Game of Thrones: Kingsroad keeps throwing opportunities right into your face to actually interface with the source material's lore. If various quests, chronicles, and miscellaneous reading material scattered across every corner of the world manage to convey the ongoing narrative, then abandoned ruins and relics successfully bridge the continent's past and present.

The 'Sharpshooter's Quiver' Tied to the Three-Eyed Raven

The Sharpshooter's Quiver seriously buffs ranged attack damage and ammo recovery rate via its dedicated shooting mode. Unsurprisingly, overseas players have hailed this as an essential relic for mercenary ranged builds. While the exact owner remains shrouded in mystery, legend has it that a member of 'Brynden Rivers' (hereafter Brynden)'s personal elite guard, the 'Raven's Teeth', utilized it.

Brynden happens to be one of the sons of Aegon IV, dubbed the Unworthy, roughly a century prior to the main storyline. He also held 'Dark Sister', another artifact faithfully recreated inside the game, though he admittedly preferred wielding a bow. Furthermore, espionage and sorcery came quite naturally to the man. Rumour even paints him as the true puppet master ruling the kingdom from the shadows through spies and magic.

Brynden's military prowess truly took centre stage during the First Blackfyre Rebellion. He marched onto the Redgrass Field alongside his private regiment, the Raven's Teeth. Seizing a ridge with a commanding view of the battlefield, the commander rained arrows down on the enemy lines while personally sniping Daemon Blackfyre's two sons. He even claimed Daemon Blackfyre's life with an arrow when the father refused to abandon the fallen sons. Although Aegor Rivers, a rival rebel general, permanently blinded Brynden in one eye during the engagement, suppressing the rebellion proved successful.

Daemon Blackfyre might have been a traitor, but the man was still Brynden's half-brother. Consequently, ending the lives of a nephew and a brother earned Brynden the rather unfortunate moniker of kinslayer. Afterwards, the veteran cemented his place in history by putting down the Second and Third Blackfyre Rebellions, eventually serving as Hand of the King from the 12th to the 14th kings of the Targaryen dynasty. True to the earlier espionage remarks, ferreting out traitors earned Brynden yet another famous title: 'thousand eyes, and one.'

However, just ahead of the Great Council convened to determine a successor following the death of Maekar I, a fatal deception took place. Despite promising protection to a descendant of the House Blackfyre who pressed a claim to the Iron Throne, Brynden had the claimant summarily executed the moment the unfortunate soul landed on the continent. This blatant betrayal led to Brynden being packed off to the Night's Watch, embarking on a ranging expedition beyond the Wall from which no return was ever made.

Though the trail went cold, the character resurfaced during the main events of Game of Thrones as Bran Stark's mentor, the 'Three-Eyed Raven'. Armed with greenseer abilities, Brynden trained Bran Stark in warging into various creatures and manipulating past events through weirwoods. Since subsequent paths diverge slightly between the television adaptation and the novels, feel free to look it up if curiosity strikes.

'Reynald's Surrender', Offering a Glimpse into Lannister Ruthlessness

Reynald's Surrender is a rare-tier relic boasting underwhelming base stats. Moreover, the unique effects triggered upon activating its active skill lean heavily into defensive utility like health restoration and shields, leaving practically zero players using it outside of mere collection purposes. Despite this lacklustre in-game popularity, the relic houses a crucial tale tied to the utter annihilation of two houses once residing in the Westerlands.

The tale travels back to the era governed by 'Gerold Lannister' (hereafter Gerold), the grandfather of 'Tywin Lannister' (hereafter Tywin). Proving exceptionally competent, Gerold amassed immense wealth for both House Lannister and the broader Westerlands, earning the moniker the Golden. Naturally, the swelling wealth and influence of House Lannister attracted opportunistic figures looking to exploit that power. Ellyn Reyne (hereafter Ellyn) of House Reyne was prime among them.

Ellyn attempted to entrap Gerold's sons to become the lady of House Lannister. However, the eldest son secured for betrothal fell at the Peake Uprising, while the second son, whom Ellyn also tried to charm, met his end during the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion. Turning affections toward the third son, 'Tytos Lannister' (hereafter Tytos), Ellyn ultimately faced expulsion from Casterly Rock when Gerold uncovered the machinations. Harbouring deep resentment toward the Lannisters ever after, Ellyn married Walderan Tarbeck of House Tarbeck.

Tytos, stepping up as lord in place of the two brothers, simply lacked the temperament of a ruler. The reigning Targaryen royal family at the time proved so unimpressed with the weakness that replacing the Lord of the Westerlands crossed royal minds. The man earned the stinging nickname 'the Lion Without Teeth' for good reason. Ellyn, armed with fierce ambition and a grudge against the Lannisters, hardly let the opening slip by. Taking full advantage of House Lannister's wandering influence, the houses of Reyne and Tarbeck vastly expanded their own clout.

Trouble brewed when Tywin stepped in to seize actual control of the family reins from the father. The young lord flatly refused to tolerate other Western lords treating the Lannisters as a joke, demanding that vassal houses cough up long-overdue taxes—a demand most houses readily obeyed.

Yet House Reyne and House Tarbeck, still clueless about the changing political climate, shrugged off the ultimatum. Even then, Tytos tried to smooth things over by forgiving debts, but the defiant houses ultimately sparked a rebellion anyway.

The moment hostilities commenced, Tywin struck swiftly to prevent Tytos from attempting any bumbling mediation. A panicked Ellyn appealed to House Reyne for reinforcements, but by the time help arrived, House Tarbeck had already been wiped out and the ancestral seat of Tarbeck Hall reduced to ashes. Concluding that a pitched frontal battle meant certain doom, House Reyne lord 'Roger Reyne' tried a surprise raid. Tywin's sharp counterattack cost the reinforcements half their numbers, leaving Roger Reyne severely wounded by a crossbow bolt and forced to retreat to the stronghold of 'Castamere'.

Taking over command due to the brother's injury, the younger sibling 'Reynald Reyne' dispatched a letter to Tywin containing terms of surrender. That historical document is what the developers have turned into an in-game relic. Rumour has it that the letter hardly represented an unconditional surrender; the tone remained remarkably arrogant, reportedly demanding Tywin's siblings as hostages or challenging Tywin to single combat against Roger Reyne with fealty on the line should the duel fail.

Naturally, Tywin rejected the surrender outright. Instead, the lord blocked every single entrance to Castamere and diverted nearby watercourses, drowning every single combatant holding out below. Tywin was a mere 19 years of age at the time, yet this single rebellion ensured every house in the West bowed their heads to House Lannister without a peep thereafter.

The haunting song 'The Rains of Castamere' immortalises these events. Serving as an anthem symbolising the absolute authority of House Lannister, the lyrics recount how Castle Castamere vanished, leaving not even a ghost to weep over the ruins. Since the tune defines House Lannister, it pops up frequently throughout the original work. If you fancy a listen, pop over to YouTube and track it down.