For thousands of years, the continent saw the rise villages and towns built by the First
Men followed by the Andals and Rhoynar as they migrated west, eventually forming the
Seven Kingdoms.
Yet through trade and commerce, five of these settlements grew into prosperous cities ruled
by powerful noble families.
Founded along the eastern shore of the continent, at of the mouth of Blackwater Rush, along
the northern bank, King’s Landing rose to become the most populous city in all of Westeros.
The Capital of the Seven Kingdoms, it was home to House Targaryen for nearly 300 years,
built around 3 hills named for Aegon the Conqueror and his sister wives Rhaenys and Visenya.
Realizing the importance of the Faith of the Seven to the people they wished to rule, seven
gates were constructed around King’s Landing, as were a number of other structures which
over time became associated the capital.
Streets were given names often deriving from those who live and work in that area with
the general population kept divided by wealth and class, with the rich living near the Old
gate, while the poorest are found in Flea Bottom near Rhaenys Hill.
The small folk of Flea Bottom consume bowls of brown to survive, a common stew made with
bits of vegitable and chunks of meat often acquired from pigeons, rats, cats and some
even suggest dead bodies.
King’s Landing is protected by a city watch known as the Gold Cloaks, and holds the Royal
Fleet of the Seven Kingdoms, considered the most powerful navy in the continent, comparable
only in power to the Arbor and Iron Fleets.
Before the unification of the seven kingdoms under House targaryen, Aegon the conqueror
originally constructed the Aegonfort, atop the highest of the 3 hills.
After his coronation, he chose to make this area the capital of his new kingdom, building
King’s Landing around the fortress.
A few years later in 10 AC, Aegon was convinced by Visenya to allow the formation of the Kingsguard
to protect the royal family, after they were attacked in the streets of the city.
King’s Landing was then built up further under the reign of King Maegor the Cruel who
oversaw the completion of the Maegor’s Holdfast and the Red Keep.
Maegor was also responsible for burning the Sept of Remembrance during the Faith Militants
Uprising, building the Dragonpit in its place.
Under King Jaehaerys I, drains, sewers and wells were constructed, however the city soon
face more hardship during the Dance of the Dragons civil war, when the population revolted
against Rhaenyra Targaryen, storming the dragonpit in a chaotic riot that saw thousands of small
folk killed, while 5 targaryen dragons also lost their lives, leaving the dragonpit a
ruin.
With the city all but lost, Rhaenyra fled back to Dragonstone, leaving King’s Landing
under mob rule for a period known as the Moon of the 3 Kings.
Without a Targaryen ruler in the city, several claimants to throne arose from amongst the
common people.
First there was the Shepard, a religious fanatic who organized the storming of the dragonpit
and then came to control large sections of the city with his faithful followers.
However there was also the squire Trystane Truefyre, supported by the Hedge Knight Ser
Perkin the Flea, who took control of the Red keep claiming the boy was the bastard son
of King Viserys I.
Then there was Gaemon Palehair, the 4 year old son of a prostitute, who claimed he was
the bastard child of King Aegon II.
He ruled from the House of Kisses atop Visenya’s hill, gathering thousands of supporters to
his cause.* *Edict about female inheritance.
ALL However when the forces loyal to King Aegon
II returned to the city they quickly took back power, executing both Ser Perkin and
Trystane Truefyre.* The prostitute of the House of kisses was also apprehended, confessing
that she lied about her son being the child of a Targaryen.
And while the woman was hanged, young Gaemon was sparred and later taken into King Aegon’s
household.
During the reign of Baelor the Blessed, the great Sept of Baelor began construction and
was completed after his death, becoming the center of the Faith of the Seven.
In 209 AC, the great spring sickness spread throughout Westeros, and while it ravaged
a number of cities and areas in the continent, King’s Landing suffered the worst of it,
losing 4 out every 10.
In order to deal with all the diseased corpses, they burned the bodies with wildfire in the
dragonpit.
Over the years as the population of the city grew, King’s Landing earned a reputation
not only as the center of the Targaryen court, but also as a dark and dirty place, with streets
reeking of waste and a population of scheming nobles, greedy merchants and cut-throat beggars.
And so in 265 AC, the Mad King Aerys II decided he’d had enough, and declared he would build
a new city of marble south of Blackwater rush.
Yet like most of his plans nothing came of the idea.
At the end of his reign, when the people of the continent rose up against his madness
in Robert’s Rebellion, Aerys allowed his old friend Tywin Lannister to bring 12000
soldiers into the city, believing he came to join the royalist forces.
However Tywin instead turned against him, sacking the city in the name of the rebellion.
