The Royal Council, part 3 - Westerlands Cities and Roads
The Westerlands. The land of the rocks. The land of gold and silver.
Like most of Westeros, the Westerlands is a land of enormous resources and raw material and products.
In the western mountains, you will find all things you can find elsewhere in the land. It has fertile Vales like the Vale of Arryn. It has Iron, like the Iron Island. And it has coal, just like every other mountainous province.
None of these resources however, is what makes the Westerlands so famous.
No, that honor goes to it's precious metals. The Lannister King's styled themselves the King of the Rock. The Rock in question being their home, Casterly Rock, the greatest gold mine in the world.
An estimated 65% of all gold in the world comes from this gold mine alone, and it's not even the only rich gold mine in the Westerlands, only the richest.
You'll also find massive deposits of silver in the Westerlands, like the famous mines of Castamere, and The Crag.
Not too surprisingly, it was the history of these Two metals, which the long, bloody history of the Westerlands have revolved around.
For they were the resources for which the Westermen, and all their neighbors have always fought for domination over.
Going back to the Age of Heroes, this is illustrated clearly by the Lannisters. Lann the clever, who, according to legend, swindled the Rock out from under the Casterlys, and became Lord in his own right.
For neither Lann, nor the Casterlys his dynasty replaced were kings, but merely Lords, who swore their fealty to an overlord. That overlord being the King of the Iron Islands, for this was the age of the First Ironborn Empire, where the Ironborn ruled the western coast.
In the beginning, neither the rock, nor Castamere, were strong enough militarily to maintain their own independence, much less dominate their neighbors. The thing about gold however, is that one can invest it into projects, to reap the the rewards at a later day.
And so, the red and golden lions hired mercenaries to defeat their Ironborn overlords, and become kings in their own right.
Thus, began the age of the Sellswords, as first men adventurers from all over Westeros journeyed to the Westernlands, where rich, but weak kings would fight endless wars for dominance.
This age lasted for an uncertain, but certainly considerable amount of time, before one king or another decided to reward his Mercenaries in land, instead of simply gold, laying the foundation for a real feudal society, and with it, warriors who were not simply bound by gold.
Thus began the formation of true kingdoms in the west, and not merely rich warlords, fighting each other py paying Mercenaries to kill each other.
As the centuries wore by, kingdoms were swallowed up by other kingdoms, and it became clearer and clearer that it would be the Lannister of Casterly Rock who would go on to become the masters of the Westerlands.
They controlled the richest area of the region, the largest and most fertile Vale, and had access to the sea. All of which translated to wealth, population growth and a very powerful military strength.
Which was good for the westerlands, for during this same period of concolidation, The Reach United into one under house Gardner. And, these two great houses would form one of the largest and most bitter rivalries in Westerosi History.
A rather ironic development, given how their kingship ended.
However, before the conquest, the westerlands still had thousands of years of development, conquests, loss of territory, invasions of it's neighbors and being invaded by it's neighbors.
It went through the andal invasions, and abandoned the Faith of the old gods, for the Faith of the Seven, it almost brought their ancient enemies the Ironborn to extinction, and it became the only region in Westeros, that experienced true, lasting growth, as the land and infrastructure actually developed into something lasting.
If one compare the Westerlands to The Vale, one sees two lands with Many similarities who went down very different paths.
Both are dominated by mountains, with the majority of the population living in fertile valleys and Vales, both are filled with natural resource, and both have easily defended passes to and from the Riverlands.
Where they differ, and subsequently why their development took such different paths, is that while the Vale is protected at all sides, except to the sea, the Westerlands instead have a relative open border to the south, bordering them with the titanic power of the Vale. Their raiders, also happened to be the Ironborn, who, whatever other flaws they might have, were far more dangerous than their eastern counterpart, the Sistermen.
This forced the region to invest far, far more of their resources into development than the Vale ever did.
This can best be showcased by the difference in their armies.
While the Vale had a much larger population, and could raise upwards to 35 000 men for war, compared to the Westerlands 20 000, the Westerlander armies also tended to be far, far better armed than almost any other army in Westeros(On the mainland, the only armies who could compare would be the Stormlands.
