Asoiaf Lore Guide

-I’ve seen writters call the king or queen “your majesty” and thats not the way people call them in that universe, the correct form is “your grace”

-Someone wrote that Flea Bottom is a place far from King’s Landing but Flea Botton is just an area inside of King’s Landing

-So many writters call members of house Baratheon, Lannister, and other houses as Kings or Princes, but they actually are Lords or Ladies, only Targaryens are Kings or Queens (before Robert’s Rebelion of course).

-I read a fanfic where y/n was daughter of a member of the king’s guard but they take a oath where they can’t wed or have children.

So I decided to make this blog to help those writters who want to improve their fanfics by incorporate asoiaf lore correctly without contradictions or mistakes. This blog is also for those HotD/GoT watchers that are just curious about this universe and want to learn more about it.

Be free to ask me anything, I will answer any doubt. Also I’ll be posting some basic information for starters or just some curiosities about the universe i’m in love with.

The Reach

The Reach is the largest and the most populous of the six southern kingdoms (the North is largest but not as populous). The Reach is also the most fertile, and powerful domain in the Seven Kingdoms and is the second richest just before the Westerlands. Is considerated a seat of learning; a center of music, culture, and all the arts; "the breadbasket of Westeros".

Important place in the Reach: Oldtown (one of the largest and oldest cities in Westeros, in this place we found the Hightower, seat of House Hightower [yes, Alicent and Otto's house] and it's the tallest building in Westeros, it also works as a castle and a lighthouse. In Oldtown we also find the Citadel. The Citadel is a complex of buildings that serves as central home to the order of maestres. And finally in Oldtown we have the Starry Sept, it is the former seat of the High Septon of the Faith of the Seven [now is in King's Landing]. Aegon the Conqueror was crowned King Aegon I Targaryen in the Starry Sept).

Before Aegon's conquest House Gardener ruled the Reach as kings. The last Gardener king was Mern IX Gardener and he was defeated by Aegon the Conqueror in the Field of Fire (that's how that battle was called). After that, Harlen Tyrell (who was the hereditary High Steward) surrender Highgarden (former seat of House Gardener) to Aegon the Conqueror. As a reward Aegon let House Tyrell keep the castle and rule the Reach as Lords.

The Reach is ruled by:

House: Tyrell

Seat: Highgarden

Coat of Arms: A golden rose, on a green field

Words: Growing Strong

Important members (Game of Thrones): Mace Tyrell, Margaery Tyrell, Loras Tyrell, Olenna Tyrell

The Stormlands

This kingdom is named after the frecuent storms that batter the coast of those lands. These storms appear in any season but the worst of them come every autum.

Before Aegon's conquest House Durrandon ruled as Storm Kings. Their seat was Storm's End. After defeating the last Stormking, Aegon gave Storm's End and the Stormlands to his bastard brother Orys Baratheon, so House Baratheon rule the Stormlands as Lords since then.

We saw Storm's End in House of the Dragon two times. The first when Rhaenyra was listening the proposals of all the Lords that wanted to wed her. The second was when Prince Lucerys went to deliver a message for Lord Borros Baratheon, which ended in tragedy (so yes, we can say that our baby Luke died in the Stormlands).

The Stormlands are ruled by:

House: Baratheon

Seat: Storm's End

Coat of Arms: A black crowned stag, on a gold field

Words: Ours is the Fury

Important members (Game of Thrones): Robert Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, Tommen Baratheon, Myrcella Baratheon

Important members (House of the Dragon): Boremund Baratheon, Borros Baratheon

Dorne

Dorne is described for the other kingdoms as the most inhospitable and the strangest. That's because it is so different from the others not only geographically but also culturally.

Here we have vast deserts of red and white sand, forbidding mountains, sweltering heat, sandstorms, scorpions, fiery food, poison, castles made of mud and more.

