The Stepstones are a chain of islands between the southern narrow sea and the northwestern Summer Sea. The islands are east of Dorne in Westeros and west of the Disputed Lands in Essos.[1] The Stepstones are notoriously filled with pirate dens.[2]
Geography
[edit]
There are more than a dozen islands in the Stepstones.[3] Bloodstone, the largest of them, was the seat of Daemon Targaryen when he claimed to be King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea,[4] and Racallio Ryndoon had a sprawling wooden fortress on Bloodstone during the Daughters' War.[5] Other named islands include Grey Gallows[6] and (according to semi-canon sources) Torturer's Deep.[7] The Free City of Tyrosh is located on the northernmost island in the chain, just off the coast of mainland Essos, but is usually not considered part of the Stepstones.[8]
The islands of the Stepstones are described as barren and storm-swept rocks by Archmaester Gyldayn,[4] and as bleak and stony by Maester Yandel.[9] The chain is often wracked by large storms coming up from the warm waters of the Summer Sea to the south, which sweep over the isles as they pass north to slam into the aptly-named Shipbreaker Bay.[9][10]
Inhabitants
[edit]The Stepstones are a lawless borderland contested by various different Free Cities at one time or another, much as the Disputed Lands are contested in Essos, but never fully controlled by any of them and rarely for long. The nearby Free Cities of nearby Tyrosh, Lys, and Myr are traditionally most invested in this contest,[8] though Braavos, Pentos, and Dorne were also involved with the Stepstones during the Daughters' War.[11]
Every few decades, whenever the pirates grow too numerous or hostile, expeditionary fleets are sent from Tyrosh, Braavos, or Volantis to clear them out and destroy their settlements. Before long, however, new corsairs and pirate dens spring up to replace them.[8]
Fleets of sellsails are based in the Stepstones.[8]
There are pockets of Rhoynar on the islands dating back to the migration of Nymeria's ten thousand ships.[12]
Economy
[edit]The rocky islands have little value themselves, but the major sea lanes between the narrow sea and the Summer Sea make the Stepstones strategically important.[4] Most merchant ships hug the coasts, making them vulnerable to the pirates of the islands. The swan ships of the Summer Isles, however, are more willing to avoid the Stepstones altogether and instead sail the deep seas.[8] Ironborn sail to the Stepstones to reave[13] and fight pirates.[14]
History
[edit]Antiquity
[edit]According to legend, the Stepstones are remnants of the Arm of Dorne, a land-bridge which once linked Westeros and Essos. More than ten thousand years ago the First Men used that land-bridge to cross into what is now known as Dorne to begin their migration to Westeros.[15] During the Breaking, the greenseers of the children of the forest are said to have used magic to shatter the land-bridge into an archipelago named the Stepstones, located between the Broken Arm and the Disputed Lands.[16] Instead of a magical cause, Archmaester Cassander suggested the islands came about from a slow rising of the seas, which he called the Song of the Sea.[16]
The Freehold of Valyria established Tyrosh as a military outpost to control trade near the Stepstones.[8]
Slavers from the Stepstones captured the Wolf's Den at the mouth of the White Knife during the reign of King Edrick Stark,[17] and pirates from the isles also sometimes attacked the eastern riverlands[18] and Vale of Arryn.[19] Some of the ten thousand ships of the Rhoynar were shipwrecked on the Stepstones during their migration from the Rhoyne.[12]
As the mainland kingdoms of Westeros grew more powerful, ironborn from the Iron Islands began instead raiding more distant lands like the Stepstones and the Basilisk Isles.[20]
Disputed Territory
[edit]Whatever control the Valyrians may have once exerted over the Stepstones collapsed with the Doom of Valyria and the subsequent Century of Blood. Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh have constantly fought each other.[8]. The Seven Kingdoms have fought for control over some or all of the islands, but these gains were always temporary.[21]
