurper, was a rebellion against House Targaryen, instigated by the disappearance of Lyanna Stark. When her brother Brandon learned that she had been kidnapped by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, he went to King's Landing to demand her return. He was arrested for threatening the life of Prince Rhaegar, and later executed along with his father, Lord Rickard Stark, and their traveling companions on the orders of King Aerys II Targaryen. Next, King Aerys commanded Lord Jon Arryn to send him the heads of his two former wards, Robert Baratheon, Lyanna's betrothed, and Eddard Stark, Brandon's younger brother, and, following the death of his elder brother and father, now the Lord of Winterfell. Jon Arryn refused, and raised his banners instead, starting the rebellion.
This led to a war which lasted close to a year, and which divided the Seven Kingdoms. Battles were fought in the Vale, the stormlands, the riverlands, and the Reach, and alliances were struck, resulting in the marriage between Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully, and Jon Arryn and Lysa Tully. The result of the rebellion was the end of the Targaryen dynasty, which had lasted close to three hundred years, and the beginning of the Baratheon dynasty. The war included several major battles, including the Battle of the Bells, the Battle of the Trident, and the Sack of King's Landing. Read more....
House Tully is one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. They are an old noble house of First Men origin, dating back to the Age of Heroes. After his father bent the knee to the Andal conqueror Armistead Vance, Axel Tully was given land at the junction of the Red Fork and the Tumblestone, where the Tullys constructed their seat of Riverrun.
The Tullys were never river kings, but they rose to prominence during Aegon's Conquest. Edmyn Tully, Lord of Riverrun, was the first of the river lords to desert King Harren Hoare, giving his support to Aegon the Conqueror. For this Aegon rewarded him with dominion over the riverlands as the Lord Paramount of the Trident. The Tullys have ruled the riverlands ever since, effectively dealing with a rebellion in 37 AC within their borders, an supporting King Maegor I Targaryen in his fight against his nephew, Aegon – although they eventually abandoned him in favor of Aegon's youngest brother, Jaehaerys. During the Dance of the Dragons, House Tully was divided on which side to support. The young Lord Kermit Tully, who inherited the rule over the riverlands late in the war, fought tirelessly for Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen and her son, King Aegon III, bringing House Tully to the height of their power. The Tullys featured prominently once again during Robert's Rebellion, when Lord Hoster Tully involved himself int he war by accepting the betrothals of his daughters, Catelyn and Lysa, to Lords Eddard Stark and Jon Arryn. A decade and a half later, Lord Hoster has grown bedridden, although he keeps the severity of his illness hidden. In his stead, his son and heir Edmure has taken on many of his duties, including the defense of Riverrun, by the time the War of the Five Kings begins. *Read More...*
Dragons are reptilian-like creatures that once lived all over the Known World. The dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold managed to train them, allowing them to use dragons in battle and thereby greatly expand their domains. Forty dragon-riding families could be found in Valyria until the Doom came, which destroyed the Valyrian Freehold. All dragons present died, and the few that survived elsewhere in Essos did not long outlive them. Only House Targaryen, which had relocated from Valyria to Dragonstone twelve years earlier with five dragons, remained of all the dragonlords. On Dragonstone, the Targaryen dragons thrived.
During his conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, King Aegon I Targaryen used three dragons in battle: Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes. His eldest son was given a dragon of his own, and at a certain point it became tradition to present new-born Targaryen princes and princesses with a dragon's egg in their cradle. However, as dragons continue to grow as long as they are given plenty of freedom, the construction of the Dragonpit in King's Landing on the orders of King Maegor I Targaryen slowed the growth of the dragons the Targaryens held. The war known as the Dance of the Dragons greatly reduced the number of dragons alive, as both sides of the war used their dragons in battle against one another. While by the end of the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen twenty dragons were alive, only three of those survived the war (Sheepstealer, the Cannibal, and Silverwing), while the dragon Morning was born the war itself. The last Targaryen dragon died in 153 AC, during the reign of King Aegon III Targaryen, who received the nickname “the Dragonbane” as a result, despite later attempts to hatch remaining eggs.
The dragon eggs and the nineteen dragons skulls of various sizes and ages were displayed by House Targaryen in the throne room of the Red Keep were all that remained of the dragons. Several Targaryen monarchs attempted to hatch the eggs over the years, some with disastrous results. Dragons are believed to be intrinsically tied to magic in the world, and indeed, it is said that the summers have become shorter, and the winters colder and crueler since the last dragon died. Archmaester Marwyn of the Citadel of Oldtown believes the secret goal of the order of maesters to be to suppress magic, and so blames them for the extinction of dragons. *Read more...*
During the War of the Five Kings, Lord Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone proclaims his claim to the Iron Throne. However, he lacks the strength, as his younger brother Renly has also proclaimed himself to be king, and has gained the loyalty of the men of the stormlands and the Reach. Believing that the lords of the stormlands owe him loyalty, Stannis sails with all his strength to his parental seat and besieges Storm's End.
Renly has gathered his huge army at Bitterbridge. Upon learning of Stannis's move, he splits his army and rides with some twenty thousand cavalry to Storm's End to break the siege. With Lady Catelyn Stark in attendance, Renly and Stannis meet for a parlay, during which Renly offers Stannis a peach. Unable to set aside their differences and unable to yield, Renly and Stannis agree that a battle is set to start at dawn the next day. However, a shadow assassin summoned by Melisandre causes sufficient chaos in Renly's camp. With Renly to lead them, the majority of the host that had accompanied him to Storm's End swears their allegiance to Stannis, although a fifth of Renly's knights returns to Bitterbridge with Ser Loras Tyrell. Storm's End's castellan, Ser Cortnay Penrose, refuses to yield the castle to Stannis, and the siege carries on. *Read more...*
Prince Doran Martell is the Lord of Sunspear and the ruling Prince of Dorne. Nearly a decade older than his two siblings, Elia and Oberyn, Doran holds a deep affection for them. As a young man, Doran toured the Free Cities. In Norvos, he met his future wife, Mellario, who returned with him to Dorne. The pair was wed, and quickly had their first child, Arianne. Two sons followed during the next decade. Doran inherited the rule over Dorne from his mother near 279 AC, and became closely allied with House Targaryen when his sister Elia married crown prince Rhaegar Targaryen. The violent deaths of Elia and her two young children at the hands of House Lannister have left Doran with a deep desire for revenge, and although he halted his brother Oberyn's rebellion quickly, he has since worked on destroying all Lord Tywin Lannister, whom Doran considers responsible, holds dear.
Doran's marriage falls apart when he and Mellario are unable to overcome the differences between the customs of Dorne and Norvos. She leaves him and her children, returning to Essos. He becomes alienated from his daughter Arianne, when his secretive behavior leads her to believe he does not love her. Doran's health begins to suffer as well, as he develops gout which slowly takes away his ability to walk. His illness makes him appear much older than he is in truth. Unwilling to appear weak in the eyes of his enemies, he rarely goes out into public.
At the start of the War of the Five Kings, Renly Baratheon wrongly assumes that House Martell will support him. A betrothal between Myrcella Baratheon to Doran's youngest son, Trystane, and the promise of justice for Elia and her children, as well as other benefits, lead to Doran professing loyalty to King Joffrey I Baratheon. However, he refuses to involve his troops in battle unless Dorne itself is at danger, leaving the army of Dorne mostly intact after nearly two years of war. *Read more...*
House Manderly is a Westerosi noble house originating from the Kingdom of the Reach. They had a rivalry with House Peake, which eventually proved to be their undoing. During the long reign of King Garth X Gardener, the two houses became involved in a war for the throne of the Reach, as Garth Greybeard, elderly and senile, had only daughters to succeed him. Both Lord Manderly and Lord Peake had taken one of Garth's daughters to wife, and their struggle for power, marked by betrayal, conspiracy, and murder, eventually escalated into open war, which lasted almost a decade, and ended only when the lords of the Reach rallied together against both noble houses, and a distant cousin of Garth X ascended the throne as King Mern VI Gardener.
The Manderlys were, at some point, driven from the Reach, when King Perceon III Gardener came to fear their growing influence and power. Sore, friendless and in peril of their lives, the Manderlys fled north, where the Starks of Winterfell welcomed them. The Manderlys were given the Wolf's Den and tasked with defending the White Knife in return an oath of loyalty. The Manderlys had brought their wealth with them from the south, which they used to construct the city of White Harbor, currently the main port of the north. Due to their southron origins, the Manderlys are one of the few great houses of the north to follow the Faith of the Seven. *Read more...*
Queen Visenya Targaryen was the eldest child of Lord Aerion Targaryen of Dragonstone and Lady Valaena Velaryon. She was senual and passionate, yet also stern and unforgiving. A warrior, Visenya wielded the Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister. Visenya was wed to her brother Aegon following Valyrian custom; Aegon took their younger sister, Rhaenys, to wife as well. It was said that he had married Visenya out of duty, and Rhaenys out of desire. Though loyal to her brother, Visenya's relationship with Aegon was never warm. After more than a decade of marriage, Visenya gave birth to Aegon's second son, Maegor, who she raised on Dragonstone. When Aegon tore down the Aegonfort in King's Landing and moved to Dragonstone, he gave Visenya the task of overseeing the construction of the Red Keep. It is claimed he did so as not to have to endure her presence on Dragonstone.
As a dragonrider, Visenya rode on her dragon Vhagar during Aegon's Conquest and later during the First Dornish War. In 10 AC, after preventing an assassination attempt on her and Aegon, Visenya convinced her brother of the need of personal guards loyal only to him and created the Kingsguard, personally selecting the first seven knights. Though a councilor to her nephew, King Aenys I Targaryen, Visenya always championed her own son, Maegor. Upon Aenys's death, she immediately retrieved Maegor from exile so he could claim the Iron Throne. *Read more...*
R'hllor is a god worshipped prominently in Essos. He is called by a variety of names, including the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. In Westeros, where his followers are few, he is more commonly known as the red god. The red priests of R'hllor serve at red temples found in numerous locations, including Braavos, Lys, Myr, Pentos, Qohor, Tyrosh, Volantis, Selhorys, Dorne, and Oldtown. The largest of the temples is located in Volantis, where the High Priest resides. His temple guard, known as the Fiery Hand, always numbers one thousand men.