The great house of Dorne is House Nymeros Martell (Nymeros stands for "the line of Nymeria" the Rhoynish princess that wed Lord Mors Martell, but that's a story for another post c:) but people refer to them simply as House Martell. Also House Martell rule as Princes or Princesses (in Dorne, the first-born is the heir regardless of whether is a male or a female) instead of Lords, that's a Rhoynish custom and they have Rhoynar ancestry. (also keeping their title as princes or princesses is the condition they set to agree to be part of the 7 kingdoms).

Dornish people differ both culturally and ethnically from other Westerosi, they have adopted many Rhoynish customs. Dornish people have a reputation for hot-bloodedness and sexual licentiousness (they don't reject homosexuality or bisexuality, among other things), and are still viewed with some mistrust.

There are three kind of Dornish people: stony Dornishmen, sandy Dornishmen and salty Dornishmen.

The stony Dornishmen live in the Dornish mountains, and have light hair and light skin, mostly descended from the First Men and the Andals; the sandy Dornishmen live in the deserts and river valleys, they have burned brown skin due the blazing Dornish sun; the salty Dornishmen of the coasts are dark-haired, lithe and olive-skinned, they have the queerest customs and the most Rhoynish blood.

Aegon the Conqueror managed to conquer every single kingdom except Dorne. I mean, he tried but failed and his wife Queen Rhaenys and her dragon Meraxes died trying. So Dornish people remain independient even tho House Targaryen continued to claim the Iron Throne's control over their land as part of the Seven Kingdoms.

Dorne would remain independent for many years to come, in fact during the events of "House of the Dragon", Dorne was still unconquered.

Many years after the Dance of the Dragons, King Daeron I "the Young Dragon", managed to conquer Dorne for a short time, but he was eventually killed while trying to keep Dorne conquered (keep in mind that there were no longer dragons big enough for war).

It was not until decades later, during the reign of Daeron II (who was already married with a Dornish Princess to maintein peace) that Dorne finally agreed to be under Targaryen rule through intermarriage. Prince Maron Martell married Daeron's younger sister Daenerys and since then Dorne is oficially part of the Seven Kingdoms.

Dorne is ruled by:

House: Nymeros Martell

Seat: Sunspear

Coat of Arms: A gold spear piercing a red sun on an orange field

Words: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

Important members (Game of Thrones): Doran Martell, Oberyn Martell

Additional: The Crownlands

The Crownlands is a region in the Seven Kingdom but is not considerate a kingdom. Before Aegon's conquest, these lands were in dispute between the Riverkings and the Stormkings untill Aegon made it his primary foothold on the continent. The Crownlands are ruled directly by the Iron Throne, first House Targaryen and, after Robert's Rebellion, House Baratheon.

In this region we find King's Landing the capital of the Seven Kingdoms. King's Landing was named after the fact that was in this place were Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters landed with their army at the beginning of the conquest. This city is surrounded by a wall, custodied by the City Watch of King's Landing, also known as the gold cloaks. King's Landing is the most populous city in Westeros but unsightly and dirty compared to other cities. Also is the principal harbor of the Seven Kingdoms, is rivaled only by Oldtown (Oldtown is largest but less populous).

In King's Landing we find the Red Keep named after the pale red stone used for it's contruction. The Red Keep is the seat of the royal family (House Targaryen first, then House Baratheon) and inside this castle we have the Iron Throne.

Important place in the Crownlands: Dragonstone (Dragonstone is an island in Blackwater Bay in the Crownlands, it contains the castle of Dragonstone and the Dragonmont [a volcano]. During the rule of House Targaryen, the heir to the Iron Throne was known as the Prince of Dragonstone. The castle was built by the Valyrians two centuries before the Doom of Valyria and was used as a Valyrian outpost. Twelve years before the Doom, Lord Aenar Targaryen moved with all his wives, wealth, slaves, dragons, siblings, kin, and children to Dragonstone because his dauther Daenys ["known as Daenys the Dreamer"] had visions of the Doom of Valyria. That is why the Targaryens are one of the three remaining Valyrian Houses [with Velaryon and Celtigar being the other two] and the last Dragon Lords).

