Casterly Rock, the capital of the Westerlands, is a city built inside a rock.
This colossal rock castle stands by the sea, its base eroded by the ocean, forming a massive hollow. Each time the tide comes in, seawater floods this cavity, creating a thunderous roar. Above this rocky hollow lies the Lannister House of Heroes.
Only those Lannisters and their close relatives who have rendered extraordinary service are eligible to be buried in the Hall of Heroes. The Hall of Heroes is adorned with statues of one hundred Lannister knights, lords, and kings clad in opulent armor, heroes who have eternally protected Casterly Rock—the Hall of Heroes is renowned throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and even across the Narrow Sea.
This giant rock by the sea is two hundred feet high, or about seventy meters, equivalent to a twenty-three-story building in Earth's civilization. The rock is nearly twenty miles long from east to west and about fifteen miles wide. Standing on flat ground and looking at the buildings of Casterly Rock, the entire city can only be seen from the top of the rock, with only a tower and a watchtower visible; the rest is just the outer shell of the rock itself.
This rock has served as a human settlement for thousands of years.
This massive rock contained gold deposits, which were discovered and mined thousands of years ago. A millennium later, hundreds of mines had penetrated deep into the rock, hollowing it out. While the red and yellow gold ore still remained, it was no longer worth mining. The Kesdley family was the first to transform the mine shafts into halls and rooms. After building their first fortress atop the rock, they began using the mine shafts that had been driven to the bottom to construct halls and other rooms.
Legend has it that during the Age of Heroes, a legendary con artist known as "Clever" Lannister tricked the Kesdley family into coming to Casterly Rock through sheer cunning. He was none other than Lannister Lannister, the ancestor of the Lannister bloodline.
Generations later, Lann's descendants filled Casterly Rock, which at the time had few mines. Some of his collateral descendants moved to a nearby village, settling near a natural harbor. Over thousands of years, trade flourished there, eventually developing into what is now Lannisport—the third largest port city in Westeros.
Today, this giant sea rock has been completely hollowed out, and its interior has been transformed into a large city with winding, undulating roads. It is filled with corridors, dungeons, storerooms, barracks, halls, stables, staircases, courtyards, chapels, balconies, and gardens—everything a city should have.
At the base of this rock, three enormous openings were carved out, known as the Lion's Mouth. The Lion's Mouth was the only road in and out of Casterly Rock. The central Lion's Mouth was very wide, connecting the Golden Road, the Coastal Road, and the River Road that led directly to the Riverlands. Twenty horses could easily pass through the Lion's Mouth and enter Casterly Rock.
When the sun shines, the shadow cast on the ground by the giant rock that forms Casterly Rock resembles a reclining lion, hence Casterly Rock is also known as the Lion City. The entrance to the city is thus named the Lion's Mouth, and the Lannister family calls themselves the Lions, from which their sigil and motto originate—their sigil is a golden, roaring lion on crimson earth, and their motto is "Hear my roar!" In addition, there is a widely circulated informal maxim: "Lannisters always pay their debts"—in Westeros, its fame surpasses even that of their maxim.
Tywin Lannister, the current Lord of Casterly Rock, was born in Aegon's Year 242 and is 56 years old this year. He is the Duke of Casterly Rock, the Shield of Lannisport, and the Warden of the West. He began to lose his hair at the age of fifty, so he shaved it all off, leaving only a thick, golden beard at his temples. Tywin's pale green eyes also have a touch of gold, which the nobles consider a symbol of gold. He loves crimson, so his armor was also made crimson, and thus the armor and cloaks of all warriors in the Westerlands are crimson; the Westerlands army is also known as the Redcoats.
At the main castle of Casterly Rock, Tywin Lannister was skinning a huge black bear, the result of a hunt he had led his guards out into the eastern mountains. His knife skills were so refined that the bear skin was perfectly intact.
As Tywin washed his blood-stained hands in the golden bronze dish, Grand Maester Potter entered.
"Lord Tywin, I just received a letter and a gift from Maester Harry."
Harry Maester is an apprentice of Maester Potter in the Westerlands, a very young junior maester who is not yet twenty years old and has not yet passed the Citadel's official exams.
"read!"
Lord Tywin Lannister was very dignified; he hadn't smiled since the day his wife died in childbirth. Twenty-five years had passed. In Aegon's year 273, Tyrion Lannister, known as the Imp, was born, which also led to the death of Tywin's beloved wife, Joanna Lannister.
"Yes, sir."
After reading Maester Harry's letter, Maester Potter anxiously observed Duke Tywin Lannister's expression.
The letter stated that after Alan Salriot of the Silver Hall exchanged gold coins for Sir Ador Salriot, he sent four barrels of fine wine from Greenwood Isle. Out of caution towards the Salriot family, Sir Gregor allowed Alan Salriot and his four guards to drink first. As a result, Alan Salriot and his four guards all died from poisoning. Maester Harry determined that the wine was adulterated with the deadly poison'Strangler'.
Subsequently, thirty Salriot mercenary cavalrymen, who had been lying in ambush in the woods outside Clegane Keep, launched a pincer attack on the keep. Ser Gregor and his men slaughtered them all, capturing twenty-three horses, eleven sets of armor, and dozens of swords and axes. Ser Gregor consulted Lord Tywin Lannister: what should he do now? Should he retaliate, or return all the horses, armor, and weapons to the Salriot family? Ser Gregor believed that the poisoning and cavalry raid might not have been the idea of the Silverhall Salriots; none of the cavalrymen who attacked Clegane Keep were Salriot family soldiers. Therefore, the incident was most likely the idea of Alan Salriot, the captain of Alva Salriot's guard who had died accidentally.
Alan Salomon was not a member of the Silver Hall Salomon family, but rather belonged to a distant branch of the Salomon family.
Duke Tywin washed his hands, and a servant hurriedly handed him a snow-white towel.
Duke Tywin Lannister carefully wiped his hands and asked, "What is the gift?"
"Salt."
Tywin paused in wiping his hands: "Go get it so I can see it!"
Salt is a precious commodity for ordinary people; some poor people can't even afford it. But for Tywin Lannister, it's a very common thing. Why would Gregor give it as a gift? There's something fishy about this.
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"I have brought it."
Maester Potter took out a beautifully wrapped wooden box, opened it, and inside was a carefully bound parchment, the bow of which appeared to be the work of a woman. Untying the rope and opening the parchment, they found a piece of bright silver silk. As they untied the knot, both the Maester and the Duke's eyes lit up: snow-white salt, seemingly crystal clear, unlike anything they had ever seen before.
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