The priests of R'hllor associate fire with life, and associate darkness with the enemy. They pray every evening before a nightfire (pictured), and again light a fire each morning at first light, welcoming the sun. The priests train to see visions in the flames of their fires. According to the priestess Melisandre, the visions are never wrong, although the interpretation of it can err.
R'hllor is locked in an eternal struggle with the Great Other, the Lord of Darkness, over the fate of the world, or so the red priests say. Ancient prophecies from Asshai claim that the struggle will end when Azor Ahai returns wielding Lightbringer and raises dragons from stone. During the reign of the Westerosi King Robert I Baratheon, the red priestess Melisandre travels to Dragonstone in search of the prophesied prince. Feeling that Dragonstone meets the requirements stated in the prophecy, Melisandre comes to believe that Lord Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai reborn. She rises to power on the island by first becoming a close confidant to Stannis's wife and later Stannis himself, playing a prominent part in the War of the Five Kings. *Read more...*
Meereen is the northernmost of the slaver cities in Slaver's Bay, located on the northeast coast at the mouth of the Skahazadhan. It is also the largest and most formidable of the slaver cities, as large as Astapor and Yunkai combined. In this city, built of bricks of many colors, the nobility lives in the stepped pyramids built in the colors of the noble house occupying them. The Great Pyramid, located on Meereen's central plaza, is the largest of the pyramids.
Meereen was once a colony of the Old Empire of Ghis, and Ghiscari influences can still be found all throughout the city. The combats in the fighting pits of Meereen are seen as a blood sacrifice to the gods of Ghis, while the Meereenese nobility wears the Ghiscari *tokar*, a sign of wealth and power.
According to the Meereenese priestess Galazza Galare, the destruction brought upon the region by the Valyrians and their dragonfire forced the Ghiscari to become slavers, a practice which they later taught to the Valyrians. Meereen has not had a king in thousands of years, and is instead ruled by the Great Masters, members of the old slaving families. The slave trade has made Meereen a wealthy city, but in 299 AC makes it a target for Daenerys Targaryen when she starts her campaign against slavery in Slaver's Bay. Following a siege (pictured), she assumes control over the city and installs herself as the first ruling monarch Meereen has seen in a thousand years. *Read more...*
House Tyrell is one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. A large, wealthy house, the Tyrells rule the Reach from Highgarden. Ever since the marriage of Ser Robert Tyrell to the daughter of King Mern VI Gardener, the Tyrells have been able to claim descent through the female line from Garth the Gardener, the mythical first King of the Reach.
During Aegon's Conquest, the last Gardener king, Mern IX Gardener, and his family died on the Field of Fire. His steward Harlen Tyrell surrendered Highgarden to King Aegon I Targaryen and was granted the castle and dominion over the Reach as a reward. The Tyrells fought for House Targaryen in the First Dornish War, and a century and a half later in King Daeron I Targaryen's Conquest of Dorne. Feeling secure in his conquest, King Daeron I left Lord Lyonel Tyrell in charge as governor of Dorne. Lyonel's death at the hands of the Dornish sparked new revolts in the region, and Daeron's conquest was undone in a fortnight.
During Robert's Rebellion, the Tyrells stayed loyal to King Aerys II Targaryen. Lord Mace Tyrell's chief accomplishment during the war was leading the siege of Storm's End, which lasted almost a year. Following Aerys's death, Mace bent the knee and swore loyalty to the new king, Robert I Baratheon. Through his youngest son, Loras, Mace becomes a supporter of Renly Baratheon when the youngest of the three Baratheon siblings makes a claim for the Iron Throne. *Read more...*
The maesters are an order of scholars, healers, scientists, and postmen. Most historical accounts claim that King Urrigon Hightower granted lands alongside the Honeywine to the wise men, teachers, priests, healers, singers, wizards, alchemists, and sorcerors who had been invited to Oldtown by his younger brother Peremore. There, the Citadel was eventually constructed, where the maesters perform their studies and teach their students.
The Citadel is led by the archmaesters, maesters who have become experts in a specific topic. The archmaesters teach their topic of expertise to their students, who can go before the archmaesters and demonstrate their knowledge when they believe themselves to be sufficiently trained. When the student indeed has sufficient knowledge, he earns a link for his maester's chain (pictured). The collar is supposed to remind a maester of the realm he serves. The chain is never removed, and being forced to surrender the chain is considered a great shame.
Lords pay the Citadel to have a maester in their personal service. Having a maester in their service will increase a lord's social status, as lords are considered to be of little consequence if they cannot afford the service of a maester. Upon completion of his education at the Citadel, a maester takes his vows and puts aside his House name (if he had one). A maester is supposed to be loyal to the seat to which he is assigned, regardless of the changes in (lawful and unlawful) control of that holding.
The maester serving at the royal court of the king on the Iron Throne is called the Grand Maester. Elected by the Conclave of archmaesters, the Grand Maester holds a seat on the king's small council and serves as one of the king's advisers. *Read more...*
Arya Stark is the youngest daughter and third born child of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn Tully. She has five siblings: brothers Robb, Bran and Rickon, sister Sansa, and half-brother Jon Snow. Like her siblings, Arya takes care of a direwolf pup, whom she names Nymeria, after the great warrior queen of the Rhoynar.
At the age of nine, Arya moves with her father and sister to King's Landing. Training under Syrio Forel to learn swordsmanship, Arya owns her own blade, Needle, a gift from Jon. When her father is arrested, she flees the Lannisters, using all her training had taught her. Arya escapes King's Landing and starts the journey north, hoping to reach the rest of her family at Winterfell. The riverlands, which she needs to cross first, are heavily involved in the War of the Five Kings, and Arya finds herself captured several times. Witnessing the harsh situations in the war-torn riverlands, Arya's fierce personality leads to her making a "death list", which she calls a prayer. She always ends the prayer with the phrase *valar morghulis*.
Arya is thusfar the only character to have a POV in every book, and author George R.R. Martin has stated that he could write an entire novel on Arya's adventures alone. Read more...
Aeron Greyjoy, frequently called the Damphair, is one of Lord Balon Greyjoy's younger brothers. In his youth, Aeron was an amiable man, fond of songs, ale, and women. During one of his drunken gamblings, he wagered that he would be able to douse a hearth-fire by urinating on it. Although he won the wager, he angered his older brother by naming the ship *Golden Storm*. The ship was eventually sunk during Greyjoy's Rebellion in the sea battle off Fair Isle. Aeron sat out the remainder of the rebellion as a prisoner of the Lannisters, during which time he held piss-contests with "lions, boars and chickens".
Following the rebellion, Aeron was returned to the Iron Islands. At some point during the next decade, Aeron had a near-death experience when he went down in a storm. He underwent a spiritual reawakening when he washed up ashore, safely and unharmed, and has since dedicated himself to the worship of the Drowned God. He is now considered to be a dour, humorless man. As a priest for the Drowned God Aeron has gained respect among the ironborn. His acolytes, called the drowned men, do Aeron's bidding without question. He never cuts his hair or beard, and even has seaweed woven into it. He occasionally drinks seawater, finding it strengthens his belief in his god.
Although loyal to his eldest brother, Balon, Aeron deeply fears his brother Euron, and often recalls a traumatic scene of a door with screeching hinges which he associates with Euron. When the War of the Five Kings breaks out and Balon crowns himself, Aeron accompanies Balon's youngest son Theon to raid the Stony Shore. He eventually returns to the Iron Islands, where he calls the first kingsmoot in thousands of years after Balon falls to his death during a fierce storm at Pyke. *Read more...*
Lord Varys, also known as the Spider, is the master of whisperers on the small council of the monarch on the Iron Throne. Born a slave in Lys, Varys apprenticed as an orphan to a troupe of mummers who worked the Free Cities, Oldtown, and occasionally King's Landing. While at Myr, Varys was sold to a man who used him in a blood magic ritual, during which his manhood was cut off and burned. Varys was left to die, but vowed to live. He rose to becoming the best thief in Myr, until he was forced to flee to Pentos. There, he befriended a poor sellsword, Illyrio Mopatis, with whom he started a business: after Varys stole people's possessions, Illyrio would return the objects for a small fee. Their wealth grew, and meanwhile they came to realize that information was much more valuable. During those days, Varys began to train his spy network, called "little mice".
Varys was eventually brought to the Seven Kingdoms by the Westerosi King Aerys II Targaryen, who had become mistrustful of his family and Hand of the King. Varys served Aerys as master of whisperers, and saw his influence grow quickly. He created a new spy-network, called "little birds", and mastered the secret passages within the Red Keep. After Aerys was killed during the Sack of King's Landing and Lord Robert Baratheon emerged victorious from Robert's Rebellion, Varys was pardoned by the new monarch and allowed to continue his services.
Varys has earned himself a reputation of being seemingly omniscient, but also as untrustworthy, as he often aides enemies, providing both sides with information. According to Ser Barristan Selmy, who served at the royal court with Varys for decades, Varys is where "the rot in King Aerys's reign began". *Read more...*
The War of the Five Kings is a large conflict fought in the Seven Kingdoms from 298 AC until 300 AC. The war is named after the five men who claim the title of king: Joffrey Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Robb Stark, Stannis Baratheon, and Balon Greyjoy. While the three Baratheons fight over the Iron Throne and the title Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Robb Stark fights for independence as the King in the North and King of the Trident. Balon Greyjoy proclaims his own independence and goes on the offensive, declaring himself King of the Isles and the North for a second time.
The War of the Five Kings is fought mainly in the north, the riverlands, the westerlands, the stormlands, and the crownlands, with most of the Great Houses taking part. While tensions had already been building for months, following the death of Hand of the King Jon Arryn, the actual war breaks out after the death of King Robert I Baratheon, when current Hand, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, attempts to seize Robert's acknowledged heir, Prince Joffrey, having discovered that Joffrey is, in truth, an illegitimate son. This leads to Robert's brother Stannis, his legal heir, to claim the throne. However, their younger brother Renly claims the throne as well, on the ground of conquest. After the arrest of Eddard Stark had brought the north into the conflict, Eddard's death at the hands of Joffrey leads to the northern proclamation of independence. Lord Balon Greyjoy eventually decides to take advantage of the war and names himself king, trying to succeed where he had failed ten years before. *Read more...*
Eddard Stark, also known as Ned, is the Lord of Winterfell and the secondborn son of the late Lord Rickard Stark. Having been married to Lady Catelyn Tully since 283 AC, Ned has five children by her: Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. Ned also has a bastard son, Jon Snow, born during Robert's Rebellion.