The Mad King then decided to burn the capital with jars of wildfire placed underground.
However he was stopped by the kingsguard Jaime Lannister, son of Tywin, who killed the king
he was sworn to protect.
Years later, after the death of King Robert baratheon, the city again fell under attack
in the battle of the Blackwater, when King Stannis baratheon attempted to take the Iron
Throne from Joffrey Baratheon.
However the city was able to hold them off long enough for Tywin Lannister and his allies
in House Tyrell to arrive, forcing Stannis into retreat.
Yet this war soon saw the death of both King Joffrey and Hand of the King Tywin Lannister,
leaving the Iron Throne to young Tommen Baratheon and his mother Queen Regent Cersei Lannister
who proved a poor administrator, leading the city to chaos and ruin.
Although Cersei attempted to strengthen their faction by allying with the Faith Militants
and building a new naval fleet, she eventually lost control of the city to the Faith, resulting
in her arrest, which then also led Aurane Waters to abandon her cause, steeling the
naval fleet recently constructed.
Although it’s origins are largely lost to history, Old Town has stood for thousands
of years known as the richest and oldest of the Westerosi cities.
Many believe it was originally constructed as a port for ancient powers that wished to
trade with the elder races of Westeros, and later with the First Men who migrated into
the continent.
Over the years several well known structures were built in the city such as the Citadel
a group of buildings that are home to the Maesters of Westeros, scholars who act as
advisors to the rulers of the continent.
During the Age of Heroes, the building that later became the Ravenry of the Citadel was
a pirate stronghold that robbed passing ships.
There is also the Starry Sept, which was the center of the Fiath of the Seven for a thousand
years, until replaced by the Great Sept of Baelor in King’s landing.
But the structure most often associated with the city is the Hightower on battle isle,
known as the tallest building in the continent, surpassing even the 700 foot wall in the north.
The Hightower was built atop a blackstone foundation, believed to have been constructed
before the arrival of the first men.
While some claim it must have been of Valyrian origin, since they were known to build with
fused black stone.
The look and design of the structure and time period in which it was made, suggest it was
built by others such as the mysterious Mazemakers of Lorath, or the Deep Ones rumoured to have
built the Seastone chair in the Iron Islands.
When House Hightower took control of the black stone foundation on battle isle, they built
a wooden tower on top to act as a lighthouse but under Uthor of the Hightower, they built
a stone tower 200 feet high, supposedly designed by bran the builder.
*Some claim Bran the Builder designed the Hightower, while others claim it was likely
another man named Brandon who’s history was lost and attributed to the legendary hero
of the north.
The prosperous city of Old Town grew around the Hightower, and came to represent a valueable
target for raiders, seeing the city sacked by Samwell the Starfire, Qhored the Cruel,
and Gyles the Woe, all within a century.
Due to this devastation of these attacks, three quarters of the city's population were
sold into slavery.
However the Hightower was never conquered, and so House Hightower then oversaw a massive
project to build protective stone walls around the city, greatly increasing its defensive
capabilities.
As the Kingdom of the reach expanded under the Gardener Kings of Highgarden, the Hightowers
chose to join them voluntarily through a marriage alliance, giving up their claim as petty kings,
to become the most powerful vassals of the realm.
The Hightowers often valued peaceful negotiation over war, like during the Andal migration
when the leader of their house married an Andal Princess to avoid conflict.
Similiarly, when House Targaryen invaded and conquered most of the continent, the High
Septon convinced Lord Manfred Hightower to bend the knee.
Allowing Aegon to peacefully enter the city where he was crowned king of westeros by the
faith of the seven.
Many though Aegon would then choose Old Town as his capital, until he decided to build
a new city around the Aegonfort, later known as King’s Landing.
2 centuries later in 209 AC, Old Town suffered greatly as the Great Spring sickness spread
throughout the continent.
Although King’s Landing saw the worst of the epidemic, Old Town was not far behind,
then suffering another tragedy a generation later, when the Grey Plague wiped out half
the city.
In order to prevent the disease from spreading, Lord Quenton Hightower locked them down, shut
the gates and burning the ships in the harbour, killing anyone who tried to leave.
Although he succeeded in preventing a further outbreak, his harsh actions made him hated
by the small folk who later attack and killed Lord Quenton and his son.
Late into the War of the Five Kings, with the Arbor Fleet being used in the Lannister
siege of Dragonstone, the Ironborn conquered the Shield Islands of the reach with some
of their people even attempting to attack Old Town, while others preyed on ships sailing
into its harbor.
Along the western coast of the rich and prosperous Westerlands, the city of Lannisport was founded
by a branch of House Lannister.
