Rainwood

The Rainwood is a sprawling, ancient forest that covers much of the southern coast of the Stormlands, extending from the shores of Shipbreaker Bay to the rocky promontory of Cape Wrath. Its dense canopy of oak, ash, and sentinel trees, along with its tangled undergrowth, has long made it a haven for outlaws and a challenge for armies to traverse. The wood is also the source of the name for House Seaworth, as Stannis Baratheon granted Davos Seaworth the title Lord of the Rainwood after the Battle of the Blackwater, though the lands were largely nominal and held little real power or wealth.

The Golden Company's Landing

The Rainwood's isolated coastline proved strategically vital during the War of the Five Kings. Jon Connington, leading the Golden Company's invasion in support of the feigned prince Aegon Targaryen, chose the deserted shores of the Rainwood as the landing site for his forces. The dense forest provided cover for the disembarkation of men, horses, and supplies, allowing the company to establish a beachhead and march inland before the Lannister forces in King's Landing could mount an effective response. The landing was a calculated risk, relying on the forest's seclusion to mask the invasion's scale and direction until it was too late for the Iron Throne to react.

Narrative Significance

The Rainwood functions as a threshold space in the narrative, marking the return of Targaryen loyalist forces to Westerosi soil after years of exile. Its dense, untamed character contrasts with the ordered, civilized lands of the Reach and the Crownlands, symbolizing the wild, unpredictable nature of the invasion itself. For Davos Seaworth, the title Lord of the Rainwood is a hollow honor, a reminder of his lowborn origins and the precariousness of his position in Stannis's court, where he is often mocked as an "onion knight" unworthy of such a grant. The forest thus serves both as a literal staging ground for war and as a metaphorical space of contested identity and legitimacy.