Eddard was fostered in his youth at the Eyrie by Jon Arryn, whom he regarded as a second father, together with Robert Baratheon, whom Ned saw as a brother. When Eddard's sister Lyanna was supposedly kidnapped by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Ned's older brother Brandon went to King's Landing for justice, but was executed together with their father, Rickard, on the orders of the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen. When Aerys next demanded the heads of Ned and Robert, Jon Arryn refused him and raised his banners in revolt. The war ended with Robert on the Iron Throne, though Ned arrived too late to save Lyanna, who died in his arms at the tower of joy.
Ever since Robert I's coronation, Ned Stark has served as the Warden of the North, keeping the king's peace. In 298 AC, however, Jon Arryn dies and Ned is asked by Robert to replace their former foster father as Hand of the King. Suspicious about Jon's sudden death, Ned accepts, moves to King's Landing, and starts to investigate.
Eddard is known for his unwavering sense of honor and justice. His family finds him kind and loving, although some consider his reserved personality a sign of coldness and disdain. Read more...
Barristan Selmy, also known as Barristan the Bold, is a celebrated hero in Westeros and a veteran knight of the Kingsguard. Barristan was the heir of Lyonel Selmy. As a boy of ten, he donned the armor of a mystery knight during a tourney, where Prince Duncan the Small took pity on him when others present laughed at the small boy. Barristan lost his first tilt, but Duncan named him "the Bold" upon discovering his opponent had been a ten-year-old boy.
Barristan was knighted at the age of 16 by King Aegon V Targaryen, and joined the Kingsguard at the age of 23, after slaying Maelys the Monstrous during the War of the Ninepenny Kings during the reign of Jaehaerys II. Barristan continued to serve during the reign of Aerys II, whom he rescued from captivity during the Defiance of Duskendale. Barristan also fought in the War of the Usurper, where he became wounded on the Trident. Pardoned by the new king, Robert I Baratheon, Barristan continues to serve the Iron Throne as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
A renowned tourney knight, Barristan is one of the most respected knights in the Seven Kingdoms. Though an old man, Barristan still rides forth into battle. Considering his Kingsguard vows to be important, Barristan has felt nothing but contempt for Jaime Lannister since the Sack of King's Landing. Read more...
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<noinclude>[[Category:Feature quotes]]<references /></noinclude>
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“Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.” —Oath of the Night’s Watch
“There will be pain.” —Qyburn
“I’ll scream.” —Jaime Lannister
“A great deal of pain.” —Qyburn
“I’ll scream very loudly.” —Jaime
“Her name is Brienne. Brienne, the maid of Tarth. You are still maiden, I hope?” —Jaime Lannister
“Yes.” —Brienne of Tarth
“Oh, good. I only rescue maidens.” —Jaime
“Is Yezzan going to die?” —Penny
“We are all going to die.” —Tyrion Lannister
“He has a song. He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire. There must be one more. The dragon has three heads.” —Rhaegar Targaryen
“Power resides where men believe it resides... It’s a trick... A shadow on the wall... And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.” —Varys to Tyrion
<references>
“You raped her. You murdered her. You killed her children.” —The Red Viper, accusing Gregor Clegane of his sister Elia Martell’s murder
Fear cuts deeper than swords. —Arya Stark
Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the way hers had been before Joffrey cut her father’s head off. Sansa pitied them. Sansa envied them. —Sansa Stark
“Sometimes, the best thing you can do is nothing. When I first came to Winterfell, I was hurt whenever Ned went to the godswood to sit beneath his heart tree. Part of his soul was in that tree, I knew, a part I would never share. Yet without that part, I soon realized, he would not have been Ned. Jeyne, child, you have wed the north, as I did... and in the north, the winters will come.” —Catelyn Tully
“Art is not a democracy. People don’t get to vote on how it ends.” —George R.R. Martin
“The singers make much of kings who die valiantly in battle, but your life is worth more than a song. To me at least, who gave it to you.” —Catelyn Tully, to Robb Stark
“Here’s your law.” —Gold Cloak soldier, drawing out a shortsword
“That’s no law, just a sword. Happens I got one, too.” —Yoren
“An ant who hears the words of a king may not comprehend what he is saying, and all men are ants before the fiery face of god. If sometimes I have mistaken a warning for a prophecy or a prophecy for a warning, the fault lies in the reader, not the book.” —Melisandre, to Stannis Baratheon
“I have need of every man who knows which end of the spear to stab into the wildlings.” —Donal Noye
“The pointy end.” Jon had told his little sister something like that once, he remembered. —Jon Snow
“There’s no shame in fear, my father told me, what matters is how we face it.” —Jon Snow
“I dream of it sometimes. Of Renly’s dying. A green tent, candles, a woman screaming. And blood. I was still abed when he died. Your Devan will tell you. He tried to wake me. Dawn was nigh and my lords were waiting, fretting. I should have been ahorse, armored. I knew Renly would attack at break of day. Devan says I thrashed and cried out, but what does it matter? It was a dream. I was in my tent when Renly died, and when I woke my hands were clean.” —Stannis Baratheon, to Davos Seaworth
“Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next. Sometimes the best way to baffle them is to make moves that have no purpose, or even seem to work against you. Remember that, Sansa, when you come to play the game.” —Petyr Baelish
“What... what game?” —Sansa Stark
“The only game. The game of thrones.” —Petyr Baelish
“Give me sweet lies, and keep your bitter truths.” —Tyrion Lannister
“It was a hard thing young Samwell asked of me. When Lord Qorgyle was chosen, I told myself, ‘No matter, he has been longer on the Wall than you have, your time will come.’ When it was Lord Mormont, I thought, ‘He is strong and fierce, but he is old, your time may yet come.’ But you are half a boy, Lord Snow, and now I must return to the Shadow Tower knowing that my time will never come. Do not make me die regretful. Your uncle was a great man. Your lord father and his father as well. I shall expect full as much of you.” —Ser Denys Mallister, to Jon Snow
“I am a man. I am kind to my wife, but I have known other women. I have tried to be a father to my sons, to help make them a place in this world. Aye, I’ve broken laws, but I never felt evil until tonight. I would say my parts are mixed, m’lady. Good and bad.” —Davos Seaworth, to Melisandre
Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman’s name... —One of Daenerys Targaryen’s visions in the House of the Undying
Tyrion had only the vaguest memory of Theon Greyjoy from his time with the Starks. A callow youth, always smiling, skilled with a bow; it was hard to imagine him as Lord of Winterfell. The Lord of Winterfell would always be a Stark.
“You know nothing, Jon Snow.” —Ygritte
“Gentle Mother, font of mercy, save our sons from war, we pray, stay the swords and stay the arrows, let them know a better day. Gentle Mother, strength of women, help our daughters through this fray, soothe the wrath and tame the fury, teach us all a kinder way.” —A prayer to the Mother
“Justice. I remember justice. It had a pleasant taste. Justice was what we were about when Beric led us, or so we told ourselves. We were king’s men, knights, and heroes... but some knights are dark and full of terrors, my lady. War makes monsters of us all.” —Thoros of Myr
“The more you give a king, the more he wants.” —Jon Snow
“This isn’t the bloody line of succession. That didn’t matter when you rebelled against the mad king, it shouldn’t matter now. What’s best for the kingdoms, what’s best for the people we rule? We all know what Stannis is—he inspires no love or loyalty. He’s not a king. I am.” —Renly Baratheon
“Stannis is a commander. He’s led men into war, twice. He destroyed the Greyjoy fleet.” —Eddard Stark
“Yes he’s a good soldier, everyone knows that. So was Robert. Tell me something, do you still believe good soldiers make good kings?” —Renly Baratheon
“Death by poison can seem natural. Harder to claim that my head simply fell off.” —Jaime Lannister
Murdered at the Red Wedding, butchered by the Freys. I should have been with him. Where was I? I should have died with him. —Theon Greyjoy
“You swore a vow to guard the king, not to judge him.” —Ser Gerold Hightower, to Jaime Lannister
“Not that I would trust it. Gorghan of Old Ghis once wrote that a prophecy is like a treacherous woman. She takes your member in her mouth, and you moan with the pleasure of it and think, how sweet, how fine, how good this is . . . and then her teeth snap shut and your moans turn to screams. That is the nature of prophecy, said Gorghan. Prophecy will bite your prick off every time.” —Archmaester Marwyn
“And when I die, please let them bury with me a crossbow, so I can thank the Father Above for his gifts the same way I thanked the Father Below.” —Tyrion Lannister
“Where is your father?” —Jaime Lannister
“Gone. We quarreled. Will you pray with me, Jaime?” —Lancel Lannister
“If I pray nicely, will the Father give me a new hand?” —Jaime Lannister
“No. But the Warrior will give you courage, the Smith will lend you strength, and the Crone will give you wisdom.” —Lancel Lannister
“It’s a hand I need.” —Jaime Lannister
Lord Tywin Lannister did not, in the end, shit gold.