Few places during this age, were smallfolk equipped with mail by their overlord during war. However, having to regularly face the Reach, who could field even more men than the Vale, this kind of innovation was crucial for the very survival against the Reachman.
You would find no land with more forges and bellows in Westeros, no land that had been under more development, or had more infrastructure.
Though the Westerlands weren't as fertile as the Riverlands and the Reach, it's investments into such things as equipment, and extraction and use of it's abundant iron deposits, allowed it to punch well above it's weight limit. Still, it was a very far second in military power behind the Reach and the Stormlands.
Like the Riverlands, it wasn't until a true, stable peace set in, that the Westerlands was allowed to reach it's full potential.
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At the end of their tenure as monarchs, the last king of the Rock, Lyman the last allied with Mern Gardner, the last King of The Reach against Aegon.
This ended with the legendary Field of fire, and the extinction of the house of Gardner. House Lannister however, lived on, as Loren escaped the slaughter and the flames, and upon being captured, he bent the knee to the Dragon.
Thus, the Kingdom of the Rock would be no more, and the Westerlands would forever be a part of a greater Kingdom. And with that, came peace, prosperity, and growth.
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Lannisport.
Lannisport, the most populous city of the Westerlands was originally constructed a fair bit away from the castle of Casterly Rock, but not so far away the lion king did not have the capacity to enforce his will directly if he so desired.
During the first century however, the city limits would grow so much northwards, that it would cover the Rock on all sides.
Needless to say, the direct presence of Casterly Rock has had a rather substantial impact on the economy of the city. The gold that is used for the kingdoms Economy, all originate from this city, and not too surprisingly, while Lannisport has it's share of factories, the direct link with the Iron Islands, make any large scale luxury steel market a fools errand.
Instead, the city is famed for it's luxuries. Brothels, bars, gold and silver smith's, museums, saloons, cafes and all other decadent businesses one can imagine.
Coin flowed, and though the city had all businesses that most of the other capital cities has, it is the spending on coin for luxuries or pleasures that defines the capital of the west.
In particularly, that most Wicked of vice. Gambling.
Gambling houses are not a rarity in westeros(as the right to gamble for money is a constitutional right, unlike some other nations) but none take it to the extreme that Lannisport does.
In the city, there are literarily hundreds, and hundreds of gambling dens, large and small, open all hours, every day, every season, every year.
There is always a fool, ready, and willing to spend his coming in Lannisport. And as the business helps coin flow, the Lannister, have historically, been more than happy to let the dens do as they please.
The crown however, have not.
Another problem with Lannisport, is simply it's enormous criminal networks, many who masquerades as legitimate businesses, but instead focuses mainly on smuggling, thievery, assassination and such less savory work.
Not helped by the City's abysmal law enforcement, who has generally proven itself too corrupt to do their job.
Lannisport, from the moment Aenys introduced his economic reforms that would lay the foundations of Lannisport as the Decadence capital of Westeros, has historically been plagued with corruption in it's police ranks, as it's businesses are more than willing to give bribes in exchange for looking the other way, in case of minor(and mayor) law breaks against common citizens.
The city has historically been the most corrupt in Westeros, by a far margin, and as could be expected, it has been the target of Order of Tarquin more than any other City in the nation.
Purges, firing, executions for bribery, there is not a year gone by where not one or seven members of the police watch isn't executed by the order for one crime or another.
This culminated in the year 87, where the local Grand Moff, one Tarquin Duncan, petitioned King Aenys the second for the right of Decimation, to execute every single member of the police force, as he deemed the City police as "Beyond salvation" and the only cure was to get rid of all of them, and start anew fresh.
He was granted it, and in one day, he executed every single member of the police force in one day.
He then posted their skulls all around the city as a warning to future officers.
In the decades afterwards, the New police force proved itself very, very reliable. As the years have gone by however, the memory of the Decimation began to vane, and as the new police became composed of Native westermen once again, it seems the lessons was forgotten, and the police has once again begin to fall into corruption and greed.
King Maegor has confided to me, that if the current Grand Moff of the Westerlands cannot fix the deteriorating situation within the next five years as of the current date, he will enact a second Decimation of the city police.