Originally a small village south of Casterly Rock, it eventually rose to become a rich
and powerful settlement, second only to Old Town before the construction of King’s Landing.
With close ties to the Lannister Kings of the Rock, many of the families that reside
in the Lannisport have blond hair, with names like the Lannys, Lannets and Lantells, likely
descending from various branches of House Lannisters.
Unfortunately, their location makes them a prime target for the Ironborn who often raided
the area, burning the city at last 3 times, with these conflicts often leading to war
between the territories.
During the Dance of the Dragons civil war, in 130 AC, the Westerlands and Iron Islands
once again were at odds, with the Red Kraken Dalton Greyjoy burning the lannisport Fleet
and sacking Lannisport.
4 years later, the Westerlands retaliated, successfully attacking the Iron Islands and
bringing treasure and highborn hostages back home.
Lannisport also saw battle during the First Balckfyre rebellion, when Ser Quentyn Ball
killed slayed Lefford Lannister outside its gates forcing Damon Lannister into retreat.
After Robert’s Rebellion, the Seven Kingdom knew peace for a number of years, however
soon Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands attempted his own rebellion, with his brothers creating
and executing a plan of sailing secretly to Lannisport and burning the Lannister Fleet
to begin the Greyjoy Rebellion.
However their success did not last long, and soon the Royal forces arrived to defeat the
claimant king.
Orignally founded by the First Men as a harbour for trade along the south of the Vale, Gulltown
developed into a rich and prosperous city, acting as an important hub to keep the Vale
well supplied.
Under the First Men, it was House Shett who ruled the area.
However when the Andals began their migration west, House Shett chose to ally with the invaders
against House Royce of Runestone who refused to bow to the Andals.
Unfortunately, House Shett was betrayed by the the Andal Knight Gerold Grafton, who is
rumoured to have used the chaos of battle as a chance to kill the Shett King, then usurping
his title and taking control of Gulltown.
And while the people attempted rebellion, Gerold Grafton proved to be a wise ruler,
seeing the settlement prosper greatly under his rule.
House Grafton then allied with House Arryn, and together grew Gulltown into a proper city
with a naval fleet for its protection.
During a period of conflict known as the War Across the Water, fought between the North
and the Vale over ownership of the three sisters, the Starks burned hundreds of their ships
and even made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Gulltown.
Later during the War of Conquest, the Vale was one of the only territories able to offer
significant resistance against the Targaryens, using their naval fleet to achieve several
victories in the early part of the war.
However they could do nothing to protect against Dragons, and so House Arryn eventually bent
the knee.
Nearly 300 years later, at the outbreak of Robert’s Rebellion, the Vale was split,
with House Arryn supporting the rebels, while Marq Grafton gathered royalist forces at Gulltown.
However the rebel armies of Jon Arryn soon marched to battle and defeated their forces,
with Robert Baratheon first over the walls, killing Marq Grafton during the fighting.
Founded along the river White Knife, King Jon Stark of Winterfell drove out local sea
raiders to build the Wolf’s Den, which over the years was ruled by various branches of
House Stark, such as the Greystarks, as well as other Northern families like the Flints,
Lockes, Slates, Longs, Holts and Ashwoods.
However it would be under House Manderly, originally hailing from the Reach, that the
area would truly prosper.
Estimated to have occurred between 1000 and 600 BC, there came a time when House Manderly
became an enemy of House Peake and the Gardener King in Highgarden.
This resulted in their families exile from the territory.
Having lost their ancestral seat and facing the ruin of their house, it was Starks of
the North who welcomed them, bestowing the Wolf’s Den as their new home, and charging
them with the protection of the White Knife.
Using the riches they were able to bring from the south, the Manderlys built the city of
White Harbor, protected by thick walls and later a small naval fleet.
Within the city they built the Sept of Snows to honor their faith in the Seven Gods of
the south, a great hall called Merman’s court where the hold feasts and a new residence
for their family at New Castle, converting the Wolf’s Den into a prison.
Outside the city harbour there is a massive stone in the sea ,known as Seal Rock, where
the First Men built a ringfort which has now been fortified by with crossbowmen, scorpion
and spitfires defending the area.
During the War of the Five Kings, House Manderly raised 1500 men to join Robb Stark as he marched
south, and during the Ironborn attack on winterfell they sent a dozen barges filled with knights,
warhorses, and siege engines only to be betrayed by the boltons who burned Winterfell.
Although the Manderlys were then forced to pledge allegiance to the Lannisters, Freys
and Boltons, they never truly turned against the Starks, making a private deal with Davos
Seaworth to bring young Rickon Stark from Skagos in exchange for pledging themselves
to King Stannis.