Westerlands

This page is about the region. For the short, see: The Westerlands

Westerlands
Information
Type	Administrative region of the Six Kingdoms
Location	Westeros
Geography	Low mountains and hills, temperate
Population	Westermen
Rulers	House Lannister
Culture	Andal
Religion	Faith of the Seven
Military	~60,000 men (pre-War of the Five Kings)
Capital	Casterly Rock
Castles	Banefort · Castamere · Clegane's Keep · Cornfield · Crag · Crakehall · Deep Den · Faircastle · Feastfires · Golden Tooth · Hornvale · Sarsfield · Silverhill
Cities	Lannisport
Villages	Oxcross
Places of note	Ironman's Bay · Fair Isle · Goldroad · Yellow Fork

A map used on-screen of the Westerlands.

Map showing the location of the Westerlands within the continent of Westeros.

"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, also known simply as the West, is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms. Prior to Aegon's Conquest, it was a sovereign realm known as the Kingdom of the Rock.

The Westerlands are ruled from the castle of Casterly Rock by House Lannister. It is one of the smaller regions of the Seven Kingdoms geographically but has one of the larger populations. It is also 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; the abundance of iron also allows them to easily forge weapons and military equipment. 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 Westermen and are referred to, colloquially, as "lions" in reference to the sigil of House Lannister. Colloquially, Westermen are also referred to as Lannisters.

The seat of the Lannister's power for generations, Casterly Rock, for the first time in its history, fell to an invading army during the Last War. Utilizing a secret passageway constructed by Tyrion Lannister, the Unsullied armies of Daenerys Targaryen infiltrated and captured the castle. Though the Lannisters had deliberately left the Rock underdefended so as to focus their attention on capturing the Tyrell stronghold of Highgarden and were intending to take it back later, their armies were in turn smashed by Daenerys at the Battle of the Goldroad, thus leaving the Unsullied in control of the castle. Despite Casterly Rock being captured by the Unsullied, the Westerlands still remained under complete Lannister control, as Jaime Lannister was seen discussing troop and supply movements in the Westerlands with his generals even after the castle's capture. The Unsullied would later abandon Casterly Rock to participate in battles in the North, and with the destruction of the remaining Lannister forces during the Battle of King's Landing and the death of Cersei Lannister, lordship of both House Lannister and Casterly Rock was passed on to Tyrion.

Geography

The Westerlands border the Riverlands to the east and the Reach to the south. The Goldroad links Lannisport on Westeros's 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 defend 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 ancestral 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.
  • 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 center of the region.
  • Sarsfield, the seat of House Sarsfield, a holdfast nord-east of Casterly Rock, along the River Road.
  • Feastfires, a holdfast on the peninsula west of Casterly Rock.
  • Faircastle, a holdfast on Fair Isle.
  • Oxcross, a small settlement east of Lannisport.
  • Castamere, the ruined seat of House Reyne, razed during their rebellion.
  • Tarbeck Hall, the ruined seat of House Tarbeck, razed after they joined the Reynes in their rebellion.

Roads

• The Searoad
• The Goldroad

Coastal areas

• Ironman's Bay

Islands

• Fair Isle

Lakes and rivers

• Tumblestone
• Yellow Fork

Military strength

A man-at-arms from the Westerlands.

The Westerlands' men-at-arms seem to be the only soldiers, along with the Vale and Reach men-at-arms, that value the usage of plate armor the most; their arms and torso are covered by crimson-ornamented plate, while their heads are protected by helmets with collapsible visors, cheek guards and golden crests. Some other low-ranking soldiers have their torso armed with only red robes and leather cuirasses. Officers, generals, and lords often utilize intricate lion-styled pauldrons and crimson capes to denote their rank and status.

The Westerlands are among the most powerful regions in Westeros. In large part due to its large population and the wealth of House Lannister, the Westerlands can quickly raise significant military forces, less than the Reach but more than the North, the Vale, the Riverlands, and the Stormlands. At the beginning of the War of the Five Kings, Tywin Lannister easily raises approximately 60,000 men of the Westerlands in a relatively short period of time, though it is not mentioned how many of those troops belong directly to House Lannister.

A long series of battles and major defeats against the armies of Robb Stark, Stannis Baratheon, and later Daenerys Targaryen, have greatly decreased the Westerlands' manpower, with half of the 60,000 troops raised at the start of the war being destroyed in the Battle of Whispering Wood alone. By Season 7, House Lannister is mentioned to have about 10,000 soldiers, with most of these troops later being wiped out in the Battle of the Goldroad and the Battle of King's Landing.

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.

External links

• Westerlands on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (potential spoilers for House of the Dragon)