Euron Greyjoy

Deep within the towering Reef fortress of Pike Island, a stone chamber was barely warmed by the leaping flames in the hearth, struggling against the cold, damp air so characteristic of the Iron Islands. The air was thick with the musty scent of parchment, the slight tang of ink, and a faint, salty odor that the sea wind could never entirely wash away.

This was the abode and small library of Pike Island's maester.

Three-year-old Yulon Greyjoy sat on an oak chair that was far too large for him, his feet dangling in the air. He was wrapped in a thick woolen sweater, which made his chubby face look even paler. Most striking were his eyes: the left one like a bottomless well, absorbing the light of the room and appearing almost purely black; the right one a cold, azure blue like the sea before a Storm, startlingly clear.

"The Iron Islands have always been the most barren territory of the Seven Kingdoms." Pike Island's old maester, Craigon, a white-haired, slightly hunched old man with eyes that were still sharp, stood beside him. His cloudy gaze was filled with doubt and a hint of ineffable awe: "But our ancestors measured out a territory even larger than Westeros with their longship."

"Come, today let us learn about the great House Greyjoy's sigil, shall we?"

Maester Craigon carefully unfolded a thick parchment, its edges worn and its color faded. The pattern on the paper carried an imposing, savage aura: a ferocious sea monster, its thick, coiling tentacles covered in suckers, as if ready to burst out of the paper and drag everything into the Abyss. Heavy scales covered its body, and two eyes on its head—one as deep as a starless night, the other as cold as the most bitter seawater before a Storm—stared intently at the viewer. On the pure black background, only this sea monster was meticulously depicted with shining gold thread, exuding an unsettling majesty in the dim light.

"Look, this is the 'Golden Kraken'," Maester Craigon's thin, bony finger gently stroked the parchment with a deliberate reverence, "It is the symbol of power! It is proof that we Ironborn can breathe, fight, and rule beneath the waves! The sea is our hunting ground, and the sea monster is ourselves!" He tried to fill his voice with passion that a child could understand.

"Our House Greyjoy," Craigon's voice continued to flow, trying to draw the little master's thoughts back, "is descended from the Grey King! The Grey King, do you know him? He is a great being even older than the Children of the Forest on Westeros! Legend has it that he married a mermaid and ruled all the kingdoms beneath the waves! His blood runs in our veins!" The maester's tone was firm.

Maester Craigon did not notice the storm raging within the little master's heart. He slowly unfolded a yellowed map, a map of the Iron Islands, and began to explain the long history of the Iron Islands to Yulon.

The Iron Islands are located in Ironborn Bay, in the Sunset Sea west of Westeros, and can reach the Trident River and the Neck directly to the east. The Iron Islands are scattered in the Sunset Sea like broken Chains. The archipelago consists mainly of thirty-one islands, with twenty-one small islands surrounding the seven main islands. Some of the twenty-one small islands are used for sheep farming, and some are uninhabited.

Pike Island is like a broken spear pointing to the mainland, with Pike standing on a precarious cliff supported by three sea stacks; the volcano on Great Wyk is still smoking, and the ruins of the Grey King's hall on Old Wick Island are older than Valyria; Harlaw is like a stranded whale, Saltcliff Island is full of honeycomb-like caves, Blacktyde Isle is the territory of House Blacktyde; Oak Island, formerly known as Oakmound Island, during the reign of Iron King Hoare, merchants and trade fleets traveled between Oak Island and Lannister Port, Oldtown, and even the Free Cities, bringing unimaginable wealth to the Iron Islands.

He picked up a charcoal pencil and began to sketch on another piece of rough parchment. "Look, little master Yulon, this is our Iron Islands." He drew a few crooked circles, like a string of scattered stones, "The biggest one is our home, Pike Island. The others are Great Wyk, Old Wick, Harlaw..." His finger pressed heavily on the circle representing Harlaw, "The powerful House Harlaw. They have the best dockyards and can build 'longship' that can cut through Storm!" His tone was deliberately emphasized.