“He died during the Battle of the Bells, of an excess of gallantry and an axe.” —Petyr Baelish to Sansa Stark about Denys Arryn
“You drink a deal of wine for such a little man.” —Illyrio Mopatis
“Kinslaying is dry work. It gives a man a thirst.” —Tyrion Lannister
“There are those in Westeros who would say that killing Lord Lannister was merely a good beginning.” —Illyrio Mopatis
“They had best not say it in my sister’s hearing, or they will find themselves short a tongue. And you had best be careful what you say of my family, magister. Kinslayer or no, I am a lion still.” —Tyrion Lannister
“You Westerosi are all the same. You sew some beast upon a scrap of silk, and suddenly you are all lions or dragons or eagles. I can take you to a real lion, my little friend. The prince keeps a pride in his menagerie. Would you like to share a cage with them?” —Illyrio Mopatis
“Man wants to be the king o’ rabbits, he best wear a pair o’ floppy ears.” —Brown Ben Plumm to Daenerys Targaryen
“Three corns and one roast raven. Very good, m’lord, only Hobb’s made boiled eggs, black sausage, and apples stewed with prunes. The apples stewed with prunes are excellent, except for the prunes. I won’t eat prunes myself. Well, there was one time when Hobb chopped them up with chestnuts and carrots and hid them in a hen. Never trust a cook, my lord. They’ll prune you when you least expect it.” —Dolorous Edd to Jon Snow
“The three triarchs are chosen from amongst those noble families who can prove unbroken descent from old Valyria, to serve until the first day of the new year. And you would know all this if you had troubled to read the book that Maester Kedry gave you.” —Quentyn Martell
“It had no pictures.” —Gerris Drinkwater
“There were maps.” —Quentyn Martell
“Maps do not count. If he had told me it was about tigers and elephants, I might have given it a try. It looked suspiciously like a history. —Gerris Drinkwater
“King Robert was well loved, and most men still accept that Tommen is his son. The more they see of Lord Stannis the less they love him, and fewer still are fond of Lady Melisandre with her fires and this grim red god of hers. They complain.” —Bowen Marsh
“They complained about Lord Commander Mormont too. Men love to complain about their wives and lords, he told me once. Those without wives complain twice as much about their lords.” —Jon Snow
“Perhaps your elephants would sooner be nightingales. Instead of sweet song, Meereen’s nights would be filled with thunderous trumpetings, and your trees would shatter beneath the weight of great grey birds.” —Xaro Xhoan Daxos to Daenerys Targaryen
“Careful of the rats, my lord. They make an awful squeal if you step on them. My mother used to make a similar sound when I was a boy. She must have had some rat in her, now that I think of it. Brown hair, beady little eyes, liked cheese. Might be she had a tail too, I never looked to see.” —Dolorous Edd to Jon Snow
“Why shouldn’t we rule ourselves again? It was the dragons we married, and the dragons are all dead! There sits the only king I mean to bow my knee to, m’lords. The King in the North!” —Greatjon Umber
“A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is.” —Eddard Stark
“First Lesson. Stick them with the pointy end.” —Jon Snow to Arya
“The winters are hard, but the Starks will endure. We always have.” —Eddard Stark
“They say it grows so cold up here in winter that a man’s laughter freezes in his throat and chokes him to death. Perhaps that is why the Starks have so little humor.” —Eddard Stark
“Remember this, boy. All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be dwarfs.” —Tyrion Lannister to Jon Snow
“If a girl can’t fight, why should she have a coat of arms?” —Arya Stark
“Girls get the arms but not the swords. Bastards get the swords, but not the arms. I did not make the rules, little sister.” —Jon Snow
“I should have thought that heat ill suits you Starks. Here in the south, they say you are all made of ice, and melt when you ride below the Neck.” —Petyr Baelish
“Oh, I think that Lord Tyrion is quite a large man. I think he is a giant come among us, here at the end of the world.” —Maester Aemon
“I’ve been called many things, my lord, but giant is seldom one of them.” —Tyrion Lannister
“Nonetheless, I think it is true.” —Maester Aemon
“You are too kind, Maester Aemon.” —Tyrion Lannister
“I have been called many things, my lord, but kind is seldom one of them.” —Maester Aemon
“The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends. It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace. They never are.” —Jorah Mormont
“Get out. Monster, monster, get out, get out, GET OUT!” —Rhaenyra Targaryen
“You have lived too long, nuncle.” —Prince Aemond Targaryen
“On that much we agree.” —Prince Daemon Targaryen
“An eye for an eye, a son for a son. Lucerys shall be avenged.” —Prince Daemon Targaryen
“Men call me Darkstar, and I am of the night.” —Gerold Dayne to Myrcella Baratheon
“Which one you want t’ lose, Your Grace?” —Cheese to Queen Helaena Targaryen
“If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.” —Eddard Stark to Bran
“The Iron Throne is mine by rights. All those who deny that are my foes.” —Stannis Baratheon
“The whole of the realm denies it, brother. Old men deny it with their death rattle, and unborn children deny it in their mothers’ wombs. They deny it in Dorne and they deny it on the Wall. No one wants you for their king. Sorry.” —Renly Baratheon
“Oak and iron guard me well, or else I’m dead and doomed to hell.” —Ser Duncan the Tall
“We’re children. We’re supposed to be childish.” —Myrcella Baratheon
“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.” —Cersei Lannister
“Do you even know what honor is?” —Brynden Tully to Jaime Lannister
A horse. —Jaime Lannister to himself
“I don’t know who my mother was.” —Jon Snow
“Some woman, no doubt. Most of them are.” —Tyrion Lannister
“I prefer my history dead. Dead history is writ in ink, the living sort in blood.” —Rodrik the Reader
“There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man.” —Varys
“Laws are a tedious business and counting coppers is worse.” —Robert Baratheon
“Those are brave men. Let’s go kill them.” —Tyrion Lannister
“The gall of them, fighting back!” —Tyrion Lannister
“Whatever you do, make certain your hands are clean.” —Petyr Baelish
“Valor is a poor substitute for numbers.” —Doran Martell
“A bag of dragons buys a man’s silence for a while, but a well-placed quarrel buys it forever.” —Petyr Baelish
“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.” —Eddard Stark
“The dead are likely dull fellows, full of tedious complaints—‘the ground’s too cold, my gravestone should be larger, why does he get more worms than I do...’” —Dolorous Edd
“Do you have any notion what happens when a city is sacked, Sansa? No, you wouldn’t, would you? All you know of life you learned from singers, and there is such a dearth of good sacking songs.” —Cersei Lannister
“You may well have the better claim, but I have the larger army.” —Renly Baratheon
“Once they figure a way to work a dead horse, we’ll be next. Likely I’ll be the first too. ‘Edd,’ they’ll say, ‘dying’s no excuse for laying down no more, so get on up and take this spear, you’ve got first watch tonight.’ Well, I shouldn’t be so gloomy. Might be I’ll die before they work it out.” —Dolorous Edd
“Father had only gone out to ransom Petyr Pimple. He brought them the gold they asked for, but they hung him anyway.” —Amerei “Gatehouse Ami” Frey
“Hanged, Ami. Your father was not a tapestry.” —Mariya Darry
In his chainmail shirt with a sword in his hand, Gendry looked almost a man grown, and dangerous. Hot Pie looked like Hot Pie.
“We’ll never find that one, and I’ll be blamed. Nothing ever goes missing that they don’t look at me, ever since that time I lost my horse. As if that could be helped. He was white and it was snowing, what did they expect?” —Dolorous Edd
“I think it passing odd that I am loved by one for a kindness I never did, and reviled by so many for my finest act.” —Jaime Lannister
“Don’t kill him here!” —Masha Heddle, regarding Tyrion
“Don’t kill him anywhere.” —Tyrion Lannister, regarding himself
“There are no true knights, no more than there are gods. If you can’t protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can. Sharp steel and strong arms rule this world, don’t ever believe any different.” —Sandor Clegane
“What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger.” —Aeron Damphair
“There’s nothing half so mortal as a grey goose feather.” —Theon Greyjoy
“Is there gold hidden in the village? Is there silver? Gems? Is there food? Where is Lord Beric? Where did he go? How many men were with him? How many knights? How many bowmen? How many, how many, how many, how many, how many, how many? Is there gold in the village?” —Arya Stark, stabbing in rhythm
“What if the wolves come?” —Lommy Greenhands
“Yield.” —Arya Stark
“Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air... I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy... protect me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the Silence.” He laughed. “Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray.” —Euron “Crow’s Eye” Greyjoy
“Another name? Oh, certainly. And when the Faceless Men come to kill me, I’ll say, ‘No, you have the wrong man, I’m a different dwarf with a hideous facial scar.’” —Tyrion Lannister, when suggested by Jaime to take another name
“In the dark, I am the Knight of Flowers.” —Tyrion Lannister to Sansa Stark, on the night of their marriage
“A girl should be bloody too. This is her work.” —Jaqen H’ghar to Arya Stark at the battle inside Harrenhal
“Careful with those, you don’t want to get blood all over those pretty white cloaks.” —Bronn to the Kingsguard, when Tyrion rescues Sansa from Joffrey’s cruelty
“Men are such faithless creatures.” —Varys
“Who’s the traitor today?” —Tyrion Lannister
“So much villainy, it sings a sad song for our age. Did honor die with our fathers?” —Varys
“My father is not dead yet.” —Tyrion
“Vengeance. Justice. Fire and Blood.” —Doran Martell
“There are no men like me. There’s only me.” —Jaime Lannister
“Why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?” —Varys, to Ned Stark
“You tell him this, m’lord. You tell him he’s bound on marching the wrong way. It’s north he should be taking his swords. North, not south. You hear me?” —Osha, to Bran, regarding Robb.
