The Iron Islands lie west of the riverlands and Ironman’s Bay. The seven major islands are Great Wyk (largest of the islands), Old Wyk, Saltcliffe, Pyke, Orkmont, Blacktyde, and Harlaw (richest and most populous of the islands), while there are numerous small islets. Pyke is dominated by the Greyjoys, Lords of the Iron Islands, and their castle. The islands are noted for their eponymous product, iron, and are otherwise rather barren and harsh to live upon.
The isolation of the ironborn from the mainland has given them a unique culture, based on the Old Way of warfare and reaving, and the unique faith of the Drowned God who is ever at war with the Storm God. The poverty of the islands has also been a spur to ironborn reaving and conquest, and in the days before Aegon and his sisters they controlled the Riverlands. The longships of the ironborn were feared along all the western coast of Westeros, and even further, It was the death of Harren the Black and his sons in Harrenhal that broke the power of the ironborn and made them, in the end, a minor part of the greater realm. Despite this, the ironborn are still known for having a penchant for reaving.
Nagga’s Ribs, on Old Wyk, is an important historical site. There, the bones of an ancient sea dragon once served to make up the longhall of the legendary Grey King. Since then, Nagga’s Ribs was the location of the kingsmoots, where kings were chosen in the old days. There has been no kingsmoot in several thousand years, however.
The castle of Pyke is built up on various spurs of rock and islets, with the various towers connected by bridges of stone or rope. In the hall of the Greyjoys sits the Seastone Chair, from which the Lord Reaper of Pyke rules the Iron Islands.