The Crownlands are ruled by (before Robert's Rebelion):

House: Targaryen

Seat: The Red Keep, Dragonstone

Coat of Arms: A three-headed dragon breathing flames, red on black

Words: Fire and Blood

Important members (Game of Thrones): Daenerys Targaryen, Viserys Targaryen

Important members (House of the Dragon): You know who they are lol (i'm tired of typing sorry)

Well that was part 2 and the last part of my post about the Seven Kingdoms. I hope this was helpfull for those who didn't know about some things mentioned here or for those who are new in the fandom. Don't be shy and ask me anything you wanna know, talking about Asoiaf is my favourite thing in the world and I made this blog just for that. I'm planning on posting more basic stuff about the lore in the next days, just let me rest my fingers and my brain a little bit lmao.

To the left we have Westeros, where the Seven Kingdoms are. To the right we have Essos the second main continent in this universe (as GoT watchers will remember, Daenerys is most part of the series in Essos). Between both continents we have The Narrow Sea.

Take in mind that Westeros and Esoss are not the only two continents in this world, as far as we know there are four: Westeros, Essos, Sothoryos and Ulthos. But in this post we’re gonna focus only in Westeros.

Before Aegon’s conquest Westeros was divided in 7 kingdoms (long before there were even more kingdoms but thats another story). Each one had their own king untill Aegon the Conqueror brought them all together and became the only king (the former kings became Lords Protector of each kingdom). 

Now let me introduce you to the Seven Kingdoms with their Great Houses one by one:

The North

The North is considered the first and oldest of the Seven Kingdoms and covers little more than a third of the continent.

Important place in the North: The Wall (made by ice; it separates the seven kingdoms from the wildlands beyond that are inhabited by wildlings, giants, white walkers and children of the forest; lots of criminals from all the kingdoms are sent to the Wall as punishment where they serve the rest of their lives as members of the Night's Watch)

The North is ruled by:

House: Stark

Seat: Winterfell

Coat of Arms:  A running grey direwolf, on an ice-white field

Words: Winter is coming

Important members (Game of Thrones): Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Brann Stark, Jon Snow

The Riverlands

The river Trident and its three branches (Red Fork, Blue Fork and Green Fork) give the Riverlands their name.

Important place in the Riverlands: Harrenhall (former seat of House Hoare; Harrenhall was built by the king Harren Hoare [known as "Harren the Black"] before Aegon's conquest. House Hoare ruled as kings of both Riverlands and Iron Islands untill House Tully joined Aegon the Conqueror and helped to defeat king Harren Hoare. As a reward Aegon let House Tully rule the Riverlands as Lords. Harrenhall is the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms and through the years it has passed from house to house. Some people believe is cursed because all houses that have settled there ended up extinct)

Note: both Riverlands and Iron Islands are considered a single kingdom even tho each is ruled by different Great Houses

The Riverlands are ruled by:

House: Tully

Seat: Riverrun

Coat of Arms: A leaping silver trout on a field of blue and mud red

Words:  Family, Duty, Honor

Important members (Game of Thrones): Edmure Tully, Catelyn Tully, Lysa Tully, Brynden Tully

The Iron Islands

In this world mapmakers said there are 31 Iron Islands in the Ironman's Bay, but the major and important islands are 7: Old Wyk, Great Wyk, Pyke, Harlaw, Saltcliffe, Blacktyde, and Orkmont.

Some people say the Iron Islands are named for the iron that is in abundance in the islands but the ironborns themselves insist that the name derives from their nature (hard and unbending people). They prefer to learn how to sail in their longships before learn how to ride a horse or even how to read.

In the past, the ironborns used to raid, rob, and rape villages and towns in the green lands (as they call the other kingdoms in Westeros). All the resources the islands lacked were found in the green lands, when they returned to the islands with the loot they said that they had “paid the iron price”. (I mentioned they did this in the past but the truth is that they do it again at the first opportunity lol).

