After the ignoble downfall of House Greyjoy, Lord Baelor Blacktyde believed there would be little resistance to his takeover of the Iron Islands. He was sorely mistaken. Priests of the Drowned God rallied to find an ironborn defender to fight back against the softness of the green lifestyle. Erik Ironmaker answered the call.
Styling himself King Erik the Just, the old lord openly challenged Lord Blacktyde and his feeble gods. “Is it seven gods or one? Who knows? Those green bastards don’t even know,” Lord Erik bellowed to a crowd of ironborn noblemen. “I hope it is seven, so when I die, I have six more gods to kill with my hammer.” Erik’s supporters applauded as his grandson Urek held the hammer aloft.
Word spread throughout the Iron Islands: Erik Ironmaker had loudly declared Baelor Blacktyde a string-puppet of the timid Sparrows of the Rock, a false ironman who wants to enslave true ironborn and make them plow fields on the mainland at the bidding of the silent sisters. He demanded ‘Baelor Low Tide’ meet his challenge for control of the Iron Islands at the ancient grounds of Nagga’s Hill.
“I’m here amongst the mighty bones of Nagga,” Erik started, “and I will be heard, aye. I ain’t one of Baleor’s silent bitches. WE WILL BE HEARD! No green wench will order me to cut wheat and bake breads.” The cheers and shouts from Erik’s army rumbled over the cliffs. “Come fight me, Baelor Green Boy, and I… and we, we all will show you what a true ironborn is made of!”
Urek lifted the hammer over his grandsire’s head. The army roared and chanted. “ERIK! ERIK ANVIL-BREAKER! ERIK KING!”
The Story
"Nagga's Hill is located on the isle of Old Wyk in the Iron Islands. The hill overlooks Nagga's Cradle, the body of water between Old Wyk and Great Wyk. Forty-four stone ribs of Nagga, a dead sea dragon, rise from the ground like large white trees as wide as a dromond's mast and twice as tall."
Sometimes it's a chore to write a little narrative blurb for each scenario, but more often than not I really enjoy it. Erik Ironmaker is barely in the novels, but as with so many minor characters in A Song of Ice & Fire, he was so distinctive and memorable that it was easy to imagine how he would react if he was called upon to defend the Iron Islands from a mainland incursion.
This is a fan-made scenario inspired by CMON Limited’s A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game and is in no way associated with CMON.