Editing Iron Islands (section)

==History==
===Settlement===
[[File:Tomasz Jedruszek Every Captain is a King.png|thumb|350px|Every Captain is a King, by Tomasz Jedruszek © Fantasy Flight Games]]
[[Maesters]] believe the Iron Islands were settled by the [[First Men]] many thousands of years ago. Legends claim that the First Men discovered what would be called the [[Seastone Chair]] upon the shores of [[Old Wyk]].{{Ref|ACOK|24}} There is no evidence the islands were inhabited by [[children of the forest]] or [[giants]]. [[Weirwood]] trees do not grow in their poor soils, so the [[old gods]] did not have significant followers there. Instead, the humans who came to inhabit the islands worship their own local religion of the [[Drowned God]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}}

Differing from maesters, the [[priest of the Drowned God|priests of the isles]] claim the [[ironmen]] are not First Men in origin but were created in the image of the Drowned God, and they therefore may have a connection with [[merling]]s. Some also suspect that the isles were originally inhabited by the [[Deep Ones]], and that they are the ones who left the Seastone Chair behind.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}}

Most ironborn believe that their ancestors were an offshoot of the First Men who simply crossed to the isles on boats, where their culture developed differently from their mainland cousins.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}} The ancient First Men kept [[thrall]]s, hinting that the ironborn were also First Men who retained the practice in their isolation.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}}

===Kingsmoots===
According to legend, the islands were ruled by the [[Grey King]] during the [[Age of Heroes]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: Driftwood Crowns}} For much of their history, each island was its own kingdom and had its own kings, a [[rock king]] who ruled the land and a [[salt king]] who commanded at sea. Chosen by [[kingsmoot]], these petty kings constantly fought with each other, and they raided the First Men of mainland Westeros for timber, crops, and thralls.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: Driftwood Crowns}}

[[File:Nagga s hill by zippo.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Nagga's hill]] on [[Old Wyk]], by zippo514 ©]]

The islands were first unified when a powerful priest of the Drowned God, [[Galon Whitestaff]], decreed it was sinful for ironborn to make war upon other ironborn. The other priests preached his word throughout the isles, until the various kings and longship captains convened on [[Old Wyk]] at [[Nagga's Bones]] for the first kingsmoot to select one [[High King of the Iron Islands]] to rule over all. Galon decreed the title was not hereditary, but upon the death of each High King a new kingsmoot would be convened to elect another. The new high kings were also called driftwood kings because of their crowns of driftwood.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}} 

The kingsmoots on Old Wyk ended the petty wars between each of the isles, and with their new unified strength, the High Kings began to conquer other lands instead of just raiding them. Under the rule of King [[Qhored I Hoare|Qhored the Cruel]], the ironborn brought much of the western coast of Westeros under the rule of the Iron Island, including lands as far as [[Bear Island]], the [[Arbor]], and [[Oldtown]].{{Ref|AGOT|Appendix}} They were gradually lost by his successors, however, as mainland houses such as the [[House Hightower|Hightowers]], [[House Gardener|Gardeners]], and [[House Lannister|Lannisters]] increased in strength. The High Kings came from numerous houses, with most coming from Houses [[House Greyjoy|Greyjoy]], [[House Goodbrother|Goodbrother]], and especially [[House Greyiron|Greyiron]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: Driftwood Crowns}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Greyjoys of Pyke}}

===The Greyiron dynasty===
Upon the death of High King [[Urragon III Greyiron]], his younger sons convened a kingsmoot which chose [[Urrathon IV Goodbrother]], although Urragon's elder son, [[Torgon Greyiron]], was away raiding the [[Reach]]. Supported by priests unhappy with Urrathon's tyranny, Torgon declared the kingsmoot invalid when he returned to the Iron Islands, and the so-called Badbrother was overthrown. Although Torgon the Latecomer was wise, the ironborn were still in decline and the [[Cape of Eagles]] was lost to the [[House Mallister|Mallisters]] of [[Seagard]]. Torgon had his son rule alongside him for several years, and [[Urragon IV Greyiron]] thus also became High King without being chosen in a kingsmoot.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: Driftwood Crowns}}
  
The dying wish of Urragon IV was that the high kingship pass to his great-nephew [[Urron Greyiron]], salt king of Orkmont. When the priests insisted that a kingsmoot be held at [[Old Wyk]], Urron had his men slaughter those who attended, including thirteen other kings and half a hundred priests.{{Ref|ACOK|11}} Urron Redhand established the hereditary rule of [[House Greyiron]] over the Iron Islands. Instead of being called High Kings, they titled themselves [[King of the Iron Islands]] and wore iron crowns. Abolishing the system of rock and salt kings, the Greyirons reduced other ironborn kings to vassal [[lord]]s and extinguished families who refused to submit.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Iron Kings}}
 
