The Westerlands

"Fools look at the Westerlands and see gold. Fools see our wealth and call it strength. Gold is just another rock. The Westerlands are strong because of House Lannister. From strong leadership comes unity; from unity comes power."

- Tywin Lannister



The Westerlands is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms. It was formerly a sovereign realm known as the Kingdom of the Rock before the Targaryen conquest.

The Westerlands are ruled from the castle of Casterly Rock by House Lannister. It is one of the smaller regions of the Seven Kingdoms, but is immensely rich in natural resources, particularly metals. Predominantly mountainous, the hills of the Westerlands are riddled with veins of gold and silver, the mining of which has made the Lannisters and their bannermen immensely rich. While the Lannister armies are not as huge as those of the Reach, they are the best-equipped in the realm, with heavily-armored soldiers and cavalry.

Bastards born in the Westerlands are given the surname Hill. People of the Westerlands are collectively known as Westernmen, and are referred to, derogatorily, as "lions", in reference to the sigil of House Lannister. Colloquially, Westermen are also referred to as Lannisters.

Geography
The Westerlands border the Riverlands to the east, and the Reach to the south. The Goldroad links Lannisport on Westeros' west coast with the capital city of King's Landing on the east coast, passing through the Reach, skirting south of the Riverlands. The Searoad, hugging the coast, links Lannisport with the capital of the Reach at Highgarden as well as the major city of Oldtown further south. Predominantly mountainous, the Westerlands are well-defended from external attack. There is only one major pass through the mountains in the east of the Westerlands, near the headwaters of the Red Fork of the Trident River. Thus there is only one narrow and predictable path that armies moving between the Westerlands and Riverlands can normally take, and it is guarded by the castle of Golden Tooth.

The Westerlands border on the waters of Ironman's Bay to the north, and thus are under threat of ironborn attacks along the coasts. House Lannister commonly keeps a large fleet of warships to defends against these attacks (thus the Greyjoy Rebellion began with a sneak attack which burned the Lannister fleet at anchor). Apart from its mountainous terrain, the Westerlands are also somewhat better defended from ironborn attacks because they possesses few major rivers which empty into the west coast; this is in contrast with the Reach, which while further south from the Iron Islands, possesses major rivers such as the Mander which are navigable for a long distance inland.

The headwaters of the Red Fork of the Trident River originate in the Westerlands' eastern border but do not run through much of it before passing into the Riverlands to the east. The only major river in the Westerlands is in the north, where the Tumblestone river flows east. Ultimately the Tumblestone passes into the Riverlands, where it joins the Red Fork coming up from the south at Riverrun.

Settlements

 * Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, the ruling house of the Westerlands.
 * Ashemark, the seat of House Marbrand.
 * The Crag, the seat of House Westerling.
 * The Golden Tooth, the seat of House Lefford, which guards the main pass from the Westerlands into the Riverlands.
 * Lannisport, the principal city and port of the Westerlands, located in the shadow of Casterly Rock. Seat of a cadet branch of House Lannister
 * Clegane's Keep, the seat of House Clegane.
 * Crakehall, the seat of House Crakehall.
 * Cornfield, the seat of House Swyft.
 * Banefort, a holdfast on northern shore of the Westerlands, where Ironman's Bay meets the Sunset Sea.
 * Deep Den, a holdfast just off the Goldroad
 * Silverhill, the seat of House Serrett, a holdfast in the south of the region.
 * Hornvale, a holdfast in the centre of the region.
 * Feastfires, a holdfast on the peninsula west of Casterly Rock.
 * Faircastle, a holdfast on Fair Isle.

Roads

 * The Searoad
 * The Goldroad

Coastal areas

 * Ironman's Bay

Islands

 * Fair Isle

Lakes and rivers

 * Tumblestone

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels the Westerlands consist of a landscape of hills and valleys stretching from the well-watered Riverlands in the east to the sea in the north and west, and to the fertile plains of the Reach to the south.