A storm is a violent atmospheric disturbance over the ocean that brings high winds, heavy rain, lightning, and large, turbulent waves.
Culture
Westeros
The stormlands,[1][2] historically the Kingdom of the Storm,[3] are so-named because they are hit hard by the savage and frequent autumn storms which develop in the warm waters of the Summer Sea to the south and then headed north to the Narrow Sea, sweeping over the Stepstones, battering most of the stormlands coast and picking up moisture until they crashed into Cape Wrath, the aptly-named Shipbreaker Bay, and finally, Durran's Point, where the Storm's End, hence the name of the castle.[4][5] In addition to the Summer Sea, the Narrow Sea can also be rough in autumn, when storms are common, making sailing the Narrow Sea more dangerous.[6] In winter, the storms are worse but less frequent.[7] The islands of the Stepstones are described as barren and storm-swept rocks by Archmaester Gyldayn.[8]
Before the Andals came, the Sistermen of the Three Sisters believed that sacred storms were the result of the Lady of the Waves mating with the Lord of the Skies.[9] The Ironborn believe that the Storm God sets snares to lure the Ironborn to their destruction and sends storms at sea.[10] The seas around the Iron Islands are often stormy.[11] Sailing in Skagos is hazardous, especially during autumn storms when the cold can freeze ropes and sails.[12] South of Duskendale is a rocky headland that shelters the harbor from the storms of the narrow sea.[1] The island of Dragonstone often suffers strong winds and storms in autumn.[13] Some monarchs kept fleets along the western coast of Tarth, as its mountains shield against storms and make the Straits of Tarth more pacific than the Narrow Sea or Shipbreaker Bay.[14]
Noble bastards raised in the stormlands are given the surname Storm.[15] The stormlands are thinly populated compared to most of the Seven Kingdoms, and their people have a reputation for being stormy like their weather.[4]
Essos
Lys is a small city clinging to rocks surrounded by stormy seas.[16] Lorath is on the west side of the largest of three islands surrounded by stormy seas.[16]
Stormbreakers and Stormcrows are sellsword companies operating in Essos.[17][18]
History
Antiquity
The mighty fortress called Storm's End has stood for centuries, facing the terrible weather of Shipbreaker Bay with little wear to show for it. Legend claims that it was built by Durran Godsgrief, who raised six castles, each larger and more formidable than the last, but all were destroyed by storms. The massive seventh castle, Storm's End, is also called Durran's Defiance[19] because it was able to endure the storms.[20] Some believe this was because the children of the forest took a hand in its construction, using their magics in raising the castle walls, which allowed it to resist the storms.[21]
House Dondarrion was founded when a messenger was ambushed by two Dornishmen while riding on the marches on a stormy night. When the rider thought he was doomed, a bright purple lightning bolt killed both Dornishmen. Because the rider was able to deliver his crucial message, the Storm King raised him as the first Lord Dondarrion.[22]
Targaryen Era
In 58 AC, Ser Eustace Hightower and his brother, Ser Norman, accompanied Alys Westhill's journey west, on their ships Lady Meredith and Autumn Moon, but three fierce storms struck the voyagers, with a bolt of lightning splitting Autumn Moon's mast during the third storm before sinking. Some of the crew of the Lady Meredith claimed that it was a kraken who had pulled Norman's ship beneath the sea.[23]
While sailing from King's Landing to Lys, the pregnant Mysaria, paramour of Prince Daemon Targaryen, lost her child during a storm in 105 AC.[24]
During the Dance of Dragons in 129 AC, Aemond Targaryen and Lucerys Velaryon mounted their respective dragons, Arrax and Vhagar, to have a fight above Shipbreaker Bay during a great storm. The dragons were locked together, as lightning crackled around them, but Vhagar quickly overcame Arrax, whose severed head would wash ashore days later, along with the corpse of Lucerys.[25]
In 174 AC, King Aegon IV Targaryen planned to launch an unprovoked war against Dorne, but the huge fleet he had constructed for his invasion never reached Dorne because it was broken and scattered by storms en route to Dorne.[26]
During the First Blackfyre Rebellion in 196 AC, Lord Bracken went across the Narrow Sea to hire sellswords to reinforce the Blackfyres, but storms delayed the return of him and the Myrish crossbowmen he had hired.[27]
The maesters serving at Storm's End have recorded fierce storms nearly every year, especially in autumn. Of these storms, the greatest in living memory occurred in 166 AC and 221 AC.[20] In its long history, the formidable fortress has never fallen to siege or storm.[20]
Lord Steffon Baratheon and his wife, Cassana Estermont, died when their ship was caught in a severe sudden storm. Within sight of their sons, Robert and Stannis, who were standing on the parapets of Storm's End, the Windproud was smashed on the rocks and sank in Shipbreaker Bay, drowing Steffon, Cassana, and hundreds of sailors.[28][29] The only survivor was Patchface, a fool bought by Steffon in Volantis.[28]
