Reach

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Map showing the location of the Reach on the continent of Westeros.

The Reach is one of the constituent regions of the continent of Westeros, and was formerly a sovereign nation known as the Kingdom of the Reach before the Targaryen conquest.

The Reach is ruled from the castle of Highgarden by House Tyrell. It is one of the larger regions of the Seven Kingdoms. Bastards born in the Reach are given the surname Flowers.

Geography

Settlements

• Highgarden, the seat of House Tyrell and the regional capital. Located on the Mander where it crosses the Roseroad.
  • Oldtown, the region's only city and the seat of House Hightower. Located in the south-west of the region at the mouth of the Mander.
  • Brightwater Keep, the seat of House Florent. Located west of Highgarden.
  • The Arbor, an island off the south-western coast of Westeros and the seat of House Redwyne.
  • Tumbleton, a town in the far north-east of the region near the border with the Crownlands.
  • Bitterbridge, a castle in the north-east of the region where the Mander first crosses the Roseroad.
  • Grassy Vale, a holdfast on the Blueburn river near the border with the Stormlands.
  • Long Table, a holdfast at the meeting of the Mander and the Blueburn.
  • Cider Hall, a holdfast at the meeting of the Mander and Cockleswhent.
  • Ashford, a holdfast on the Cockleswhent.
  • Goldengrove, a holdfast north of Highgarden.
  • Red Lake, a holdfast north-west of Highgarden near the border with the Westerlands.
  • Old Oak, a holdfast north-west of Highgarden on the Searoad near the border with the Westerlands.
  • Horn Hill, the seat of House Tarly. Located south-east of Highgarden.
  • Uplands, a holdfast south of Highgarden and west of Oldtown.
  • Honeyholt, a holdfast between Oldtown and Brightwater Keep.
  • Sun House, a holdfast on the southern coast of the region.
  • Three Towers, a holdfast south-west of Highgarden and Oldtown.
  • Blackcrown, a holdfast south-west of Highgarden and Oldtown.
  • Bandallon, a holdfast west of Brightwater Keep.

Rivers

• Mander
• Blueburn
• Cockleswhent

Highways

• The Searoad
• The Roseroad

Regions

• The Shield Islands
• The Redwyne Straits

In the books

In the Song of Ice and Fire novels the Reach is the most fertile part of Westeros, blessed with vast, blooming fields of crops and flowers, and numerous and well-populated villages and towns. The Reach is the most heavily-populated part of Westeros and is one of the richest, though not as rich as the Westerlands ruled by House Lannister. Due to this, the Tyrells can traditionally field the largest army in the Seven Kingdoms, almost as large as any of the other two combined.

While the Andals first landed in the Vale of Arryn when they invaded Westeros, in the four thousand years since their invasion the Reach has been seen as more or less their cultural heartland. During these long millenia the Reach contained the largest city on the continent, Oldtown, which also served as the headquarters of the Andals' religion, the Faith of the Seven. For this reason, the Reach has also always been seen as the heartland of chivalry in Westeros. It is in the Reach that knights most strictly observe the code of conduct promoted by chivalry, and most stringently follow the rules of the knightly tournament (though of course, the degree to which these values are upheld is ultimately dependent on the character of the knight, even in the Reach).

This status as the center of Westeros' culture was only somewhat displaced relatively recently in historical terms, three hundred years ago during the Targaryen Conquest. Aegon the Conqueror built a new and slightly larger capital city on the east coast of Westeros, King's Landing, and forced the leadership of the Faith to move their headquarters there (in the Great Sept of Baelor). Even so, the Reach can field more noble houses with more prestigious histories than the recently created Crownlands.

The Reach is watered by the immense River Mander and its many tributaries. The borders of the Reach are held as the Sunset Sea to the west and south-west, the Red Mountains of Dorne to the south-east, the hills of the Westerlands to the north-west and the Blackwater Rush to the far north-east. The Reach is linked to the capital at King's Landing by the Roseroad.

Castles of the Reach

• Highgarden, the seat of House Tyrell, the ruling house of the Reach.
  • The Arbor, an offshore island and seat of the Reach's large fleet, ruled by House Redwyne.
  • Brightwater Keep, the seat of House Florent.
  • High Horn, the seat of House Tarly.
  • Oldtown, the principal city and port of the Reach, ruled by House Hightower from the High Tower, the tallest building in Westeros.

See also

• The Reach at A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

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