THE WESTERN WASTES
Kingdom in Erilea | Previously known as The Witch Kingdom
Leader: Queen Ansel of Briarcliff (current)
High King of the Flatlands/Lord Loch(previously)
Separated by lords
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Loyalty: House Briarcliff
High King of the Flatland (previously)
Allied with the Crochan Witches &
Aelin Galanthynius of Terrasen
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Language: Unknown
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Key Locations: The Witch Kingdom
The Flatlands
Briarcliff
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Key Characters: Ansel of Briarcliff
The Witches
The Western Wastes Politics
While the eastern side of Erilea has been conquered by Adarlan, the western side of the continent has not. Most of the lands are called the wastes, due to the curse placed on the Ironteeth witches from the last Crochan queen.
Before book events, while unconfirmed, it seems that the Flatlands are separated and run by different lords. The Flatlands, previously known as the Witch Kingdom and that houses Briarcliff, is conquered by a lord who calls himself the High King of the Flatlands. Before this, the Flatlands were divided up and ruled over by lords. Between the time Ansel of Briarcliff leaves the Red Desert and answers Aelin's call in Kingdom of Ash (approximately two years), Ansel not only takes her home back from the High King, but manages to take everything, and it now called the Queen of the Western Wastes.
The Western Wastes Facts
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Used to be The Witch Kingdom, until the last Crochan Queen, before her defeat by the Ironteeth Witches, cursed the land
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Considered fertile land
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When Ansel tells Celaena that she is from the Flatlands, Celaena mentions that she had never heard of the Flatlands.
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It's not unusual for girls in the Flatlands to be married off at 14 years old, and mothers soon after.
The Flatlands/The Witch Kingdom
Once known as the Witch Kingdom, it is now called the Flatlands by it's people. Despite the curse, it remains fertile for the humans that reside there, but if an Irontooth witch tried to live on those lands, no crops would grow, the animals would wither up and die, and the waters would turn muddy.
Ansel of Briarcliff tells Celaena in The Assassin's Blade that judging by the ruins she has come across, the Witch Kingdom was very beautiful when the Crochan queens ruled 500 years ago.
Briarcliff
Briarcliff is a small area of the Flatlands that was run my Lord Briarcliff. It was surrounded by small villages with human settlers.
Briarcliff was peaceful until another lord came and took over the villages and people, and murdered Lord Briarcliff and his oldest daughter.
His youngest daughter, who saw her family's demise, went to the Red Desert and trained as an assassin. When she was eighteen, she went back to the Flatlands with an army of men, and took back her home and the rest of the Flatlands from the so-called High King of the Flatlands.
The Watchtower
A few miles from Briarcliff Hall, there is a giant tor with a lone watchtower on top. The upper part was destroyed in the Witch Wars, but the rest was intact. There is an archway that goes through the bottom of the tower, so you could see through it to the other side of the hill.
A stable boy at Briarcliff Hall was overheard saying that if you look through the archway on the night of the summer solstice, you can see into another world.
When Ansel's sister and her friend went exploring, a hidden Ironteeth witch captured her friend. The next day all that was left was the girls picked clean bones.
Bogdano Jungle
The Bogdano Jungle sits on the southern border of The Western Wastes. It covers the only part of land that connects The Deserted Land to the rest of Erilea. It is described as "feral" land.