In 284 AC, Queen Rhaella Targaryen died giving birth to Princess Daenerys while a great summer storm raged above Dragonstone, destroying what remained of the Targaryen's royal fleet at anchor at the island; for this reason, she is known as "Daenerys Stormborn".[30]
The Night Lamp and the other beacons that burn along the shore of the Three Sisters are supposed to lead the way to safety, but on stormy nights and foggy ones, some Sistermen use false lights to draw unwary captains to their doom.[9]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Catelyn Stark and Ser Rodrik Cassel book a passage on Storm Dancer from White Harbor to King's Landing, but Rodrik becomes seasick during the journey. During a storm near Dragonstone, the knight clings to a rope when nearly swept overboard and has to be rescued by three crewmembers.[31]
A Clash of Kings
King Stannis Baratheon's royal fleet sails from Storm's End to King's Landing before the Battle of the Blackwater, but the ships are scattered and delayed by a storm in the Narrow Sea.[32]
During the Battle of the Blackwater, Tyrion Lannister, the acting Hand of the King, ordered several ships to be filled with wildfire, with the resultant firestorm setting the river afire and destroying nearly every ship in both royal fleets.[32][33][34]
A Storm of Swords
Having left Qarth on the three ships given to her by Illyrio Mopatis, Daenerys Targaryen enjoys the sea and its storms. She is then convinced to continue to Pentos overland when Ser Jorah Mormont points out the dangers they might find at sea, such as storms, krakens, corsairs and pirates.[35][35]
With a storm approaching, Bran Stark, Hodor, and Meera and Jojen Reed stop at Queenscrown to take refuge in its tower. As they wait out the storm, Hodor becomes frightened by the lightning and thunder, shouting "Hodor!" loudly and grabbing at his sword as if to fight the storm. While they easily take the sword from him, the terrified Hodor rejects the attempts to calm him, screaming at each lightning strike. Bran eventually gets Hodor to be quiet by accidentally entering Hodor's mind as a skinchanger.[36]
Autumn storms flood the riverlands.[37][38] During a fierce storm at Pyke, King Balon Greyjoy falls from one of the rope bridges that connect the towers of his castle.[39][40]
A Feast for Crows
Cotter Pyke explains to Samwell Tarly and Maester Aemon that they chose the Blackbird to carry him to Braavos because although Storm Crow and Talon are faster, they are not as good in storms because the rowers sit on open decks.[7] And in fact, they encounter storms during the journey, so Aemon falls ill and is weak once they arrive in Braavos.[41]
A Dance with Dragons
Eastwatch-by-the-Sea at the Wall and Arnolf Karstark of Karhold report savage storms in the Narrow Sea.[42][43] While sailing south from Eastwatch to White Harbor, Salladhor Saan's Lysene fleet is scattered by several storms, causing Salladhor to lose heart and abandon Stannis's cause in the Bite.[9] While sailing north from Eastwatch to Hardhome, Cotter Pyke's expedition of eleven ships is hit by storms, arriving at Hardhome with only six ships left.[44] Storms also scatter the Volantene fleet transporting the sellswords of Aegon Targaryen during the landing of the Golden Company in the stormlands, forcing the fleet to drop them off at multiple locations, with less than half arriving in the stormlands on schedule.[45]
The Elephant and the Goodheart are driven north by a storm, dropping anchor off Hardhome to make repairs and end up capturing several of the wildlings that had been led there by Mother Mole after the battle beneath the Wall, so they can sell them as slaves in Lys, but pirates' plans are foiled when another storm parts the two ships and badly damages the Goodheart, forcing her captain to make for Braavos.[46] A savage storm rages on the Bay of Seals.[47]
The Selaesori Qhoran, traveling a route from Volantis to Qarth, is hit by a violent storm that causes the ship to end up floating low in the water, listing ten degrees to port, with her hull sprung in half a hundred places and her hold awash with seawater. Several people are lost overboard during the storm, including the red priest Moqorro,[48] who clung to wreckage in the sea until he was found by Grief, the ship of Rodrik Sparr, who brings him to Victarion Greyjoy, the Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet contingent dispatched to Slaver's Bay by Euron. Victarion had split his fleet of ninety-three ships into three squadrons, but after violent storms beset it east of the Stepstones, only forty-five ships reached the Isle of Cedars, their rendezvous point, with Ralf the Limper's squadron being hit by three big storms, red winds out of Valyria that smelled of ash and brimstone, and black winds that drove them toward that blighted shore. Victarion thinks of these treacherous storms as "southron storms", and hopes that they also scattered and delayed the Volantene fleet, which are also heading to Slaver's Bay.[11]
The Winds of Winter
| Warning This information has thus far been released in a sample chapter for The Winds of Winter, and might therefore not be in finalized form. Keep in mind that the content as described below is still subject to change. |