It would be the 4th such Decimation in Westerosi history, and the first time a city was decimated two times.
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As for landmarks two things are of course the thing the city is famous for.
The first is the mountain of Casterly Rock itself, an enormous hollowed out mountain, that serves as castle, palace, fortress, administrative center and a mining city in it's own right.
It is a sight that towers above all the rest of the city, and can be seen from miles and miles around.
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The second great sight of the land, is of course, the Lion.
The Lion, is the largest statue in the world, dwarfing both the statues of Kings in King's Landing, and the titan of Braavos.
A massive, enormous statue, 400 meters tall, and a built on a huge hill, it would have dominated the city as the Black Tower does Newtown, if it hadn't been in the shadow of the Rock.
Despite it's appearance as being made out of metal, the core of the statue is actually made of Durran's Rock, with he metal around it being pure golden plates.
The statue is guarded by a personal guard, to prevent anyone from trying to steal. It's golden plates.
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The city is also home to a great number of universities, including a military one, a naval one, and many devoted to economic studies to help train administrators.
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No discussion of cities of the Westerlands would be complete withouth discussing the legendary mining cities of the western mountains.
Nargothrond. Moria. And Orzammar.
As Orzammar was only founded at the end of Aenys I's life, we shall not discuss it here however.
Nargothrond and Moria were both planned out by Aenys during the first King's Council, and both of them for the exact same reason.
A certain silvery metal, which though rare, was not as impossible to find as Platinum was.
This was of course Titanuim. Or, as Aenys renamed it, as all people in modern day know it… Mithril. The true Silver.
Before Aenys, Titanuim was generally used for Gilding purposes, as it's color and light weight made it look like the most pure silver.
Aenys, however, was not a man who cared much for metals looking pretty. He cared if he could use them for something. And as it turned out, one could.
Mithril is in many ways, a mytholigized metal, often given attributes far beyond what it can actually do.
Aenys himself is a large part of this legend.
As he, so famously described the metal in his schoolbook that all Westerosi learn from: "It can be beaten like copper, and polished like glass, and you can make an alloy of it, lighter, yet harder than tempered steel. Yet, like precious metals, it's does not rust."
Now, nothing of this is untrue. You can indeed make a metal alloy of Mithril, that can be polished like copper, is lighter than most metal, and yet harder than tempered steel.
However, despite being harder, while Mithril plate armor is more capable of stopping blows, it is also less capable of deflecting blow than a an equivelant steel armor.
The reason then, that titanium armor is so superior, is simply that one can make such armor much, much thicker than regular steel plate, yet it still remains lighter than regular steel armor.
Still, it's rarity compared to Ironborn steel, means that not every soldier can be outfitted with such armor.
The Westerlands is of course not the only place where of can find Mithril, and though both Nargothrond and Moria produces far more products than simply Mithril, both cities were founded for the exclusive purpose, of mining this metal.
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Moria is located in the Duchy of Castamere, on the western sides of the mountain and served as it's second capital.
The city is an enormous mining city, beyond the scope of anything else in the world, other than the city of Nargothrond, and Nefer, the city of necromancy in the far east, north of the Lengi Empire.
The city has hundreds, upon hundreds of chambers, large and small, similarly to Casterly Rock, though on a far, FAR larger scale.
Though the total space of Moria, is smaller than most cities in Westeros, in terms of just how far the city stretches, it is one of the two largest Cities in Westeros.
The underground city stretches all the way to the northern end of the mountains, where it has a northern entrance in the crag, and one in the east, in Ashemark.
The city produces an enormous amount of metal, gravel, and precious rocks, all of whom is traded away for coin, except the Mithril, which is the property of the crown.
Moria has a reputation for being a place where anyone can make their fortune, and this is in many ways true enough.
Any man capable of of hard work can find a reasonably well paying job as a miner in Moria. However, as many, many unfortunate souls have discovered to their sorrow, Moria is not for all men.
The simple fact of the matter is that human beings are not built for a true subterranean existence, and for all it's underground marvels, living in Moria means living away from the open sky, from the rain and the wind.
