on the shores of the gods I do north of

the Isle of faces Rises a monument to

for a people who prided themselves on

those ships the iron men of old seized

any chance to leave them and carved out

a vast kingdom from the peaceful River

Lords the empire reached its zenith

under king Harun hora called the black

by those he terrorized and by his own

men though they meant it proudly King

Harun enslaved the river lands to raise

the mightiest fortress Westeros had ever

seen a castle that could garrison a

million men with walls so vast that

winters would come and go and besieging

armies grow old and gray before the

castle fell five towers he ordered

reaching into the heavens like grasping

fingers a monstrosit­y which he forced

our people to build for their own

subjugatio­n but the very day the slaves

laid the last stone Aegon Targaryen and

sisters arrived in the south when they

Harun laughed and shut the gates

Harrenhal would have its first test and

Harrenhal could have withstood an

assault from all the armies and Westeros

combined but Haran learned that the

tallest and thickest walls meant little

to dragons for dragons fly with Haran

Harrenhal quickly surrendere­d to Agel

house Tully then raised the river Lords

and rebellion against the Iron Islands

and with Aegon we flushed the iron men

to the sea we should have torn down the

castle stone by stone then but Harrenhal

seemed such a magnificen­t prize that

Aegon gave it to one of his commanders

whose line then with it to extinction as

thereafter when many speak of harrenhal

the voices dropped to whispers about mad

lady lawson who were said to send a

giant bat to collect children for her

and to bathe and blood and so feasts of

human flesh about the ghosts of black

heron and his sons who still walk the

castle at night all aflame of the

servants who went to bed in full health

and were found in the morning burnt to

ash mere stories to frighten wayward

children and excite young girls you may

say you would not be entirely wrong

Harrenhal is a prize an i impregnabl­e

castle with enough land and enough

income to make a man at a stroke one of

the greatest Lords in Westeros but you

would not be entirely right either say

by a King's grace Harrenhal became yours

now you must garrison it you must repair

it and maintain it even stretch to the

ends of your means you cannot fill and

manage the whole castle so you would

treat your household to four of the five

towers then three then two then only the

bottom thirds of those you closed the

whole of a hundred Hoth's and take your

meals in your rooms even then you can't

shake the feeling of desolation that

Harrenhal and its vastness is devouring

you in later years as you bury a

grandson or a great-gran­dson the last of

your line you will know it has