Struggle for power in the Iron Islands
| Struggle for power in the Iron Islands | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 133–134 AC | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Iron Islands | |||||||||||||||||||||
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A struggle for power in the Iron Islands[1][2] broke out after the death of Dalton Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands.
Prelude
Dalton Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, aligned with the blacks during the Dance of the Dragons, and he sent the ironborn to attack the westerlands, which supported the greens. With Jason Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, away on campaign against the riverlands, the ironborn sacked Lannisport[3] and conquered Faircastle in 130 AC.[4]
Dalton continued to hold territory and attack the westermen even after King Aegon III Targaryen came to the Iron Throne in 131 AC, rejecting the edicts of Ser Tyland Lannister, Hand of the King.[5] Johanna Lannister, who ruled the westerlands after the death of her husband Jason in the Dance, planned a campaign to recover Fair Isle in 133 AC, but her plan was betrayed and her commanders were killed.[6]
Unwin Peake, Lord of Starpike and King's Hand, tasked Alyn Velaryon, Lord of the Tides, with bringing peace to the west.[6] While the Velaryon fleet was sailing to the Sunset Sea, they were joined by ships from Oldtown and the Shield Islands. Meanwhile, Dalton gathered hundreds of ironborn ships off the coasts of Fair Isle and the mainland to wait for the approaching royal fleet. The Lord of the Iron Islands was then slain at Faircastle, however, by Tess, one of his many salt wives.[1]
The ironborn fleet broke up as captains returned to the Iron Islands after learning of Dalton's death. Conquered westermen rose up, with hundreds of ironmen killed by smallfolk and knights in the Fair Isle rebellion. The ironmen finally lost Faircastle when Gunthor Goodbrother killed Alester Wynch.[1] Alyn Oakenfist eventually arrived at Lannisport with no one to fight. He eventually returned east while leaving a third of the royal fleet to protect the west.[1]
War in the Iron Islands
Dalton Greyjoy did not have a rock wife, only twenty-two salt wives. His eldest salt son, the five-year-old Toron Greyjoy, succeeded to the Seastone Chair as Lord of the Iron Islands, but his mother was not allowed to serve as regent.[1]
Dalton's three sisters and their husbands seized Toron and killed the boy's mother.[2] Dalton's ambitious cousins rejected Toron's claim and, with the support of Harlaw and Blacktyde, instead supported Toron's half-brother, Rodrik Greyjoy. Meanwhile, Great Wyk raised up Sam Salt, who was said to be a descendant of the extinct House Hoare,[2] once the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers.[7]
After the ironborn had been fighting amongst themselves for six months, Johanna Lannister, Lady of Casterly Rock, convinced Ser Leo Costayne to lean an invasion of the Iron Islands so they could be conquered for her young son, Lord Loreon Lannister.[2] Leo, the lord admiral of the Reach,[8] led thousands of House Lannister soldiers who landed on Pyke, Great Wyk, and Harlaw.[2]
The lord admiral was eventually slain by Arthur Goodbrother on Great Wyk, with most of Leo's army scattered and destroyed and three-quarters of his ships sunk or captured by the ironborn.[8] The westermen destroyed hundreds of ironborn ships and villages, however, and many women and children were killed by the invaders.[2] Nine of Dalton's cousins were killed in the fighting, as were two of his sisters and their husbands. Other notable losses included Lords Botley, Drumm, Goodbrother, Harlaw, Stonehouse, and Volmark.[2]
Toron was able to remain on the Seastone Chair when the Lannisters were unable to conquer the castle of Pyke. Rodrik, however, was taken back to Casterly Rock and made to serve as a gelded fool for Loreon.[2]
Aftermath
Since the fleeing westermen carried off or destroyed the stores of grain and fish, thousands of ironmen starved to death by the end of 134 AC.[2]
| Lord Greyjoy | Unknown wife | Siblings [Note 1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dalton | 22 salt wives | Veron | Unknown Farman | 3 Daughters | Cousins [Note 2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toron | Rodrik | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes: |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: The Red Kraken.