Though daylight is common for those living near the edges of the mountains, where huge and countless windows for air are carved into the mountainside, less so for those living inside the deeper depths, where one can go months or years without seeing the sun at all.
The inner parts of the city is not a dark hole however. However, there is only so much that lamps and fire can provide of illumination, and most simply have to learn to deal with the darkness on the edges as best they can.
Moria's economy is heavily built on trade, as the city is incapable of producing food in any way, and thusly relies on import to feed itself.
It's own produce is of course it's metal, it's jewels, and it's insane amount of gravel.
The city is also completely dependant upon trade for powder to fuel it's mining and expansion, and for fuel to light it's countless halls.
One common problem in the city a early days was ventilation and air, but as technology improved, ventilation shafts have become much better. Having more than one entrance to draw air from has also drastically decreased the strain put on it's original eastern entrance, where countless tunnels had to be made for air to flow through.
Despite it's massive size, and unusual location, Moria also has the regular features of city life. Brothels, shops, gambling dens and so on.
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One area where the city is different than most, is that it's literature market is nonexistent.
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Other than Moria, the other Cities in the Duchy was Castamere(The original capital until 52) Tarbeck, Sarsfield and Oxcross
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The City of Nargothrond is in concept very similar to Moria, but in practice it is very different.
Located in the duchy of Hornvale on the eastern side of the of the mountains, towards the Riverlands, Nargothrond started out very similar to Moria, as a city founded on a mine where Mithril could be found.
Where it quickly diverged however, was in the 3th year after it's founding, where an explosion blew hole in a wall,and revealed the sight which would be Nargothrond's defining feature.
Caves. Enormous, massive caves.
As it turned out, the eastern mountains contains enormous caves inside the mountains, large enough to build small cities in.
Thusly, while Moria was largely a city that had to carve out it's own living space, Nargothrond's expansion was mostly about forming a navigable network between all it's thousands, upon thousands of caves. Some massive, and some small.
It's economies however, was not much different.
Both were vast mining cities, dependent completely on trade with the outside world.
Where they differed were their markets.
While Moria had a much closer bond with the rest of the Westerlands and the Iron Islands, Nargothrond instead trades most of it's wares with the Riverlands, and of course, King's Landing.
It is not an exaggeration to say that it's this connection to the capital, that has ensured that Nargothrond is far, far richer than it's western counterpart, as all the goods King's Landing is so famous for, all flows into Nargothrond, while the Citi6's jewels, Mithril, and other metal flows west to the Dragon's city.
Though the mine parts of Nargothrond is similar to Moria, the actual living quarters are not, as shafts have been carved upwards through the mountain to allow sunlight to flow, generally making life in them far, far brighter.
As such, while their internal markets and economy is the same, Nargothrond has a flourishing literary market while Moria does not.
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Other than Nargothrond, there were no other cities in Hornvale at this time. The capital was the castle of Hornvale, until 46, when the Brax family moved to Nargothrond and has stayed there ever since.
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The golden Tooth is a mining settlement, though unlike Moria and Nargothrond, it is not underground.
The city serves largely as a miner and exporter of Gold and Iron, and serves as a way stop between the Riverlands and the Westerlands.
The only city in the Duchy during the period, was the capital of the Golden Tooth.
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The Duchy of Ashemark is dominated by the city of Ashemark, which in turn dominated the Ashemark Vale, a very fertile region of the Westerlands.
The Duchy's exports is mainly as a food producer, especially westward TO Moria. Other than food, the mountains around is also full of Iron, gold and Silver.
One massive development in Aenys reign, was that he went through great pains to destroy the steep cliffs separating the Westerlands and the Riverlands, and paving a way up along the trident and into the Ashemark.
This allowed trade to flow from and to the Riverlands, as an alternative to the Golden Tooth.
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The only cities during the period was Ashemark, and Nunn's deep.
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The crag, northernmost of the Grand Duchy's provinces, is a rather bog standard Westerlands Duchy, with an economy revolving around mining, farming, with the only thing making it stand out in terms of production being that it also has a booming fishing industry.
The Duchy's most notable metal is Silver, though in recent times, the standard Mines have run dry, and the Westerlings have had to dig many, many times for new ores as old ones run dry.