“You know the saying about the Hand?” —Robert Baratheon
“What the King dreams, the Hand builds.” —Eddard Stark
“I bedded a fishmaid once who told me the lowborn have a choicer way to put it. The king eats, they say and the Hand takes the shit.” —Robert
Winter is Coming. —House Stark’s words
“And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.” —Tyrion Lannister
“My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind... and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.” —Tyrion Lannister
“You feed your dog bones under the table, you do not seat him beside you on the high bench.” —Tywin Lannister
“Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens.” —Tywin Lannister
“Mummers and monkeys require applause. So did Aerys, for that matter.” —Tywin Lannister
“There is a tool for every task, and a task for every tool.” —Tywin Lannister
“He named you Protector of the Realm.” —Renly Baratheon
“He did.” —Eddard Stark
“She wont care. Give me an hour and I could put a hundred swords at your command.” —Renly Baratheon
“And what should I do with a hundred swords?” —Eddard Stark
“Strike! Tonight, while the castle sleeps. We must get Joffrey away from his mother and into our custody. Protector of the Realm or no, he who holds the king holds the kingdom. Every moment you delay gives Cersei another moment to prepare. By the time Robert dies it will be too late for the both of us.” —Renly Baratheon
“And any man who must say ‘I am the king’ is no true king at all.” —Tywin Lannister
“You cannot eat love, nor buy a horse with it, nor warm your halls on a cold night.” —Tywin Lannister
“This is how you start a war. Not with a crown of gold, but with a blade of steel.” —Gerold Dayne
“Better to mock the game than to play and lose.” —Genna Lannister
“Men are such thundering great fools. Even the sort who come along once in a thousand years.” —Genna Lannister
“Words are wind.” —Tyrion Lannister
“Dreams are what we have.” —Jojen Reed
“Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born.” —Maester Aemon to Jon Snow
“No man is free. Only children and fools think elsewise.” —Tywin Lannister
“Kings and corpses always draw attendants.” —Davos Seaworth
“Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.” —Jorah Mormont
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” —Jojen Reed to Bran Stark
“A man must know how to look before he can hope to see.” —Three-eyed crow to Bran Stark
“Never fear the darkness, Bran. The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother’s milk. Darkness will make you strong.” —Three-eyed crow to Bran Stark
“Qarth wants no *khalasars* seething round our walls. The stench of all those horses... meaning no offense, *Khaleesi*.” —Xaro Xhoan Daxos, to Daenerys Targaryen
“If I could pray with my cock, I would be much more religious.” —Tyrion Lannister
“King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air, and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.” —Ser Barristan Selmy
It all goes back and back, to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads. —Tyrion Lannister
“All you have I gave you. You would do well to remember that, bastard. As for this... Reek... if you have not ruined him beyond redemption, he may yet be of some use to us. Get the keys and remove those chains from him, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother.” —Roose Bolton, to Ramsay Snow
“Do you know who I am?” —The Red Viper
“Some dead man.” —The Mountain
“I shall wear this as a badge of honor.” —Queen Cersei
“Wear it in silence or I’ll honor you again.” —King Robert
“Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?” —Bran Stark
“That is the only time a man can be brave.” —Eddard Stark
“I seldom fling children from towers to improve their health.” —Jaime Lannister
“Joffrey, when your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet. Elsewise no man will ever bend the knee to you.” —Tywin Lannister
“We all need to be mocked from time to time, Lord Mormont, lest we start to take ourselves too seriously.” —Tyrion Lannister
“Let me give you some counsel, bastard. Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” —Tyrion Lannister to Jon Snow
“So young. Though mayhaps this was a blessing. Had he lived, he would have grown up to be a Frey.” —Wyman Manderly
“In the game of thrones, even the humblest pieces can have wills of their own. Sometimes they refuse to make the moves you’ve planned for them.” —Petyr Baelish
“Should I explain to you the meaning of a closed door in a whorehouse?” —Tyrion to Jaime
“Egg? Egg, I dreamed that I was old.” —Maester Aemon
“So I will only ask you once, Lord Snow. Are you a brother of the Night’s Watch, or a bastard boy who wants to play at war?” —Lord Commander Mormont
Reek. Reek. It rhymes with leek. —Theon Greyjoy
“The things I do for love.” —Jaime Lannister
“That sea is colder than a maid and crueler than a whore.” —Tagganaro
“Jon wants to see me?” —Samwell Tarly
“As to that I could not say. I never wanted to see half the things I’ve seen, and I’ve never seen half the things I wanted to. I don’t think wanting comes into it. You’d best go all the same. Lord Jon wishes to speak with you as soon as he is done with Craster’s wife.” —Dolorous Edd
“Bring us Sandor’s head, and I know His Grace will be most grateful. Joff may have liked the man, but Tommen was always afraid of him... with good reason it would seem.” —Cersei Lannister
“When a dog goes bad, the fault lies with his master.” —Kevan Lannister
“The king is my son!” —Cersei Lannister
“Aye, and from what I saw of Joffrey, you are as unfit a mother as you are a ruler.” —Kevan Lannister
“My wants do not matter. It may be that the Many-Faced God has led you here to be his instrument, but when I look at you I see a child... and worse a girl child. Many have served Him of Many Faces through the centuries, but only a few of His servants have been women. Women bring life into the world. We bring the gift of death. No one can do both.” —The Kindly Man of the House of Black and White, to Arya Stark
“As for my household, they love me well. None would betray me.” —Illyrio Mopatis, to Tyrion
Cherish that thought, my fat friend. One day we will carve those words upon your crypt. —Tyrion Lannister, to himself
I should be with them... but no, I had to have a whore. Kinslaying was not enough, I needed a cunt and wine to seal my ruin, and here I am on the wrong side of the world, wearing a slave collar with little golden bells to announce my coming. If I dance just right, maybe I can ring “The Rains of Castamere.” —Tyrion Lannister, contemplating his sorry state of affairs in Meereen.
“Only cowards dress in iron.” —Khrazz
“This coward is about to kill you, ser.” The man was no knight, but his courage had earned him that much courtesy. —Ser Barristan Selmy
“In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.” —George R.R. Martin
They chanted in the tongue of Old Volantis, but Tyrion had heard the prayers enough to grasp the essence. Light our fire and protect us from the dark, blah blah, light our way and keep us toasty warm, the night is dark and full of terrors, save us from the scary things, and blah blah blah some more. —Tyrion Lannister
Felwood
The Stormlands and the location of Felwood
Felwood is the seat of House Fell in the Stormlands. It is located northwest of Storm's End at the southern edge of the kingswood, south of the Wendwater.
Fergon Hoare, known as Fergon the Fierce, was a King of the Iron Islands from House Hoare. The Hoare kings of his era were opposed by the priests of the Drowned God because of their support for the Faith of the Seven, discouraging of reaving, and promotion of trade.
Fermented milk is an alcoholic beverage consumed in Essos.
Varieties include mare's milk of the Dothraki,
Daenerys Targaryen thinks the Dothraki's fermented mare's milk is sour-smelling and thick with clots.
Fern is a peasant who lives in Lambswold in the riverlands.
Either Anguy or Tom of Sevenstreams impregnated Fern. Sharna is at Lambswold helping Fern deliver her baby when Brienne of Tarth, Ser Jaime Lannister, and Ser Cleos Frey passed through the Inn of the Kneeling Man.
Ferny is a wildling. She was the wife of Craster until he died. She is an old woman.
Ferny is one of Craster's wives who approach Samwell Tarly and ask him to flee with Gilly and her newborn son.
Ferrego Antaryon is a member of House Antaryon who serves as the current Sealord of Braavos. Qarro Volentin is the current First Sword of Braavos, his protector.
Ferrego is sickly and failing.
Ferret was a child from King's Landing during the reign of King Daeron II Targaryen. He was both a beggar and a thief.
Ferret was friends with Rafe, Pudding, and Dunk, who would later become known as Ser Duncan the Tall. Once, Ferret stole a head off a spike upon a wall once, when Rafe and Pudding told him he would not dare to do so. When the guards appeared, Ferret threw the head to Dunk. Ferret and his friends escaped the guards with the head, and used it to terrorize the girls of Flea Bottom, by chasing them down and letting them go only after kissing the head. When the flesh on the head turned black, Ferret and his friends threw it into the kettle of a pot shop.
Ferret, Rafe, and Pudding. Little monsters, those three, and me the worst of all.
- Thoughts of Ser Duncan the Tall
Ferris Fowler was a King of Stone and Sky of House Fowler in Dorne.
King Ferris led then thousand men through the Wide Way into the Reach intent on conquest. He was turned back by King Garth VII Gardener.
Feudalism describes the society structure of the Seven Kingdoms, as it is largely resembles the feudal system of medieval Europe.
Feudalism was introduced to Westeros by the Andal traditions[*citation needed*] and is practised within the borders of the Seven Kingdoms. This society is based on a rigid social structure and government consisted of kings, lords, and the peasants. Nobles rule over the smallfolk within their territory through a system of fealty and sworn oaths. In this system each man owes military service to his lord in return for protection, a grant of land, and the peasants to work it.
The feudal system has rigid structure of social classes. Those who are born commoners can expect to die as commoners. There are no provisions for the advancement of individuals from a lower class into the higher classes. This is not to say that it is impossible, only that it is very difficult, usually bestowed by lords to those who have done a great service to them, or knights bestow the rank and title of Knighthood on any individual who has proven himself worthy.
The King on the Iron Throne, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, is at the top of the pyramid; beneath him are the various lords and knights, with peasants, also known as smallfolk, at the bottom. The king sits on the Iron Throne, claims ownership of the land, has the final political authority and holds the ultimate power in all matters. Although in practice the king is constrained by political realities, and while no individual command is likely to be countermanded, he could still lose his position to intrigue if he were to offend the wrong people. Of course, as kings do not retire, this loss of position would involve his death.
Kings in turn have vassals, the high lords of great houses. These high lords control the major regions of the Seven Kingdoms, and in turn employ vassals of their own; even these lords might have vassal lords sworn to them. This system terminates with the lowest level subordinate knights or minor land owners.
Main article: Lord
In George R. R. Martin's world there are only lords, some bigger and some smaller, some sworn to others, but still all with the same title - save for the Lords of Sunspear, who still hold the title "Prince of Dorne." Nobility is a hereditary title, that it is expressed through the bonds of vassalage which connect between them the various owners of strongholds. Each lord has vassals; sometimes the vassals themselves have vassals, and this may continue onward down the line.
The lords of the great house are at the top of the societal order, holding dominion over one of the nine regions of the seven kingdoms, second only to the king. There are petty lords at the bottom, entrusted with only a few villages. It is the Lord's responsibility to see to the affairs of his lands, keep the King's peace, judge on local matters, and ensure that taxes due to the king are collected in a timely manner.
Some lords have extra titles which belong only to their houses: House Greyjoy, for example, has the title of "Lord Reaper of Pyke", House Lannister has "Shield of Lannisport", the newly-created House Royce of the Gates of the Moon has the title of Keeper of the Gates of the Moon made hereditary for them, and House Manderly has several flowery titles, many of which relate to their past life in the Reach and make no sense in the north, but are preserved as tradition. These titles do not elevate a lord above others, they serve as markers of a house's history.
Main articles: Knight, and Landed knight
Knights are the lowest rank of the nobility. This class is made of landed knights, who have been given a keep and grant of land to administer. They have their own peasants and men-at-arms, and may even take sworn swords. Landed knights are sworn to fight for the lord who holds dominion over their land. While the wealthiest knights manage more land than the poorest lords, landed knights do not have the authority to deliver law and justice in their land. Rather, they must appeal to their liege lord.
Landed knight is a rare rank in the north and is almost nonexistent on the Iron Islands, because knighthood is culturally linked with the Faith of the Seven, which is not widely practiced in those lands.
Main article: Smallfolk
Commoners or smallfolk are the bottom of the social structure. They do not own lands or titles; they work the land of their lords, and do not have a say in their own governing. While this may seem similar to slavery, the difference is that commoners own themselves, and can make appeals to their local lord regarding violations of the law or general disagreements between parties; they are recognized as having a right to fair and just treatment by the nobility and society in general. Most Houses have laws protecting the local population from abuse or mistreatment, even by members of the nobility. However, those laws differ and are enforced in varying degrees, mostly depending on the disposition of the local lord.