While the driftwood kings were elected by consent of the lords and captains, the iron kings led to infighting among the ironborn, which the priests were unable to stop. The Greyirons faced half a dozen major rebellions, numerous smaller insurrections and insubordinations, and at least two major [[thrall]] uprisings.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Iron Kings}}

The stronger and larger kingdoms of the [[green lands]] took advantage of the ironborn's disunity to take back conquests on mainland [[Westeros]]. For instance, [[Garth VII Gardener]], [[King of the Reach]], drove the ironmen from the [[Shield Islands]] and fortified them to prevent ironborn raids up the [[Mander]].{{Ref|AFFC|29}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Iron Kings}}
  
Unlike the First Men, the [[Andals]] built strong ships capable of fighting ironborn longships. During the [[coming of the Andals]], wooden stockades of the First Men with replaced with stone castles throughout the [[Reach]], the [[riverlands]], and the [[westerlands]], new defenses against the lightning raids of the ironborn. All of their possessions lost, the Greyirons barely held on to power, and the isles increasingly divided into civil wars. After a thousand years of hereditary rule, the Greyirons fell to a coalition of ironborn lords and Andal adventurers, who often intermarried with the natives of the Iron Islands.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Iron Kings}}

===The Hoare dynasty===
[[File:Tomasz Jedruszek Iron Islands MarinesII.png|thumb|350px|Iron Islands Marines, by Tomasz Jedruszek © Fantasy Flight Games]]
The [[House Greyiron|Greyirons]] were replaced as hereditary Kings of the Iron Islands by [[House Hoare]], who intermarried with the [[Andals]] when they came to the isles. The [[priests of the Drowned God]] considered the Hoares ungodly and false kings, which Archmaester [[Hake (archmaester)|Hake]] agreed with. Archmaester [[Haereg]], however, believed the Hoares were disliked for tolerating the [[Faith of the Seven]], discouraging reaving, and promoting trade.{{ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Black Blood}}

The priests eventually rebelled against King [[Harmund III Hoare|Harmund the Handsome]], led by a priest remembered as the [[Shrike]]. They overthrew Harmund within a fortnight and mutilated his mother, Dowager Queen [[Lelia Lannister]], which led to a long war with the [[westerlands]] which left the Iron Islands impoverished and ill-prepared for the [[Famine Winter]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Black Blood}} Ser [[Aubrey Crakehall]] claimed the islands for himself during the war, but he was swiftly overthrown by the ironmen.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Black Blood}}

It took centuries for the Iron Islands to recover, during which ironmen began to trade with coastal Westeros and the [[Free Cities]]. Only a shadow of what they once were, the ironborn no longer held territories on the fortified mainland and instead reaved in distant places, such as the [[Basilisk Isles]], [[Stepstones]], and [[Disputed Lands]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Black Blood}}

===Kings of the Isles and the Rivers===
A few generations before the [[Wars of Conquest]], the peaceful King [[Qhorwyn Hoare|Qhorwyn the Cunning]] built a strong fleet to deter attack.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Black Blood}} His ambitious son, King [[Harwyn Hoare|Harwyn Hardhand]], then conquered the [[Trident]] on the mainland from the [[Storm King]] [[Arrec Durrandon]].{{Ref|AGOT|Appendix}} Instead of relinquishing control of the territory to rivermen, the Hoares ruled both the [[riverlands]] and the Iron Islands as [[Kings of the Isles and the Rivers]]. Harwyn's son, King [[Halleck Hoare|Halleck]], ruled from [[Fairmarket]] on the [[Blue Fork]] of the Trident rather than from the Iron Islands, and he led unsuccessful campaigns against the [[stormlands]], the [[westerlands]], and the [[Vale of Arryn]].{{ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Black Blood}}

Halleck's son, King [[Harren Hoare|Harren the Black]], ordered the construction of [[Harrenhal]], an enormous castle on the northern shore of the [[Gods Eye]] in central Westeros. The building of Harrenhal over forty years beggared both the Iron Islands and the riverlands.{{Ref|ACOK|7}}

The Hoare line ended with the deaths of Harren and his sons during [[Aegon's Conquest]]. Inspired by [[Aegon I Targaryen|Aegon Targaryen]], Lord [[Edmyn Tully]] led the river lords in rebellion against the Hoares at Harrenhal.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest}} Harren refused to yield to Aegon and the castle was too strong to storm, so Aegon flew his [[dragon]], [[Balerion]], over the walls and roasted Harren and his sons in [[Kingspyre Tower|their tower]].{{Ref|ACOK|26}} Most of Harren's supporters were killed in the [[burning of Harrenhal]] or by river lords as they retreated back to [[Ironman's Bay]],{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Greyjoys of Pyke}} and Aegon granted rule over the riverlands to [[House Tully]] of [[Riverrun]].{{ref|FAB|Aegon's Conquest}}