All this would translate to a regular Westerlands economy, however, the Crag is an excellent showcase in how geography matters.
Being located directly south of the Iron Islands, and between it and the Northern entrance to Moria, the Crag controls trade between these two economic centers, with all the benefits that comes from this.
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Other than the capital city of Judas, no Other cities existed here at this point in time.
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The peninsula of Kayce stands out amongst the Westerland duchies, in that it's economy is exclusively related to food production, rather than specialized mining, or a mixture between it, and farming.
Other than this fact, it is not a particularly noteworthy duchy, other than being one of the biggest breeders of Aurochs on the continent.
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The only city during this period was the city of Kayce, and Feastfires.
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Crackehall, is the center for the shipbuilding industry of the Westerlands, though addmitingly, the fleets of the Westerlands is generally a modest thing, as compared to the enormous fleets of steamships which the North, the Iron Islands, the Crownlands, as well as the royal fleets.
Still, as the only main builder of ships, and controlling the only big forest of the Westerlands, the Duchy is also the largest producer of wood for all purposes in the Westerlands.
The duchy is also home to great foresta of Ironwood, planted during Aenys reing, though unlike the Blackwoods of the Riverlands, the Crackehalls has long suffered the problem of criminals cartels who specializes in cutting down and hastily transporting Ironwood out of the duchy and out on the criminal market.
The reason for this problem being so much larger, than in the east can largely be attributed to the far bigger element of criminal groups in the Westerlands, as compared to the Riverlands. Also, by being so near the sea, it makes escape by boat very easy to do.
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The only city during the period was Crackehall's itself.
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Shockingly enough, the duchy of Cornfield is largely an agricultural duchy, with some delving into mining and forging.
In term of economy, the duchy does not stand out much compared to any of it's neighbors.
In terms of culture though, Cornfield is the center of a peculiar "Sport" if it can be called that. Namely the art of cock fighting. The cock in question being roosters, not dicks.
Cock fighting is a very popular art in the Westerlands, but it originated, and remains heavily rooted in the local culture of the Duchy.
There have been many controversies regarding cock fighting over the years, with questions such as whether it can be considered a sport, or whether such vicious battles between animals should be allowed, or even encouraged.
In terms of whether considering it a sport, no human effort or struggles takes place during it, unlike jousting, or even the illegal bullfighting, and as such, it does not possess the criterias to be considered an official sport.
As for the cruelty of animals, there have been some debate, but as ruled by Aenys II, and as upheld by King Maegor, unlike cats and dogs, roosters and chickens are a consumption animal, and as such possesses no rights whatsoever under the constitution of Westeros.
As such, making them do bloody battle for the owners amusement, or for gambling, is a perfectly legal art under the law.
Other than Cornfield itself, no other cities were chartered for the duchy during the first King's Council.
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The duchy of Silverhill, is the largest, exclusive Silver producer in the West, with very little other metals mined in the duchy. Other than it's wast silver Mines, it is also an agricultural center.
Other than that, it doesn't particularly stand out in any way.
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The only city during this age was Silverhill itself, a large mining settlement in similar vein to the Golden Tooth.
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The duchy of the Gold Road, is as the name implies, dominated by the the gold road, which goes through the capital of Paynehall, where the house of Payne resides.
Paynehall is a city that heavily invested as a learning center for the westerlands, and the crown itself, having established a university for economy already in the same year as the first King's Council.
The reason for this can largely be attributed to house Payne itself, and the leader of the house during the period, Duke Robb Payne.
The Paynes have historically been the house which the Lannister employed their tax collectors from, and have had a history of "Counting coppers" and administration for quite some time. And, they, quicker than almost everyone else following the first King's Council, understood that the nobility of Westeros was about to make a permanent shift into administrators first, and warriors second.
Thus, upon being granted a city charter by the crown. Duke Robb instantly began to create the very first university of Westeros, other than the Citadel of Maesters.
This allowed them to establish a very decisive lead in terms of education, and it remains to this day, a very respected educational center for administrators, and due to not being mired in the corruption of Lannisport, it's graduates are generally regarded as better than those from the lion city.