Arianne Martell recalls her father, Prince Doran, once argued that the reason the north and south sides of the Sea of Dorne were so different was due to the weather patterns, such as the way the big storms that formed in the Summer Sea would pick up moisture until they crashed into Cape Wrath, though Doran thought it was odd that the storms never struck at Dorne.[5]
Known victims of storms
- Norman Hightower in the Sunset Sea (possibly Krakens)[23]
- Mysaria's unborn child in the Narrow Sea[24]
- Steffon Baratheon at Shipbreaker Bay[28]
- Cassana Estermont at Shipbreaker Bay[28]
- Balon Greyjoy at Pyke[39]
- Captain of the Selaesori Qhoran at Gulf of Grief[48]
Quotes
The storms come and go, the waves crash overhead, the big fish eat the little fish, and I keep on paddling.[49]
—Varys to Tyrion Lannister
Storms were sacred on the Sisters before the Andals came. Our gods of old were the Lady of the Waves and the Lord of the Skies. They made storms every time they mated. These kings never bother with the Sisters. Why should they? We are small and poor. And yet you're here. Delivered to me by the storms.[9]
Storms. Three big storms, and foul winds between. Red winds out of Valyria that smelled of ash and brimstone, and black winds that drove us toward that blighted shore. This voyage was cursed from the first.[11]
The storms would have scattered and delayed the Volantenes, even as they had his own ships. If fortune smiled, many of their warships might have sunk or run aground. But not all. No god was that good, and those green galleys that survived by now could well have sailed around Valyria. They will be sweeping north toward Meereen and Yunkai, great dromonds of war teeming with slave soldiers. If the Storm God spared them, by now they could be in the Gulf of Grief. Three hundred ships, perhaps as many as five hundred.[11]
—thoughts of Victarion Greyjoy
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 9, Brienne II.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Stormlands: Andals in the Stormlands.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Stormlands.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Winds of Winter, Arianne II
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 64, The Ugly Little Girl.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 15, Samwell II.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 9, Davos I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 20, Reek II.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 56, The Iron Suitor.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Beyond the Free Cities: The Shivering Sea.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne - Their Triumphs and Tragedies.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Stormlands: The Men of the Stormlands.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 39, Catelyn V.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 54, Daenerys VI.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Quarrelsome Daughters: Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 42, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 The World of Ice & Fire, The Seven Kingdoms: The Stormlands (Storm's End).
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 31, Catelyn III.
- ↑ The Hedge Knight.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Fire & Blood, The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon: A Question of Succession.
- ↑ The Princess and the Queen.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon IV.
- ↑ The Sworn Sword.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 A Clash of Kings, Prologue.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aerys II.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 3, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 18, Catelyn IV.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 58, Davos III.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 59, Tyrion XIII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 61, Tyrion XIV.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 8, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 40, Bran III.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 47, Arya IX.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 49, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 45, Catelyn V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 54, Davos V.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 26, Samwell III.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 10, Jon III.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 17, Jon IV.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 39, Jon VIII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 61, The Griffin Reborn.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 45, The Blind Girl.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 49, Jon X.
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 40, Tyrion IX.
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 8, Tyrion II.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 42, Davos II.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 5, Tyrion II.