The Great Famine

The Great Famine was an event that took place between 392 and 394AC, wherein many thousands of Westerosi citizens starved. Due partially to the loss of labour during the harvest of previous years, as well as an unusual cold snap in the Reach and Riverlands in addition to extraordinarily wet conditions in the Vale, crops failed across Westeros, leading to mass shortages.

Background
With many peasants between 388 and 390AC either refusing to work, or outright rebelling, the situation in 392 proved dangerous. Previous harvests had been weak, the stores thus growing low, and so when weather and climate saw yet another crop go sour, the continent of Westeros knew famine.

The North
Whenever shortages strike Westeros, the North is one of two regions that feels it the hardest - and the events of the Great Famine were no exception. Many who lived beyond the Neck knew the touch and taste of hunger, and as crops continued to fail and prices continued to rise, many of the hardy Northmen took their lives into their own hands. For some this took the form of poaching, and indeed the Wolfswood and Barrowlands were filled with ambitious hunters hoping to feed their family for a few days more, but others bent their skills to different tasks.

Taking their inspiration from the Winter Wolves, that fabled band of northern soldiers, many grizzled warriors and third or fourth sons took up arms and departed from their homes. Some turned to banditry, taking from the countryside what they had not been able to purchase, whilst others traveled south to join the gold cloaks and the Golden Company. Yet others formed a company of their own, traveling across the Narrow Sea to seek their fortunes in the Free Cities; that band yet fights for coin to this day, descendants and brothers-in-spirit of those Northmen who first departed.

The Crownlands
In the capital, King Aenar spent thousands upon the people of the city and nearby lands, doing what he could to alleviate the suffering and supplement the needs of the smallfolk. Grain was rationed carefully, merchants and vendors forbidden from charging extortionist rates, and though the prices did soar and the suffering was still great, the Crownlands suffered the least from the agony of the Famine. Despite what was sometimes a reign of mixed ability, King Aenar's handling of the Famine is regarded by many as one of the chief examples of his skill as a ruler.

Elsewhere in the city, the High Septon of the time shut himself away within the Great Sept of Baelor. Ostensibly the seclusion was to allow him to pray, but many whispered that he simply wished to avoid the suffering of the people of the city, and escape their constant cries for aid. Many in the capital whispered against the High Septon, most especially when word came of the Septon of Oldtown, and the walk of penance he performed through the Reach. Anger at the apparent callousness of the High Septon fed fuel to the fires of the Southern Schism.

The Iron Islands
Much like the North, when hardship struck the Greenlands there were few more sorely affected than the Iron Islands. Though fishing remained somewhat stable throughout the events of the Famine, the already thin soil of the region refused to bear all fruit, and for many the choices were clear; starve, or break the King's peace. The former meant certain death, not only for themselves but their children and elderly. The latter bore the possibility of retribution, but fear had rarely curbed the heart of an Iron Islander.

Some regard the men and women who took to the seas during this age as heroes, for the spoils they brought back -- both from Westeros, and beyond -- helped many avoid a gruesome death by starvation. The anger of the King, however, was no idle or trifling thing; for every three Ironborn captains that returned home from the Mainland rich with plunder, a fourth was executed brutally, their crew put the sword and their ships to the torch. Some whispered that they needed to return to the Old Ways, and strike against the continent while it was weak. Ultimately, however, the Famine soon abated, and with it talks of rebellion once more subsided.