As for it's actual economy, the duchy is heavily involved in trade from east to west, as well as a massive producer of gravel and steel, as well as a decent agricultural produce.
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Other cities of the day other than Paynehall, was Deep Den.
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The Duchy of Fair Isle is rather interesting, in that it's economy is a bog standard fishing economy, as well as a stopping point for anyone going from the islands to Lannisport.
However, it is not it's economy which makes the Duchy famous in Westerosi culture.
Rather it is it's relationship to the west.
The world was first circumnavigated by the legendary Elissa Farman, on orders by Aenys I, on the ship Earendil, along with a small fleet.
Her legendary first trip would take her several years, and as covered in more books than I care to count, her journeys into the far west, and home again, will not be recapped here.
What I will cover however, as it is very important to understand Fair Isle's economy, is explaining why no one else in Westeros bothers to go into the west on trading voyages.
Namely, it isn't generally profitable.
Westernesse, the land directly to the west, also known as the land of the Fire people, as Westerosi generally call them(Both for the red shade of their skin, as well as their weaponry), is a long continent from North to South, separated farther by water distances from their closest neighbors, than any other spot on planetos.
In terms of size. It is roughly 60-70% the size of Westeros south of the wall. It is a varied land with forests, jungles, deserts, and fertile plains.
However, where it differs from Westeros is natural resources, as it's fertile plains is pretty much all it has going for it.
It has virtually no gold, no silver, no platinum. It's tin and copper are far from each other, and neither is as abundant as in Westeros. It's Iron deposits would have paled in comparison to Westeros, even without taking the Iron Islands into account.
The only thing it had going for it, is coal, which it has in abundance, but which Westeros still has far more off, and vegetables, fruits and spices not found in Westeros, but as we have long since imported all seeds of them back home, we do not need to trade for these.
Thusly, there is very little insentive for traders to go west.
While the various fire people are more than happy to pay abundantly for any Westerosi products, they generally do not have anything that makes such trades worthwhile.
Crossing the sunset sea is a risky endeavor at the best of times, with the ocean being filled with Krakens, leviathans, sea dragons, and other more fantastical creatures, which may, or may not exist.
However, not even those who wishes to go to the lands west of Westernesse, it is much, much safer to go the long way around, either by sailing along Mussovy, or Asshai by the shadow. Needless to say, this option has become even more preferred after Maegor's conquests.
The fire people are not technologically advanced either, with their only notable invention compared Westeros, or essos, being their fire weapons. In all other areas, they were still stuck in a bronze age by the time proper, civilized folk landed on their shores.
There is however, one exception amongst those who go east.
And that, is Fair Isle.
Fair Isle established trade with Westernesse, in the first years since it's discovery, and has continued to trade with them ever since.
The goods which fair Isle brings west, is generally steel products, or literature. Cheap, easy to make, easy to transport, and with not a particularly large room for catastrophic losses if a ship were to go down.
In exchange, they buy the one thing, which Westernesse actually has to offer. Products from animals.
For while poor in natural resources, the land is one overflowing with animal life of incredible variety.
Giant leopard like cats the size of horses, cats with teeth like sabers, sloths the size of a small house, and of course the steppe Ox. The skins, teeth and hides of all of these are a good which is well liked in Westeros, and earns fair Isle quite a bit of wealth.
So does the many, many pearl plantations which are plentiful in westernesse.
Of course, even in this, Westernesse is outdone by another region in the civilized world, namely Sothoryos, whose pelts are just as exotic, whose enormous reptiles produces teeth that rival that of leviathans, and whose pearls are the largest, and highest quality in the world.
Thusly, most traders(In particularly the royal eastern seas trading company) goes there instead.
But not Fair Isle. Instead, they maintain a profitable, if not incredibly lucrative trade with by the savages beyond the sunset sea, and as of this writing, they were recently granted a royal monopoly on western trade, which will last for the next 30 years.
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The only city in Fair Isle during the early first century, was Fair City.
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Extract from "The King's Councils: Aenys the first, Volume 1" by Rohanne Von Tyrosh. Historian serving Maegor the First, the breaker of chains.