Many of the tradesmen and craftsmen belong to guilds, such as the Alchemists' Guild.
There is little social mobility; odds are that if you are born a commoner, you will never be able to rise above commoner status. However, it does happen, and there several examples of people who have managed it. Varys was a common-born slave, and rose to be the spymaster of the Seven Kingdoms. Dunk was born a commoner in Flea Bottom, yet he was able to rise to be a member of the Kingsguard.
Heavily based on Real life, medieval Feudal system, Knighthood and Customs entry at the Concordance.
Fever River
The north and the location of the Fever River
The Fever River is a river in the Neck in the south of the north. Moat Cailin lies less than twenty miles from its headwaters. The mouth of the river opens to the Saltspear.
Victarion Greyjoy sails the Iron Fleet up the Fever River and takes Moat Cailin, which lies nearby.
Victarion sails from the Fever River, where the Iron Fleet had beached itself while holding Moat Cailin, to the kingsmoot on Old Wyk.
The Ryswells and Dustins surprise the remaining ironmen on the Fever River and manage to burn their ten longships.
The Fever River is a reference by George R. R. Martin to his novel *Fevre Dream*, which is set on the Mississippi River.
The Field of Crows was the largest battle between the Dothraki and the Tall Men during the Century of Blood. The victory of the horselords allowed them to conquer the rest of the Kingdom of Sarnor.
The Kingdom of Sarnor was a confederation of cities, each with their own king, which was ruled by a High King. Many of the Sarnori, or Tall Men, sought to use the Dothraki nomads for their own benefit, not recognizing the threat the horselords posed to their cities. Although several Sarnori cities were sacked and burned by the Dothraki, it was the fall of Mardosh that led the Sarnori to unite behind High King Mazor Alexi.
The Sarnori army contained six thousand scythed chariots, ten thousand heavy horse, ten thousand light horse, and one hundred thousand foot. They met four *khalasars, nearly eighty thousand Dothraki, halfway between Sarnath and Kasath. The van of Sarnori chariots cut through Dothraki, including Khal Haro, causing his *khalasar to rout. Mazor Alexi led the Sarnori in pursuit, but quickly fell into a trap. While Haro's survivors fired arrows at the Sarnori, Khal Qano attacked from the north and Khal Zhako from the south. Khal Loso's mobile khalasar attacked from the rear, preventing the Sarnori from retreating. Mazor Alexi and his great host were destroyed by the four khalasars. A hundred thousand men may have died in the battle.
The Dothraki quickly conquered Sarnath, which lacked defenders, and then gradually conquered the remaining Sarnori cities, with the exception of Saath.
The Field of Fire was a major battle during Aegon I Targaryen's war of conquest. According to semi-canon sources the field is located in the northern part of the Reach.
Aegon Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, landed at what would become King's Landing and began subjugating the Seven Kingdoms. After the submissions of Harrenhal, Crackclaw Point, and Storm's End, Aegon and his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys, gathered at Stoney Sept with their dragons. Most of House Targaryen's soldiers were conscripts from the recently-liberated riverlands. Lord Jon Mooton of Maidenpool, one of the first lords to come over to the Targaryens, was given command of the Targaryen army.
Loren I Lannister, King of the Rock, joined forces with Mern IX Gardener, King of the Reach, at Goldengrove in an attempt to throw the Targaryen invaders back. Between the two kings they had roughly 55,000 men, roughly five times as many as the Targaryens, including 5,000 mounted knights. Having brought half as many more men to the battle than Loren, Mern commanded the center and his son Edmund led the vanguard. Loren led the right wing while Lord Oakheart had the left.
Lord Manfred Hightower, the Lord of the Hightower, heeded the advice of the High Septon and did not join his liege lord, King Mern, on the march and instead kept his forces back at Oldtown.
The two armies met in the plains south of the Blackwater, near the present Goldroad. While the Two Kings hoped to flank Aegon and then smash Aegon's center with knights, the Targaryens established themselves in a defensive crescent.
The allies' charge began to break the Targaryen spear lines, but Aegon and his sisters took to the air on their dragons, Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar. The dragons began to set the dry field aflame on all sides, especially upwind of the Gardener and Lannister armies. Lord Mooten's Targaryen forces were safely upwind, allowing them to finish off allied soldiers who emerged from the flame. King Loren rode through the flame to safety when he realized Aegon would be triumphant.
The dragons killed 4,000 men of the combined Lannister and Gardener army, among them King Mern and all of his sons, grandsons, brothers, cousins, and other kin.
The battle, the only time in Aegon's Conquest in which all three Targaryen dragons took to the battlefield at the same time, become known afterward as the Field of Fire.
The swords of the defeated were sent downriver on the Blackwater Rush to the Aegonfort, where they would form part of Aegon the Conqueror's Iron Throne.
Aegon marched for the extinct Gardeners' seat of Highgarden, whose steward, Harlen Tyrell, surrendered without conflict. Aegon rewarded him by giving House Tyrell dominion over the Reach and raising him to Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Mander, and Warden of the South.
After the surrender of Highgarden, Aegon marched north to the Red Fork of the Trident to face 30,000 northmen marching south under the leadership of Torrhen Stark, King in the North. Aegon and his sisters gathered an army of 45,000 from the riverlands, stormlands, Reach, and westerlands in response. Having learned of the burning of Harrenhal and the Field of Fire, Torrhen knelt in submission to Aegon rather than give combat, becoming Aegon's Warden of the North.
It was the only time that Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion were all unleashed at once. The singers called it the Field of Fire.
- thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
Fieldstone is a village in the Riverlands.
All the inhabitants are slain by the forces of House Lannister during the War of the Five Kings.
The Fiery Hand is a group of slave soldiers employed as guards for the red temple of R'hllor in the Free City of Volantis. The Fiery Hand contains a thousand soldiers, never more and never less.
Tyrion Lannister and Jorah Mormont see soldiers of the Fiery Hand while watching the red priest Benerro preach at the Temple of the Lord of Light in Volantis.
Five soldiers of the Fiery Hand escort the priest Moqorro aboard the *Selaesori Qhoran*.
"Fifty-Four Tuns" is a bawdy song usually sung over ale. It is a favourite of King Robert I.
The fight at Torrhen's Square.
Theon Greyjoy and Dagmer Cleftjaw plot to take Winterfell. They plan to besiege Torrhen's Square, the seat of House Tallhart, as a diversion, drawing away Winterfell's garrison and leaving it defenceless. Theon sends Dagmer with most of their ironmen to Torrhen's Square,.
In response Ser Rodrik Cassel raises Winterfell's levies and marches with six hundred Stark men to relieve Torrhen's Square, where he is joined by three hundred Cerwyns led by Lord Cley Cerwyn. Dagmer is still besieging Torrhen's Square when the northmen arrive.
Rodrik knows the land intimately, while Dagmer does not. Rodrik leads the gathered northmen to victory. The ironborn are not disciplined enough to stand a charge by mounted horsemen and their shield wall breaks. Dagmer leads the remnants of his force back to the Stony Shore.
With Winterfell's levies away at Torrhen's Square, Theon Greyjoy is able to capture the undefended Winterfell.
The Fight at the Bridge of Skulls.
King-beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder leads the gathered free folk south, hoping to lead them through the gates at Castle Black after having learned that the bulk of the fighting force of the Night's Watch has been wiped out in the fight at the Fist by the Others. In order to do so, he first plans to weaken the strength of the brothers of the Night's Watch who still remain at the castle.
Bowen Marsh chases the wildlings to the Shadow Tower and beyond, into the Gorge.
As Castle Black prepares for the attack from the south by Styr and his men, Donal Noye sends riders after Marsh to fetch them back.
Bowen Marsh corners the Weeper and three hundred of the free folk on the Bridge of Skulls. It is a bloody battle, with a hundred brothers of the Night's Watch slain in the engagement, among them Ser Endrew Tarth and Ser Aladale Wynch, while Bowen Marsh himself is severely wounded.
Bowen Marsh is seriously wounded in the battle and has to be carried to the Shadow Tower in a litter. Ser Denys Mallister sends a raven to Castle Black, to inform the garrison that it will take some time before Marsh is fit enough to return to Castle Black. This new arrives at Castle Black as the garrison is under assault from the main wildling force.
We bled to stop the wildlings at the Gorge. Good men were slain there, friends and brothers.
- Bowen Marsh to Jon Snow
The fight at the Fist sent against them.
Lord Commander Jeor Mormont leads three hundred men on an expedition beyond the Wall, with two hundred men from Castle Black and the rest from the Shadow Tower, in search of the wildlings and, if possible, to discover the whereabouts of Benjen Stark. Finding neither, Lord Commander Mormont choses the Fist of the First Men, an ancient ringfort, as his base of operations while he sends out scouting parties in search of information.
From the Fist, Mormont hopes to stop any march on the Wall. He strengthens their defenses with spikes and pits, caltrops scattered on the slopes, and a ring of watchers around the camp and along the river to warn of any approach.
When the men arrive at the Fist they make camp. Dywen feels that it smells cold, while Jon Snow thinks it smells like death.
While waiting for the last of the search parties to return to decide on a plan of action regarding the wildlings, the Watch are attacked by hundreds of wights, both human and animal. Their volleys of arrows have no effect against the undead attackers and Mormont orders them to use fire arrows, slowing the wights but not stopping them. The Watch is quickly overrun, but Mormont is able to form up about fifty survivors to break out of the Fist.
After a crushing defeat, the majority of the Night's Watch who fight on the Fist are slain by the insurmountable odds. Those who survive are led by Jeor Mormont on a grim march back to Craster's Keep where the next disaster occurs.
Jon: The Old Bear commanded. This place was high and strong, and he made it stronger. He dug pits and planted stakes, laid up food and water. He was ready for ...
Mance: ... me? Aye, he was. Had I been fool enough to storm this hill, I might have lost five men for every crow I slew and still counted myself lucky. But when the dead walk, walls and stakes and swords mean nothing.
- Jon Snow and Mance Rayder
Sam … would you wake me, please? I am having this terrible nightmare.
The fight by Deepwood Motte out of the region.
Stannis Baratheon, under the advice of Jon Snow, goes west from Castle Black to take Deepwood Motte, held by the ironborn under Asha Greyjoy. While moving through the northern mountains, Stannis wins the support of the mountain clans Flint, Wull, Norrey and Liddle, who remain loyal to the legacies of Ned and Robb Stark.