"And here, Great Wyk," Craigon's charcoal pencil pointed to another slightly larger circle, his tone adding a hint of caution, "is home to House Corbray. They are descendants of 'Blackblood' Corbray, ancient, very... proud. They value tradition." He avoided the specific meaning of "tradition" and simply drew a rough anchor next to it.

"Here, Old Wick Island," the charcoal pencil moved, "is the territory of House Drum. Kingsmoot! Do you know? A long, long time ago, the King of the Iron Islands was not born to be King, but was elected by all the captains at the Kingsmoot! House Drum presides over this ancient ceremony." The maester's tone was filled with memories of glory. "And here, Blacktyde Isle, House Blacktyde," he drew a wave at that location, "They are the most faithful servants of the Drowned God, the most fearless warriors in the waves!"

Finally, the charcoal pencil landed on a lonely little dot, located on the western tip of Great Wyk. "Lonely Light, House Farman. They..." The maester paused, seemingly choked by an invisible sea mist, "are very special, rarely leave the castle, as mysterious as the mist at sea." He drew a small lighthouse symbol.

This "map" composed of rough lines and symbolic symbols was the prototype of the world in Yulon's eyes. Pike Island was the core, and the other islands were the surrounding reefs and hidden rocks. Those names—Corbray, Drum, Blacktyde, Farman—were like the dangers marked on a nautical chart, carrying a weight that was difficult to express in Maester Craigon's tone, heavily pressing into his nascent cognition. They were tightly bound to heavy words such as "power", "pride", "ancient rituals", "devout believers", and "mystery".

"The Lords," Maester Craigon concluded, trying to squeeze out a kind smile, "are like the tentacles of the sea monster stretching in all directions. Only by tightly grasping the Reef belonging to Greyjoy can the great ship of the Iron Islands sail steadily through the Storm."

"Lord Kolen quarreled with the captains again this morning." Maester Craigon sighed, his finger knuckles tapping on the location of Lannister Port, "He proposed to form a merchant fleet for the third time, and was opposed for the third time."

Yulon's fingertips traced the sea area between the Iron Islands and the mainland on the map. He remembered his father Kolen Greyjoy's reform plan: replacing looting with iron ore trade, replacing dock taxes with "paying iron price", and even proposing to build statues of the Seven in Pike to improve relations with the mainland. These ideas were more terrifying to the Ironborn than the White Walkers.

"House Drum said this is blasphemy against the Drowned God." The maester whispered: "Yesterday, a fisherman carved 'Taking is better than toiling' on the Pike harbor."

Yulon nodded and said faintly: "This is House Greyjoy's motto..." The sound of the waves outside the window suddenly became deafening. Yulon knew this motto was engraved in the soul of House Greyjoy—they believed that the Drowned God created the Ironborn to seize the wealth of the weak.

But at this time, when his father Kolen Greyjoy proposed reforms to replace looting with trade, carving House Greyjoy's motto on the dock was not a compliment, but an iron spear pointing at House Greyjoy, sarcastically accusing Kolen Greyjoy of betraying the family's oath, betraying the tradition of the Iron Islands, and betraying the Ironborn. It was rumored that the words were carved by a fisherman, but literate fishermen on the Iron Islands were rarer than three-legged fish. Yulon understood this in his heart but did not say it. As the second son of the head of the Greyjoy family, he had attracted much attention since birth—the incarnation of the Drowned God walking in the world, the proof that The dead do not die, but rise again, the "future hope of the Iron Islands" in the mouth of the old priest, and the unique heterochromatic pupils with one black and one blue... Almost every Ironborn knew Yulon's title of "Son of the Drowned God", but at the age of 3, he was not yet able to bear various titles.

If a tree stands tall in the forest, the wind will destroy it; if a pile is higher than the shore, the current will be turbulent; if a person is higher than others, everyone will criticize him. Yulon understood this principle, so he must learn to hide before he has enough strength. Show less, live longer. Yulon would warn himself like this before speaking and doing things.

