1/8/2024 0 Comments Wikipedia Global City IndexBloodstone is the largest island, and at several points in history has been the unofficial capital of larger pirate fiefdoms that have risen in the chain. There are a little over a dozen islands in the Stepstones, along with smaller islets. Sometimes kingdoms in Westeros also became involved in these skirmishes, such as the old Storm Kings and particularly independent Dorne. The Free Cities most invested in this contest are nearby Tyrosh, Lys, and Myr, though at times Braavos and Pentos have also been dragged into the fighting. The Stepstones are a lawless borderland contested by various different Free Cities at one time or another, much as the Disputed Lands are contested on the mainland, but never fully controlled by any of them and rarely for long. For that matter, most merchant ships hug the coasts instead of sailing out into the deep oceans, thus even shipping lanes going to and from the west coast of Westeros - and the major, ancient ports of Oldtown and Lannisport - also have to pass close by the Stepstones, putting them in striking range of any fleets stationed there. All the sea trade to the east coast of Westeros and to five out of nine of the Free Cities has to pass through the Stepstones to reach the other major markets of the world. In and of themselves this small chain of rocky islands is worthless - however, the major sea lanes between the narrow sea and the Summer Sea have to pass through the straits between the Stepstones, making them strategically very important. A map of the Free Cities, with the Stepstones at lower left.
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