Stannis, now with additional men, attacks Deepwood Motte. Five men, including a Flint, climb Deepwood's eastern wall in an attempt to open the gate, but they are defeated by Asha's guards. Sybelle Glover and Deepwood's maester fail to convince Asha to surrender. Seeing she is outnumbered, Asha decides to retreat back to her longships under cover of darkness. As Stannis's men attack the north gate with a battering ram, the Greyjoys escape out the south gate on foot and on horse and venture into the wolfswood.
Initially traveling south and southwest, the ironborn then head west and intend to travel north to their beached longships only once the sun comes up. They march all night and light no fires and cover, they think, good ground. However, the retreat is slowed due to the unfamiliar territory and darkness. The northmen by comparison know the wolfswood well and are not hindered in the same way.
The northmen sneak up on the ironborn, slaying their sentries and closing in around them. The ironborn fight back fiercely, but they are surrounded and outnumbered. Eventually, they are all subdued. Asha is defeated by Morgan Liddle,
Meanwhile, fighters in fishing sloops led by Alysane Mormont are able to sneak up on the longships off the strand, capturing or burning them.
Stannis takes several of the ironborn captive, including Asha Greyjoy. He frees Lady Sybelle Glover and returns Deepwood Motte to House Glover. This wins Stannis much popular support in the North, with House Glover and its vassal houses as well as House Mormont declaring for him afterwards.
Tris, don some mail, it's time you tried out that sweet sword of yours. Splash some blood upon the moon with me, and I promise you a kiss for every kill.
Fighting at Bitterbridge occurs during the War of the Five Kings in the aftermath of the death of King Renly Baratheon and the fall of Storm's End to King Stannis Baratheon.
Renly Baratheon holds a great melee at Bitterbridge during his march toward King's Landing.
Lord Alester Florent bends the knee to Stannis, the first of several of Renly's followers to join their late king's brother.
The news of Renly's death reaches Bitterbridge, where near sixty thousand men
At some point after Lord Tarly returns to Bitterbridge, a fight breaks out between some who wish to declare for Stannis and some who follow House Tyrell's decision not to. Randyll seizes the stores and puts many men—mainly Florents—to death. Lord Lorent Caswell locks himself inside his castle to avoid the hostilities.
Parmen and Erren are taken to Highgarden as hostages.
Ser Loras is likely making for Bitterbridge. His sister is there, Renly's queen, as well as a great many soldiers who suddenly find themselves kingless. Which side will they take now? A ticklish question. Many serve the lords who remained at Storm's End, and those lords now belong to Stannis.
- Varys to the small council
Fighting at Sow’s Horn takes place between House Karstark and House Hogg in 299 AC, during the War of the Five Kings.
Ser Amory Lorch leads the attempted burning of Sow's Horn. Following Catelyn Stark's release of Ser Jaime Lannister, Lord Rickard Karstark, who had two of his sons killed by Jaime, offers the hand of his maiden daughter Alys in marriage to anyone who can find the Kingslayer. Karstark men raid across the riverlands and crownlands looking for Jaime.
Karstark men looking for Jaime around Sow's Horn are defeated by the men of House Hogg, resulting in three Karstarks being killed and buried.
Lord Karstark has sworn to give the hand of his maiden daughter to any man highborn or low who brings him the head of the Kingslayer.
- Ser Brynden Tully to King Robb Stark
We had some trouble with a band of them white star wolves. They come round sniffing after you, my lord, but we saw them off, and buried three down by the turnips.
- Ser Roger Hogg to Ser Jaime Lannister
The fighting at the fords of the Trident.
Lord Roose Bolton marches from Harrenhal towards the Twins for the wedding of Lord Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey, with Roslin's kinsman, Ser Aenys Frey, having already made a difficult crossing of the ruby ford several days earlier. Once Roose reaches the Trident, torrential rains make fording impossible and the northmen are forced to use small boats to cross. Roose has ferried two-thirds of his force across by the time Ser Gregor Clegane arrives. Those still waiting to cross are primarily from Houses Burley, Locke, and Norrey, with knights from White Harbor serving as rear guard under command of Ser Wylis Manderly.
Gregor attacks the northern rear guard with heavy cavalry. Wylis rallies as best as he can, but the some two thousand[N 1] men who have yet to cross are forced into the river. Many are killed, either drowning in the river or cut down by the Mountain's men. Some northmen are able to flee, but others are taken captive, including Wylis.
Lord Roose Bolton, unable to aid the men south of the ford, continues on to the Twins, leaving behind six hundred men—spearmen from the Rills, the mountains, and the White Knife, a hundred longbow archers from House Hornwood, some freeriders and hedge knights, and some Stout and Cerwyn men—under the command of Ronnel Stout and Ser Kyle Condon to hold the northern shore and prevent Ser Gregor Clegane from crossing the Trident. Remaining with Roose are five hundred mounted men and three thousand infantry, mostly from House Bolton with some Karstark presence.
Once at the Twins, the Boltons betrays House Stark in the Red Wedding.
Fighting in the Hornwood takes place in 299 AC in the Hornwood lands of the north during the War of the Five Kings. Fighting occurs between House Bolton, led by the Bastard of the Dreadfort, Ramsay Snow, on the one side, and Hornwood men loyal to Lady Donella Hornwood and Manderly men led by Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbor on the other side.
Following the assault and capture of Lord Eddard Stark in King’s Landing, his son Robb raises a northern host and marches south into the riverlands. House Hornwood answers the call to banners, and Lord Halys of the Hornwood and his son and heir, Daryn, march with him. Halys is killed by westermen at the battle on the Green Fork whilst his son Daryn dies at the hands of Ser Jaime Lannister at the battle in the Whispering Wood. This leaves Halys's widow, Lady Donella Hornwood, as the head of the house but without an heir, as Daryn was Halys and Donella's only child.
Following the deaths of Halys and Daryn a dispute arises among the northern lords over the Hornwood lands. Lord Wyman Manderly offers to marry Donella, who is a cousin of his and a Manderly by birth. Alternately he offers to marry his son, Ser Wendel, to Donella. In either case, this would allow for the Manderlys to control the Hornwood lands. Mors “Crowfood” Umber also offers to marry Donella, which would allow House Umber to take control of the Hornwood lands. However, Donella is unwilling to marry any of the men.
House Glover foster Larence Snow, the bastard of Halys, at Deepwood Motte and seek for him to succeed Halys once legitimized by Robb Stark, now the King in the North.
Despite having no succession claim, House Bolton's lands border those of the Hornwoods and they also seek the Hornwood lands. Ramsay Snow, the bastard of Lord Roose Bolton, raises a force of men at the Dreadfort, whom Donella hopes are meant for the war in the riverlands rather than any fighting in the North.
House Tallhart announces their claim as well. Berena, the wife of Leobald Tallhart, is a Hornwood by birth and they have two sons, both nephews to Donella. Leobald suggests sending his younger son, Beren, to be fostered by Donella, who could take the Hornwood name once being named heir and succeed her upon her death. Maester Luwin concludes Beren Tallhart is the best solution to the Hornwood succession crisis, but Ser Rodrik Cassel, the castellan of Winterfell, argues that the child is only a boy and could easily be displaced by the armies of Houses Bolton or Manderly.
Houses Flint and Karstark have blood ties to House Hornwood through the female line and so may also be potential claimants to their lands.
It is also suggested that perhaps Lady Donella could be required by Robb to marry a riverlord instead in order to strengthen the alliance between the north and the riverlands. Luwin suggests a member of either House Blackwood or House Frey.
After Donella leaves the harvest feast at Winterfell to return home, she is captured en route to the castle of Hornwood by Bolton men led by Ramsay Snow who have invaded the Hornwood lands. Ramsay forcefully marries her that night in order to claim her lands. In response, Lord Wyman Manderly orders an invasion of the Hornwood and captures the Hornwood castle to prevent the Boltons from taking it.
Ramsay forces Donella to name him his heir and locks her in a tower. Fighting breaks out in the Hornwood forest between Manderly and Bolton men. In response Ser Rodrik Cassel leads a force of men from Winterfell to capture Ramsay. The Bastard of Bolton is supposedly killed after Rodrik arrives, although it was later revealed that in fact Ramsay's friend Reek was killed instead, wearing Ramsay’s clothing. It is revealed that Donella had starved to death in the tower and was forced to eat her own fingers.
Despite the supposed death of Ramsay, the northerners of Winterfell still fear his father, Roose Bolton, will press a claim on the Hornwood lands. Rodrik also states that fighting is ongoing between Bolton and Manderly men as he lacks a strong enough force of men to stop them.
Following the betrayal of House Stark by the Boltons and Freys at the Red Wedding, the Iron Throne legitimizes Ramsay and names his father, Lord Roose Bolton, Warden of the North.
Because Wyman Manderly's son and heir, Ser Wylis, was captured at the Trident, Wyman agrees to a deal with the Lannisters. In exchange for Wyman executing the imprisoned Lord Davos Seaworth, the Hand of the King and envoy of Stannis Baratheon, as well as Wyman withdrawing from the Hornwood lands and castles and submitting to Roose, Wylis will be released from Maidenpool. Sometime after this agreement is made the Manderlys withdraw from Hornwood territory, allowing for the Boltons to take control of the region.
Whilst some Hornwoods submit to Ramsay and attend his wedding to "Arya Stark",
Roose Bolton's bastard had started it by seizing Lady Hornwood as she returned from the harvest feast, marrying her that very night even though he was young enough to be her son. Then Lord Manderly had taken her castle. To protect the Hornwood holdings from the Boltons, he had written, but Ser Rodrik had been almost as angry with him as with the bastard.
- thoughts of Bran Stark
He is the only witness to the worst of the Bastard's crimes. Perhaps when Lord Bolton hears his tale, he will abandon his claim, but meantime we have Manderly knights and Dreadfort men killing one another in Hornwood forests, and I lack the strength to stop them.
- Rodrik Cassel to Luwin
Rhaegar: Have it as you will. By any name, he shall soon be wed to Arya Stark. If you would keep faith with your promise, give him your allegiance, for he shall be your Lord of Winterfell.
Wylla: He won't ever be my lord! He made Lady Hornwood marry him, then shut her in a dungeon and made her eat her fingers.
- Rhaegar Frey and Wylla Manderly in the Merman's Court
Fighting on the Khyzai Pass occurs during the Targaryen campaign in Slaver's Bay.
