"The Islands have not changed. I do not think they have changed in over three hundred years. The people are still backward, determined to advance through raiding and slaving. Things that are no longer allowed on the mainland. Their blissful isolation has made my relatives idiots. I think, that perhaps the time has come for change."
Lord Theon Greyjoy
Pyke, the place he'd dreamed of returning to for nine long years, it was his now, not because his father had invited him back-he'd come to learn that Balon Greyjoy was never going to do that, the cunt- but because his father was dead. He was Lord of the Iron Islands, and Lord Reaper of Pyke. The King had pronounced him as such, but Theon knew that the lords of the Islands would never accept him just because some southern King pronounced him as such, he'd need to prove to them that he was worthy of the title. That was why he had summoned his uncles and his sister to a council to discuss what to do.
"The Lords of the Islands will not accept you unless you do something that brings them the greatest reward. You will have to ensure that you provide them reason for following you. Doing nothing will not earn you their respect. But you know this already." His uncle Victarion says, the man is more of a brute than a thinker, so Theon is surprised to hear such words coming from him.
"There is no point telling me what I already know uncle, I would hear what you would advise I do about that. My father built up the Iron Fleet again in secret, violating the treaty he signed with King Robert. This leaves me thinking he was planning something. What was it?" Theon demands.
"Your lord father, was planning a great invasion. The likes of which had never been seen since the days of the Hoares." Aeron Damphair says.
Theon looks at the man as if he is an idiot, he remembers his uncle, he was once a drinker and fun, it seems finding religion has turned him into a complete bore. "That much is obvious, where was he planning on invading though? Surely not Westeros?" the silence that follows his question makes him exclaim. "He was going to invade Westeros? Was he mad?!"
"Your father was the furthest thing from mad that we have seen. Compared to our own lord father, he was practically sane." The Damphair retorts.
"Lord Quellon brought reform and sense to the islands." Lord Rodrik retorts.
The Damphair glowers at the Lord of Harlaw but says nothing. Instead it is left for Theon to ask. "If he was planning on invading Westeros, surely he knew he would get destroyed? The mainland is firmly united behind Robert Baratheon, there is nothing there for him to gain but to be destroyed."
The Damphair laughs. "If you truly believe that you are naïve boy." Theon bristles at that, but decides to keep his mouth shut and listen to what the man has to say. "Dorne hates the guts of the man they claim to be the usurper; they would rise in an instant if they were given a chance. The Reach burns with the anger at being replaced by the Lannisters. And the Riverlands is a keg waiting to be lit. Robert Baratheon is not the man he was nine years ago. He would die riding out of the Red Keep for war. And then there are the dragons across the sea. Waiting for their chance to fight."
Incredulously, Theon asks. "Father was going to ally with the dragons? He was the one who pushed for them to be forgotten about during Lord Quellon's day was he not?"
"Yes, that was then, when the Targaryens were offering us nothing but their demands. Now they are offering us a chance to make something of ourselves. And that is a chance you would be a fool to refuse." Damphair responds.
"What chance? Independence?" Theon queries, doubtful of whether or not that is what is truly being offered.
"Yes. They do not want the islands, and I do believe we have the chance to gain more land by doing this." The Damphair replies.
"If you truly believe that then you are more brain addled than I thought you were Aeron." Lord Rodrik replies scathingly. "If you truly think the Targaryens would willingly allow one part of their realm to slip from the grasp, let alone different parts of it, then you are nothing but a fool, who deserves to be drowned again." Theon sees his uncle seethe under the rebuke, and has to hide a chuckle behind his wine up. His uncle turns to him and says. "My Lord, I believe that you would be better served allying with kingdoms providing trade with them, and if you need to raid, raid anywhere but Westeros. Our position is not what it was before. We cannot afford more enemies on the mainland."
"Are you scared of the land dwellers, Harlaw?" Damphair asks.
Harlaw stares at the man and replies. "I am, as you should be as well. When Balon rebelled all those years ago, they destroyed us almost immediately. It took Tywin Lannister's susceptibility to flattery to enable us to make the raid on Lannisport. That will not happen again. We cannot attack Westeros now, perhaps ever."
"Then you are no true Ironborn." Victarion growls.
Theon stares at his uncles and sighs. "You are all making valid points, but I think Lord Rodrik is right. We cannot do anything in Westeros for now. Would you not agree Asha?"
His sister nods. "I think we would be fools to venture there now, after what happened last time. Somewhere else will need to be chosen."
Theon looks at the map before them, sighing, he says. "Very well, I think I know where we shall go. Somewhere that has not been visited in a long time. We shall either go to the Summer Isles or to Braavos, and when we do so, we shall make sure we stamp our mark on them."
"A Greenlander sits where once the Lord Reaper sat. It disgusts me."