After Aegon's conquest and after defeating Harren Hoare (king of the Riverlands and the Iron Islands) the ironborns didn't want to be ruled by House Tully so Aegon let them choose their leader. They chose House Greyjoy which has ruled as Lords of the Iron Islands since then.

Note: as I mentioned before, both Riverlands and Iron Islands are considered a single kingdom even tho each is ruled by different Great Houses

The Iron Islands are ruled by:

House: Greyjoy

Seat: Pyke

Coat of Arms: A golden kraken on black

Words: We Do Not Sow

Important members (Game of Thrones): Balon Greyjoy, Theon Greyjoy, Yara Greyjoy (Asha Greyjoy in the books), Euron Greyjoy.

The Vale

The Vale of Arryn is a beautiful long, wide, fertile valley surrounded by the Mountains of the Moon.

If you watched House of the Dragon you'll remember Rhea Royce (Daemon's first wife) House Royce is from the Vale, their seat is called Runestone (the castle Daemon wanted to inherit after Rhea's dead). House Royce is one of House Arryn's vassals.

The Eyrie is the seat of House Arryn and is one of the most beautiful castles in the Seven Kingdoms. It is located in the Mountains of the Moon and it has never fallen by force. To assault it, you first must take the Gates of the Moon (another castle at the mountain’s base) and even if you manage to take the castle you have to climb the mountain and the ascent is guarded by 3 waycastles (named Stone, Snow and Sky).

The only way to take the Eyrie is with dragons, as Visenya Targaryen did. You see, during Aegon's conquest the king of the Vale was just a boy named Ronnel Arryn. Visenya flew on Vhagar's back to the Eyrie and gave an excited Ronnel Arryn a ride on her dragon's back. When his mother, the queen Sharra Arryn saw this, she had no choice to surrender to Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters-wives. (Lol)

The Vale is ruled by:

House: Arryn

Seat: The Eyrie

Coat of Arms: A sky-blue falcon soaring against a white moon, on a sky-blue field

Words: As High as Honor

Important members (Game of Thrones): Jon Arryn, Lysa Arryn, Robin Arryn.

Important members (House of the Dragon): Aemma Arryn, Jeyne Arryn.

The Westerlands

The Westerlands are described as a place of rugged hills and rolling plains, of misty dales and craggy shorelines, a place of blue lakes and sparkling rivers and fertile fields. There is also known that the Westerlands are rich in gold mines.

Some Lords even built their castles inside those mines. That is the case of Casterly Rock the seat of House Lannister. Casterly Rock is crowned with towers and turrets and watchtowers but their halls and chambers were carved inside The Rock so hundreds of mineshafts penetrate its lower parts, where many veins of red and yellow gold gleam untouched in the stone even after millennia of mining.

Thats's the reason House Lannister is the richest house in Westeros during the events of "Game of Thrones" of course (during "House of the Dragon" the richest house was House Velaryon)

As the Stark, the Lannister bended the knee to Aegon the Conqueror so they could keep the Westerlands to rule as Lords.

The Westerlands are ruled by:

House: Lannister

Seat: Casterly Rock

Coat of Arms: A gold lion, on a crimson field

Words: Hear Me Roar!

Important members (Game of Thrones): Tywin Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Tyrion Lannister.

Important members (House of the Dragon): Jason Lannister, Tyland Lannister.

Well that was part 1 of this post, I will include the 3 remaining kingdoms in my next post and also I'll include a little bit about the Crownlands. If you have a doubt or you're curious about anything mentioned in this post or about any other thing about the lore, don't be shy and ask me. Talking about this universe is one of my favourite things in the world. Also my blog was created for that purpose, to be an Asoiaf lore guide, mainly for fanfic writters but every curious mind is welcome here.

Goodbye everyone and Valar Morghulis :)