Daenerys Targaryen forces the Wise Masters of Yunkai to surrender their slaves, but after she leaves for Meereen the Wise Masters resume slaving and begin raising new forces against her.
Daenerys, the new Queen of Meereen, sends Daario Naharis and his sellsword Stormcrows to negotiate with the Lhazareen to ensure land trade through Khyzai Pass.
Daario's Stormcrows attack the Long Lances in the night, killing a few of Yunkai's sellswords. The Stormcrows lose nine men, but Daario convinces twelve of the Long Lances to join Daenerys's cause. Daario kills one Long Lance who says that Meereen will suffer the same fate as starving Astapor.
The Lamb Men of Lhazar agree to trade with Meereen, but the Skahazadhan is closed by the Yunkai'i.
Belwas defeats an opponent © FFG
Pit fighters do battle in a fighting pit - by Marc Fishman ©
The fighting pits are huge circular arenas in the slaving cities of Astapor, Yunkai, Meereen. They provide the cities citizens and visitors with entertainment. The ones in Meereen are the largest and most extravagant, with the main pit being Daznak's Pit. Within the pits, beasts are pitted against beasts, gladiators against gladiators, beasts against gladiators, and even beasts against slave children, dwarfs, or crones, all for the entertainment of the onlookers.
The combatants wear no armour in the fighting pits as it is blood the crowds have come to see.
In Meereen:
In Astapor:
The Gates of Fate at the entrance of the Great Pit of Daznak - by Marc Fishman ©
The fighting pits of Meereen are fighting pits famous across the world.
The Great Pit of Daznak is the biggest and most extravagant in the city, while others include the Pit of Ghrazz, the Golden Pit, and many smaller ones.
The combats are considered to be profoundly religious in nature, a blood sacrifice to the gods of Ghis. To the Meereenese the mortal art of Ghis is not mere butchery but a display of courage, skill, and strength most pleasing to the gods.
Victorious fighters are pampered and acclaimed and the slain are honored and remembered - their names are graven on the Gates of Fate amongst the other fallen. For a criminal condemned to die upon the sands the pits represent judgement by battle, a last chance to prove their innocence.
The pits draw trade to the city and fill its coffers with coin from the ends of the earth. It is said that all men share a taste for blood, a taste the pits help slake. In that way, it is argued, they make Meereen more tranquil.
Meereen customarily claims one-tenth of the pits' profits as a tax. Foreign sailors visit the pits to amuse themselves while they wait for their ships holds to be filled.
After the siege of Meereen, Daenerys Targaryen has 163 of the Great Masters impaled on spikes in Daznak's Pit.
Daenerys, Queen of Meereen, closes the city's fighting pits, which causes the value of pit shares to plummet. Hizdahr zo Loraq takes advantage of the cheap prices and soon owns most of the pits in the city.
Hizdahr has an audience with the queen six times to plead that she re-open the pits, unsuccessfully arguing that by re-opening the pits Dany would show the people of Meereen that she respects their ways and customs.
In order for peace Dany marries Hizdahr and allows the fighting pits to be reopened.
After Viserion and Rhaegal are unleashed upon the city the ruling council of Meereen herd animals into Daznak's Pit, the Golden Pit, and the Pit of Ghrazz in order to feed them and keep them sated. The two dragons prove to have a taste for mutton, returning to Daznak's Pit, which is full of sheep, whenever they grow hungry.
Reznak mo Reznak stressed the coin to be made through taxes. The Green Grace said that reopening the pits would please the gods. The Shavepate felt it would win her support against the Sons of the Harpy. “Let them fight,” grunted Strong Belwas, who had been a champion in the pits. Ser Barristan suggested a tourney instead; his orphans could ride at rings and fight a melee with blunted weapons, he said, a suggestion Dany knew was as hopeless as it was well-intentioned. It was blood the Meereenese yearned to see, not skill. Elsewise the fighting slaves would have worn armor. Only the little scribe Missandei seemed to share the queen’s misgivings.
- thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
The small ones dotted the face of Meereen like pockmarks; the larger were weeping sores, red and raw.
- thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
© Fantasy Flight Games
The finger dance is a game played by the ironborn of the Iron Islands. It is played by at least two people who throw a hand axe at each other. One must catch the axe or leap over it without missing a step. The name comes from the fact that the game usually ends with a dancer losing one or more of his fingers.
According to ironborn legend, Harras Hoare, known as Harras Stump-hand, succeeded Rognar II Greyiron as King of the Iron Islands by winning the finger dance, losing two fingers in the process. Archmaester Haereg instead attributes Harras's selection as king to his marrying an Andal maiden and gaining her family as allies during the Andal invasion.
Balon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, was skilled at the finger dance by the age of thirteen.
Theon Greyjoy sees three men doing the finger dance in the hall of Pyke.
During the kingsmoot, Eldred Codd loses the finger dance to Qarl the Maid when one of his fingers lands in Ralf the Limper's cup.
Drunken ironborn play the game at Oakenshield Castle during the taking of the Shields.
Fingerdancer is an ironborn longship and a member of the Iron Fleet. It is named after the finger dance of the Iron Islands.
The Fingerdancer is part of the Iron Fleet contingent dispatched to Slaver's Bay.
The Fingers by Cris Urdiales ©
The Fingers
The Vale and the location of the Fingers
For the ironman, see Fingers (ironman).
The Fingers are narrow peninsulas of the northeastern Vale of Arryn which extend out into the narrow sea and the Shivering Sea.
The Fingers are windswept, treeless, bare and stony. It often rains in the region,
Thousands of years ago, the Vale was inhabited by petty kings of the First Men. Two such monarchs, Dywen Shell and Jon Brightstone, each claimed to be King of the Fingers. They invited Andals to cross the narrow sea to aid them against their rivals,
Robar II Royce, a Bronze King, was elevated by the First Men to High King of the Vale, the Fingers, and the Mountains of the Moon, and Robar slew Qyle Corbray, King of the Fingers. Robar eventually fell to Artys I Arryn in the Battle of the Seven Stars.
The Kings of Mountain and Vale from House Arryn constructed numerous watchtowers with beacons to defend the Fingers from raiders.
King Theon Stark, the Hungry Wolf, once landed an army on the Fingers, but the Kings of Winter were not able to hold onto the conquest.
After Petyr Baelish was wounded in a duel with Brandon Stark at Riverrun, Lord Hoster Tully sent Petyr to heal at the Fingers once he was strong enough to move.
At the start of Robert's Rebellion, Lord Eddard Stark crossed the Mountains of the Moon and found a fisherman on the Fingers to sail him across the Bite.
Two peasant boys from the Fingers, accused of rape, are among Yoren's band of recruits for the Night's Watch.
Ser Davos Seaworth is sent by King Stannis Baratheon with a chest of letters to spread word of King Joffrey I Baratheon's illegitimacy. His route is to sail to the Fingers and other harbors along the narrow sea.
Varys reports to the small council that a kraken was seen off the Fingers pulling under an Ibbenense whaler.
Lord Petyr Baelish and Sansa Stark sail aboard the *Merling King* from King's Landing to his family's tower in the Fingers, where Petyr weds the widowed Lady Lysa Arryn.
Tyrion Lannister recalls he once heard of a dwarf maester who served on the Fingers.
The Fingers are a lovely place, if you happen to be a stone.
Fingers is an ironman and one of the crew on Asha Greyjoy's ship, *Black Wind*.
Fingers sails to Deepwood Motte with Asha Greyjoy as she contemplates her next move. He is captured along with Asha, Tris Botley, and several other ironborn when the castle is taken by the army of Stannis Baratheon.
Fingers is later freed and ransomed along with the other ironborn by Tycho Nestoris. The Braavosi banker needs an escort to get him to Stannis, whose army is marching on Winterfell.
For the TV episode, see Fire and Blood (TV). For the tome, see Blood and Fire..
Fire & Blood is a planned complete history of House Targaryen by George R. R. Martin.*.
Much material which is set to be published in Fire & Blood originates from the writing of Martin's 2014 book *The World of Ice & Fire. *The World of Ice & Fire, written from the prospective of Maester Yandel, contains sections from the prospective of Archmaester Gyldayn. These sections were written by Martin on his own; however, he wrote much more than at first intended, and in the end delivered 180,000 words on Targaryen history. The great majority of this[N 1] covered Aegon's Conquest up to the end of the Regency of Aegon III.
As of 2014, more than 200,000 words had been written for Fire & Blood.
On July 22nd, 2017, Martin revealed on his Not a Blog that the material for Fire & Blood had grown so large that the decision had been made to publish the fake histories of the Targaryen kings in two volumes. The first volume, simply called Fire & Blood, is set to cover the history of Westeros from Aegon's Conquest up to and through the regency of the boy king, Aegon III Targaryen. In July 2017, Martin reported that the first volume of Fire & Blood is largely written already, whereas the second volume remains largely unwritten.
When announcing the publication date of Fire & Blood on his Not a Blog, Martin revealed the manuscript to be 989 pages long.
Thus far, the first volume of Fire & Blood is known to contain the following texts:
The "Heirs of the Dragon" is about 17,000 words long. It focuses on the children of Jaehaerys I Targaryen and the succession questions following the deaths of his sons. An abridged version, *The Rogue Prince*, previously published in the anthology Rogues in 2014, uses the majority of this text.
"The Dying of the Dragons" is an account on the Dance of the Dragons, and roughly 60,000 words in length. in 2013.
Similarly, an edited-down version of "The Sons of the Dragon" was released in October 2017 titled *"The Sons of the Dragon"* in the anthology *The Book of Swords*.
"Aftermath — The Boy King and His Regents", which covers the chaotic court intrigues during the regency of Aegon III Targaryen, has been stated to be "almost as long" as "The Dying of the Dragons" in total word count.
In February 2017, Elio Garcia, Martin's co-author of The World of Ice & Fire, reported that he had spoken with Martin at WorldCon 75, held in 2017 in Helsinki, about the first volume of Fire & Blood. Garcia reported that – in addition to the never-published material developed for The World of Ice & Fire – Martin also created entirely new material for the book, having "worked some on just fleshing out a bit" the long reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, which was previously only glossed over in "Heirs of the Dragon".
Fire & Blood will be illustrated in a similar fashion as *A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms*. According to Martin, the book is set to contain more than seventy-five black & white illustrations by Doug Wheatley.