Pirates attacked Cape Wrath during Aegon's Conquest.[22] In 8 AC during the First Dornish War, raiders from Dorne also attacked Cape Wrath with the aid of a pirate king from the Stepstones.[23] In 29 AC and in 30 AC, Prince Maegor Targaryen, Lord Aethan Velaryon, and Ser Osmund Strong led a punitive campaign to the Stepstones to drive out corsairs led by the pirate-lord Sargoso Saan.[24] Pirates from the Stepstones participated in the ill-fated Fourth Dornish War in 83 AC, in which their entire combined fleet was burned in a single day by the Targaryen dragons. Afterwards the pirates of the Stepstones were less troublesome for some time.[25]
The losing faction of the Myrish Bloodbath settled on the Stepstones in 92 AC, and became little more than pirates themselves. They were soon driven out, however, by the Archon of Tyrosh, who had made common cause with a league of pirate kings. The Myrish pirates fled west to briefly seize the east coast of Tarth, before being routed by the Targaryens.[25]
The Triarchy and Daemon
[edit]
After defeating Volantis in 96 AC, the Triarchy of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh invaded the Stepstones to subdue outlaws and pirates living in the islands. Craghas Drahar staked out hundreds of pirates to drown, and the Triarchy annexed the Stepstones into their realm. While the Seven Kingdoms were appreciative at first of the Triarchy ending the threat of pirates, they came to resent the high tolls imposed by the Free Cities on trade in the narrow sea, as well as the Lysene practice of claiming slaves for their pleasure gardens.[4]
Aided by Lord Corlys Velaryon, Prince Daemon Targaryen began a private war for the Stepstones in 106 AC, and he proclaimed himself King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea in 109 AC. The Triarchy rallied by 111 AC, however, allying with Qoren Martell, Prince of Dorne, who was wary of the Targaryens expanding into the Stepstones. Led by Racallio Ryndoon, their combined forces helped turn back the tide of Daemon's conquests, and he struggled to defend his holdings.[4]
Daemon was called back from the isles by the death of his wife Rhea Royce in 115 AC, and he abandoned the Stepstones after becoming embroiling in other political intrigues in King's Landing. Five other men followed him as Kings of the Narrow Sea.[4]
Daughters' War
[edit]During the Dance of the Dragons, Ser Otto Hightower offered to cede the Stepstones to the Triarchy if they were to fight the Velaryon fleet, although the Iron Throne did not have control over the islands.[26]
Sharako Lohar led the Triarchy's fleet from the Stepstones in the Battle of the Gullet in early 130 AC.[26] The Triarchy's disastrous losses in the battle led to the Daughters' War in 131 AC. When Lys and Myr began fighting after Sharako's death, Tyrosh sent Racallio Ryndoon to conquer the Stepstones. After killing the King of the Narrow Sea, Racallio claimed that title for himself, however.[27]
During the regency of Aegon III, Lord Unwin Peake, the Hand of the King, desired to establish a Westerosi presence on Bloodstone. Meanwhile, the Sealord of Braavos, the Archon of Tyrosh, and Racallio agreed to jointly rule the islands. Lord Alyn Velaryon received the nickname "Oakenfist" after defeating a Braavosi fleet in the islands, but Alyn's hasty attack prevented Ser Gedmund Peake from landing troops. Lord Manfryd Mooton agreed to a large indemnity to avoid war between Braavos and the Seven Kingdoms, and the Sealord agreed to cede the Stepstones to the Iron Throne. The islands were already occupied by Racallio and Pentoshi, however.[28]
Racallio kept Lord Alyn at his wooden fortress on Bloodstone for more than a fortnight when the Oakenfist was sailing to confront Lord Dalton Greyjoy.[29] After Racallio eventually fled to the Basilisk Isles, the Daughters' War ended in 134 AC with most of the Stepstones under the dominion of Dorne. Aliandra Martell, Princess of Dorne, granted the title Lord of the Stepstones to her consort, Drazenko Rogare.[30]
Recent History
[edit]It is unclear what happened to the Stepstones between 135 AC and 258 AC, such as whether the Martells still held them by 157 AC during the Conquest of Dorne by Daeron I, or if Dorne still retained them after the conquest collapsed in 161 AC.