The content just said deviated from the theme of enlightenment education, so Maester Craigon shook his head and continued today's lesson, using a quill to outline the key nodes in the history of the Iron Islands on the parchment: "Three hundred years ago, when 'Blackheart' King Harren built Harrenhal in the Riverlands, we ruled the west coast from Bear Island to the Summer Isles. Until the War of Conquest... Aegon's dragonfire burned the Iron Fleet, and the scene of "King of the Iron Islands" Torren Greyjoy kneeling to offer his crown still stings the Ironborn's self-esteem. Now the Iron Islands nominally submit to the Iron Throne, but every captain has the ghost of the 'Reaver' Cory living in his heart."

Yulon saw the old maester's hand trembling on the Targaryen sigil. Maester Craigon was born and raised in the Iron Islands. Even after more than ten years of maester life in The Citadel, the story of the Iron Islands has been flowing in his blood and has never been forgotten.

Maester Craigon showed the map to Yulon and asked: "Yulon, do you know where you are?"

"Here, Pike, House Greyjoy's seat." Yulon's voice was clear, but with a strange certainty.

Craigon raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Very accurate, young master. Your father will be proud of you."

Yulon did not respond. His eyes swept across the other islands—Great Wyk, Old Wick Island, Harlaw... Each name evoked memories of the original work in his mind. He knew which families were entrenched on these islands, and knew how they would choose their positions in the future.

"Maester," Yulon suddenly asked, "Why do the Ironborn call themselves 'Ironborn'?"

Craigon stroked his beard, which was his habit when thinking. "This is an ancient tradition, young master. Our ancestors believed that the Drowned God forged the Ironborn with iron, the Andals with soft gold, and the other races with mud."

Yulon nodded, but remembered the knowledge of modern metallurgy in his heart. Iron is indeed harder than bronze, but it rusts easily. This metaphor was surprisingly accurate.

"The Ironborn's way of life is different from other kingdoms," Craigon continued, "We pay iron price, not gold and silver."

"Iron Coins?"

"Pay with swords and axes, young master. We take what we want." Craigon's voice was filled with pride, "This is the Old Way."

The Old Way, just another way of saying plunder and robbery. In Ironborn culture, warriors plunder spoils from defeated enemies, that is, pay "iron price", and do not buy items with currency, that is, "money". The Ironborn's slaves and Salt wife are also obtained from plunder, and are never bought and sold. Using money to buy items is considered a shame by the Ironborn. No matter what it is, only things that are robbed for free are good... The corners of Yulon's mouth turned up slightly. He remembered the disaster caused by King Baron's attempt to revive the Old Way in the original work, and also remembered Yulon's more extreme approach in the original work.

"Father wants to change these." Yulon said suddenly.

Craigon's expression froze obviously: "Lord Kolen does have some... innovative ideas."

Yulon knew that his father Kolen Greyjoy was trying to integrate the Iron Islands into the mainstream culture of the Seven Kingdoms. In the original work, this attempt ended in failure, leading to the decline of House Greyjoy. But now, with his intervention, history may go in a different direction. After three years, after a period of confusion and incomprehension, Huang Zhengdao finally chose to accept his current identity and accept the reality that he had traveled to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire.

"Tell me about the sigils and mottos of other families, Maester Craigon." Yulon changed the subject.

Craigon breathed a sigh of relief and began to explain while pointing at the map: "In addition to our House Greyjoy ruling Pike Island, Great Wyk is controlled by House Drum, and their sigil is bones and Chains..."

Yulon listened attentively, checking every detail against the information in his memory. House Drum, will support Baron in the future; Stonestreet Family, the sigil is a rock in the tentacles of a sea monster; House Merlyn, their motto is "We Endure"... Some of these families will be loyal to Greyjoy, and some will betray at critical moments.