===The Greyjoys under the Iron Throne===
[[File:TJohnson NavalEscort.jpg|thumb|350px|Naval Escort by Tysen Johnson © Fantasy Flight Games © Fantasy Flight Games]]

In {{Date|2}}, King [[Aegon I Targaryen]] led an [[invasion of the Iron Islands]] to defeat the various pretenders to [[Harren Hoare|Harren the Black's]] throne, including [[Qhorin Volmark]] and [[Lodos]]. Aegon then allowed the defeated ironborn to choose Lord [[Vickon Greyjoy]] of [[Pyke]] to rule as the new [[Lord of the Iron Islands]], a vassal of [[House Targaryen]] which now ruled the [[Seven Kingdoms]] from the [[Iron Throne]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Greyjoys of Pyke}} [[House Greyjoy]] relinquished all claims to the [[riverlands]], and Aegon granted the ruins of [[Harrenhal]] to [[House Qoherys]].{{Ref|FAB|Reign of the Dragon - The Wars of King Aegon I}}

Lord Vickon was a cautious ruler who did not provoke [[House Targaryen]] and its [[dragon]]s, and he allowed the [[Faith of the Seven]] to return to the Iron Islands. His son, Lord [[Goren Greyjoy]], suppressed a conspiracy to crown [[Qhorin Volmark]] and a revolt by a priest calling himself [[Lodos the Twice-Drowned]], and in return King [[Aenys I Targaryen]] allowed Goren to expel the Faith from the archipelago for another century. After Goren, the weakened Iron Islands remained aloof from mainland politics for the next hundred years.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Old Way and the New}}

Lord [[Dalton Greyjoy]], the Red Kraken, raided the western shores during the [[Dance of the Dragons]], capturing land from the [[westerlands]]. He was murdered at [[Faircastle]] in {{Date|133}} by a [[salt wife]], [[Tess]], and a [[struggle for power in the Iron Islands|struggle for power]] broke out between his two infant [[Salt son|salt sons]], [[Toron Greyjoy|Toron]] and [[Rodrik Greyjoy (son of Dalton)|Rodrik]], his sisters and good-brothers, his cousins, and the pretender [[Sam Salt]].{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist}}{{Ref|FAB|The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency}} In {{Date|134}}, Lady [[Johanna Lannister]] allied with Ser [[Leo Costayne]] to invade the islands in reprisal and conquer them for her son, Lord [[Loreon Lannister (son of Jason)|Loreon Lannister]], though Lord Toron remained on the Seastone Chair by the war's end.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Greyjoys of Pyke}}{{Ref|FAB|The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency}}

During the reign of King [[Aerys I Targaryen]], Lord [[Dagon Greyjoy]], the Last Reaver, led the ironborn in again raiding the western coast of Westeros.{{Ref|TSS}}{{Ref|TMK}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Old Way and the New}} 

The Iron Islands supported the Iron Throne during the [[War of the Ninepenny Kings]], with Lord [[Quellon Greyjoy]] leading a hundred longships to fight in the [[Stepstones]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Old Way and the New}} Quellon outlawed [[thrall]]dom and wanted to integrate the Iron Islands into the rest of the [[Seven Kingdoms]], and he pursued neutrality during [[Robert's Rebellion]]. Encouraged by his sons, however, Quellon joined the rebels after Prince [[Rhaegar Targaryen]]'s death at the [[Battle of the Trident]]. Quellon made a token display of support for [[House Baratheon]] against the Targaryens, but the Lord of the Iron Islands was killed in [[battle at the Mander]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Old Way and the New}}   

Quellon was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Lord [[Balon Greyjoy]], who rejected his father's works and wanted to return to the [[Old Way]] of paying the [[iron price]]. Balon spent five years building the [[Iron Fleet]], believing that the usurper [[Robert I Baratheon]]'s reign was weak. In {{Date|289}}, Balon declared himself [[King of the Iron Islands]] in a bid for independence from the [[Iron Throne]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Old Way and the New}} [[Greyjoy's Rebellion]] had some early victories, [[burning of the Lannister fleet|destroying the Lannister fleet]] at anchor and raiding the western coasts, but Balon had misjudged Robert's position. The mainland rallied their support for Robert, and the Iron Islands were invaded by the king, his brother Lord [[Stannis Baratheon|Stannis]], Lord [[Eddard Stark]], Lord [[Tywin Lannister]], and Ser [[Barristan Selmy]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Old Way and the New}} Balon lost his two eldest sons in the war, and though Robert pardoned the would-be king in return for bending the knee, Balon's surviving son, [[Theon Greyjoy|Theon]], was sent to [[Winterfell]] to be the ward and hostage of Lord Stark.{{Ref|AGOT|4}}