In 258 AC an alliance of pirates, mercenaries, and outcasts known as the Band of Nine overran the Disputed Lands, sacked Tyrosh, and then conquered the Stepstones with ease. With these territories as a powerbase they began planning an invasion of Westeros to put the Blackfyre Pretenders on the throne. The Targaryens became aware of their buildup, however, and under King Jaehaerys II Targaryen pre-emptively invaded the Stepstones themselves in the War of the Ninepenny Kings (alternatively known as the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion). In the climactic battle Barristan Selmy slew Maelys I Blackfyre in personal combat, ending the Blackfyre threat.[31]
The Iron Throne apparently did not retain control of the Stepstones after the war. Jaehaerys II was soon succeeded by his son Aerys II Targaryen: one of the many increasingly insane schemes Aerys II proposed was a conquest of the Stepstones, but like his other follies it never amounted to any serious attempt.[32]
The Stepstones and Basilisk Isles have often been raided by ironborn reavers and sellsails from the Iron Islands, such as Harwyn Hoare[20] and Dalton Greyjoy.[33] When he was fifteen, Balon Greyjoy spent a summer reaving in the Stepstones with Dagmer Cleftjaw, killing his first man and taking his first two salt wives in the islands.[13] Asha Greyjoy was away fighting Lysene pirates in the Stepstones when Balon, Lord Reaper of Pyke, exiled Euron Greyjoy from the Iron Islands.[14]
Recent Events
[edit]A Storm of Swords
[edit]Varys reports to the small council that fighting has broken out in the Stepstones, making a war between Lys and Tyrosh likely.[34]
Ser Osmund Kettleblack tells Ser Jaime Lannister he served in the Stepstones and the Disputed Lands with the Gallant Men, fighting for Lys and then Tyrosh.[35]
A Feast for Crows
[edit]Euron Greyjoy includes the Stepstones among the lands he wishes to conquer when presenting his candidacy at the kingsmoot on Old Wyk. The Crow's Eye is chosen as king by the assembled ironborn.[36]
A Volantene galley barely escapes Salladhor Saan's Old Mother's Son and Valyrian, with the galley's captain killed in the fighting near the Stepstones.[37]
While sailing from Braavos to Oldtown, the crew of the Cinnamon Wind defends against pirates in the Stepstones.[38]
After Queen Regent Cersei Lannister is arrested by the Faith of the Seven, Lord Aurane Waters absconds with Cersei's dromonds. Grand Maester Pycelle believes that Aurane intends to become a pirate in the Stepstones.[39]
A Dance with Dragons
[edit]Ser Davos Seaworth recalls that Salladhor abandoned the cause of Stannis Baratheon with the intent to return to the Stepstones with his remaining ships.[40] Davos assumes that Edric Storm has reached the safety of the Stepstones after being smuggled out of Dragonstone,[41] though the boy has gone even farther to hide in Lys.[42]
During the landing of the Golden Company in the stormlands, storms scatter the Volantene fleet transporting the sellswords[43] and some of the Golden Company instead land on the Stepstones.[44][45]
The Iron Fleet, headed to Slaver's Bay, stops for game, grain, and fresh water in the Stepstones before Victarion Greyjoy splits the fleet in three. The ironborn hear about the beauty of Daenerys Targaryen from pirates in the Stepstones.[46]
Tycho Nestoris informs Jon Snow that strange ships have been reported in the Stepstones, and that the Redwyne fleet is passing the Broken Arm.[47]
Arya Stark learns that Pynto claims to have once been the most notorious pirate of the Stepstones.[48]
The Winds of Winter
[edit]
| 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. |
According to Valena Toland, a new pirate king has set up on Torturer's Deep, styling himself the Lord of the Waters, with three-decked warships.[7]
Quotes
[edit]The Stepstones, the chain of rocky islands between Dorne and the Disputed Lands of Essos, had long been a haunt of outlaws, exiles, wreckers, and pirates. Of themselves the isles were of little worth, but placed as they were, they controlled the sea lanes to and from the narrow sea, and merchant ships passing through those waters were often preyed on by their inhabitants.[4]
—writings of Gyldayn
House of the Dragon
[edit]During the war for the Stepstones in the television series House of the Dragon, the island that Daemon Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon make their base of operations is named Dwarfstone, close to Bloodstone.[49] The presence of Dwarfstone in the book canon is unconfirmed, though The Lands of Ice and Fire shows unnamed smaller islands close to Bloodstone.[3]
References
[edit]- ↑ The Lands of Ice and Fire, The West.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 5, Tyrion II.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Lands of Ice and Fire, The Free Cities.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Under the Regents: The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Map of the Free Cities
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Winds of Winter, Arianne I
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 The World of Ice & Fire, The Free Cities: The Quarrelsome Daughters: Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Stormlands.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 29, The Reaver.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Under the Regents: War and Peace and Cattle Shows.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: Ten Thousand Ships.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 1, The Prophet.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 18, The Iron Captain.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne: The Breaking.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Riverlands.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Vale: House Arryn.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: The Black Blood.
- ↑ So Spake Martin: Invasions of the East and Rebellions (June 19, 2000)
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Reign of the Dragons - The Wars of King Aegon I.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Fire & Blood, The Long Reign - Alysanne and Jaehaerys - Policy, Progeny, and Pain.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys II.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aerys II.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: The Red Kraken.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 19, Tyrion III.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 67, Jaime VIII.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 19, The Drowned Man.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 34, Cat Of The Canals.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 35, Samwell IV.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 43, Cersei X.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 9, Davos I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 15, Davos II.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Appendix.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 61, The Griffin Reborn.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 54, Cersei I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Epilogue.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 56, The Iron Suitor.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 44, Jon IX.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 45, The Blind Girl.
- ↑ House of the Dragon, Season 1, Episode 3: "Second of His Name".
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