Winter Is Coming with Fire and Blood

The present Lord of Highgarden, Mace Tyrell, fought loyally for House Targaryen during Robert’s Rebellion, defeating Robert Baratheon himself at the Battle of Ashford and later besieging his brother Stannis in Storm’s End for the better part of a year. With the death of the Mad King Aerys II and his son Prince Rhaegar, however, Lord Mace laid down his sword, and is today once again Warden of the South and a leal servant of the Iron Throne.

                                             - [The World of Ice and Fire] The Reach: House Tyrell

“Gentle Mother, font of mercy, save our sons from war, we pray, stay the swords and stay the arrows, let them know a better day. Gentle Mother, strength of women, help our daughters through this fray, soothe the wrath and tame the fury, teach us all a kinder way.”

Although one may see ‘paying the iron price’ as a barbaric notion, an Ironborn would not believe it to be such. The iron price - obviously - would not apply to every aspect of society - such would be illogical; trade and commerce is needed to sustain a kingdom. Instead, the ‘iron price’ applies to the idea of material wealth - trinkets, loot, etc. In a way, the iron price is a proof of merit; the idea of the warrior having achieved a great feat in obtaining such a token. Each item gained expands upon the story of the Ironborn - a reminder of battles and glory past.

These cold, wet, windswept islands were never well forested, and their thin soil did not support the growth of weirwoods. No giants ever made their homes here, nor did the children of the forest walk what woods there were. The old gods worshipped by these elder races were likewise absent. And though the Andals did reach the islands eventually, their Faith never took root here either, for another god had come before the Seven: the Drowned God, creator of the seas and father of the ironborn.

The gods have no mercy, that’s why they are gods.

The great castle of Highgarden, the ancient seat of the Tyrell lords and the Gardener kings before them, sits atop a verdant hill overlooking the broad and tranquil waters of the Mander. Seen from afar, the castle “looks so much a part of the land one could think that it had grown there, rather than being built.” Many consider Highgarden to be the most beautiful castle in all the Seven Kingdoms, a claim that only the men of the Vale see fit to dispute. (They prefer their own Eyrie). The hill from which Highgarden rises is neither steep nor stony but broad in extent, with gentle slopes and a pleasing symmetry. From the castle’s walls and towers, a man can see for leagues in all directions, across orchards and meadows and fields of flowers, including the golden roses of the Reach that have long been the sigil of House Tyrell.

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↳ 𝒞𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉

The Rhoynar brought considerable wealth with them to Dorne; their artisans, metalworkers, and stonemasons brought skills far in advance of those achieved by their Westerosi counterparts, and their armorers were soon producing swords and spears and suits of scale and plate no Westerosi smith could hope to match. Even more crucially, it is said the Rhoynish water witches witches knew secret spells that made dry streams flow again and deserts bloom. To celebrate these unions, and make certain her people could not again retreat to the sea, Nymeria burned the Rhoynish ships. “Our wanderings are at an end,” she declared. “We have found a new home, and here we shall live and die.”

                   - [The World of Ice and Fire] Ancient History: Ten Thousand Ships