Aegon Targaryen

The Red Keep is a castle, the seat of the Kings of the Seven Kingdoms. It stands in King's Landing, the capital of Westeros, atop Aegon's Hill.

The Red Keep is made of pale red stone. It has seven massive cylindrical towers crowned by iron ramparts, a massive buttress, vaulted halls and covered bridges, barracks, dungeons and granaries, and massive barrage walls studded with archer's huts. Thick stone parapets, some over three feet high, protect the outer edges of the ramparts on the walls. The heads of traitors are commonly placed on iron spikes between the battlements at the gate.

The walls have large bronze gates and drawbridges, with narrow posterns nearby. The immense barbican has a paved square in front of it. Within the walls are several inner courtyards, vaulted halls, covered bridges, living quarters, dungeons, and granaries.

Inside, the Keep holds the Iron Throne, the seat of the monarch; several rooms for special occasions, such as the Great Hall and the Queen's Ballroom; relics of the Targaryen dynasty, such as black steel armor with dusty dragon scales on the helmets, and dragon skulls, are displayed in the corridors. The doors are made of oak and black iron. Mats are laid on the floors when it is cold. Overall, the Keep is not particularly large, being smaller than Winterfell.

Queen's Ballroom

Within Maegor's Holdfast is the Queen's Ballroom, a room less than a tenth the size of the castle's Great Hall. The hall seats a hundred people, and has beaten silver mirrors set into each sconce, making the torchlight appear twice as bright. The walls are covered in beautifully carved wood panels, and pleasant-smelling mats cover the floor. A row of arched windows runs along the south wall.

Tower of the Hand

The Tower of the Hand is the chamber of the Hand of the King. Its Small Hall is a long room with a high, vaulted ceiling, and can seat two hundred people. The Hand's private audience chamber is not as large as the king's, but it has Myrish carpets, drapes on the walls, and an air of intimacy. The tower also has a private chamber, and a lavatory. The tower has tall windows. The tower was burned down with wildfire by order of Queen Cersei Lannister around 300 DP. Mace Tyrell plans to build a replacement tower three times the size of the original.

Maiden's Vault

The Maiden's Vault is a long, slate-roofed fortress located behind the royal sept. It has two tall, carved doors. Baelor I had confined his sisters there, lest the sight of them tempt him to carnal thoughts.

White Sword Tower

The White Sword Tower contains the quarters of the Kingsguard. It is a slender four-story structure built into an angle of the castle wall overlooking the bay. A white, circular room, known as the Round Room, has whitewashed stone walls hung with white wool tapestries, and forms the first floor. A large white table, made of weirwood and carved in the shape of a shield, with seven chairs, provides a space where the order meets. The underground gallery holds weapons and armor, the second and third floors house small, simple individual rooms for the six brothers of the Kingsguard, and the top floor houses the Lord Commander's quarters. These rooms are also simple, though spacious; they are located above the outer wall.

Great Hall

The Great Hall is the king's throne room. The Iron Throne sits on an iron dais with tall, narrow steps. A long carpet stretches from the throne to the great oak and bronze doors of the Hall. The room itself is cavernous, and can seat a thousand people. The Great Hall is oriented north to south, with tall, narrow windows on the west and east walls. Dragon skulls once hung on the walls, but Robert Baratheon replaced them with tapestries depicting hunting scenes early in his reign.

Traitor's Walk

Traitor's Walk is a squat, semi-circular tower that contains the entrance to the dungeons. The upper floor contains cells for prisoners who require some degree of comfort. The entrance to the dungeons is on the lower floor, behind a hammered iron gate and a second door of chipped, grey wood. Between the two prisons are rooms for the use of the Chief Jailer, the Lord Confessor, and the King's Magistrate.

Dungeons

The dungeons of the Red Keep have four floors. On the top floor are cells with tall, narrow windows, where common criminals are confined together. On the second floor are smaller cells, where highborn captives are kept. They have no windows, but torches in the hallways send enough light through the bars. On the third floor, the cells are smaller and have wooden doors, so that no light enters them. They are called "black cells." These cells are reserved for the most dangerous and vile prisoners. On the fourth floor, the cells are intended for torture. Supposedly, it is safer to walk on the fourth floor in the dark, as there are things one would not want to see.

Secret passages

The Red Keep has a network of secret tunnels and passages. King Maegor I had them built to allow for a quick escape should his enemies corner him. The tunnels are said to be full of traps. Some of the tunnels are made of stone, while others are made of earth, supported by beams. Some of them are so small that a grown man must crawl through them. Some tunnels pass close to other rooms in the Keep, allowing a person to overhear many conversations while hidden.

A secret passage leads from the private chamber in the Tower of the Hand to the outside. The chamber used by Varys contains a secret lever that causes a stone slab to rise and reveal a staircase. There is also a secret path that leads from the Red Keep to the hills overlooking the sea. Handholds, impossible to see from the ground, have been cut into the stone so that one can climb down and reach a path beside the river.

Sacred Grove

The Red Keep’s sacred grove is an acre of elms, alders, and poplars that overhang the river. The heart tree is a large oak, its ancient branches covered in tobaccoberry vines.

Sept

The royal sept, deep within the Red Keep, has tall crystal windows. It contains seven altars, one for each aspect of the Faith of the Seven. It stands at the front of the Maidenvault.