Balon Greyjoy is the son of Quellen, and Sansa Greyjoy making him a member of House Greyjoy and the current Patriarch of House Greyjoy, as well as the Reaver of the Iron Islands. Balon Greyjoy has four siblings in the form of Victarion, Euron, Aeron, and Dagon Greyjoy of which his brother Euron was banished from the Iron Islands after he debased his brothers wife and since then has wandered the waters as a pirate, his brother Victarion is a major leader of the Iron Fleet and was perhaps the main commander of the attack on Harrenhall, his brother Dagon died early after drowing in the water, and his final brother Aeron is a priest of the drowned God after he became fanatical following the death of his brother Dagon. Balon Greyjoy is married to Alannys Greyjoy of whome he would marry as a young man and has shared little love with. With Alannys he has four children with in the form of Theon, Rodrik, Moran, and Asha Greyjoy of which his son Moran is a leading figure in House Greyjoy and the current heir to the throne of the Iron Islands, his son Theon was captured by House Starke early in life and has remained in their custody ever since, his son Rodrik was killed during the Battle of Pontus, and his daughter Asha is a respected captain of whom commands many ships and men in the constant raids of the Iron Islands.
As the heir to the throne of the Iron islands from an early age Balon Greyjoy has not disapointed in his rulership. Balon Greyjoy was trained from an early age to become the Reaver of the Iron islands upon the death of his father, and each year of his training he appeared to get smarter and smarter at understanding the rule of the Iron Islands. He would be forced to give away his son Theon Greyjoy after his son was captured in a botched raid by a foolish captain looking for glory, and this burned his inner self as he felt insulted that he had lost a son in such a foolish way and hated House Starke for it. Under his reign the lands of the Iron Islands have grown extensivley in population and wealth despite his constant belief in the Old Ways. He would become obsessed for a time with finding the Harp of the Dragon after meeting with the strange visitor and he would launch the Iron Fleet under his son Rodrik against the Harp. Following a disasterous landing his forces would be crushed and his son Rodrik would die on the field of battle. His anger over the death of Rodrik would have him launch a massive reaving against the elements of Pontus in eastern Westros which led to massive gains as they bled the trade routes of the Pontus guilds dry. Eventually the forces of Pontus and the guilds paid a massive weight in gold to get the attacks to subside somewhat. Above even this on his list of accomplishments is the fact that he destroyed much of the power of Harrenhall the ancient enemy of the Iron islands during the Siege of Harrenhall. This happened after his years of menipulation against the forces of House Seaworth led them to come to Pyke for his help and he would prepare the massive invasion of Harrenhall. Following the success of this conflict he has ordered the massive reaving of the northern coasts of Westeros as now the forces of Harrenhall cannot stop them. Balon Greyjoy after the siege of Harrenhall would retreat into the core of Pyke where he became lethargic for when he was able to reave, and in this sadness he would be ambushed by his brother Euron Greyjoy of whom secretly murdered him throwing him over the bridges that dot Pyke.
Balon Greyjoy was trained from an early age to become the Reaver of the Iron islands upon the death of his father, and each year of his training he appeared to get smarter and smarter at understanding the rule of the Iron Islands. He would be forced to give away his son Theon Greyjoy after his son was captured in a botched raid by a foolish captain looking for glory, and this burned his inner self as he felt insulted that he had lost a son in such a foolish way and hated House Starke for it.
Reaver
Under his reign the lands of the Iron Islands have grown extensivley in population and wealth despite his constant belief in the Old Ways.
While meeting with his top leaders Balon Greyjoy watched as the meeting was interupted by a mysterious man clothed in dark robes entering seemingly through a wall. The man was nearly killed but before he was, he was able to get his offer onto the table in which he offered House Greyjoy, and the Iron Islands the chance to gain the Dragon Harp simply by going and getting it from Pontus. The Harp was a legendary item of unimagineable power which could if used by someone with enough Dragon's blood be used to litterly call dragons to its sound.
Unfortunatly for House Greyjoy, and the Iron Islands they were not the only ones offered this deal as the mysterious man was a servent of Malekor, and was attempting to cause the destruction of Westros through the destruction of Pontus, which would weaken the entire region. Following his meeting with House Targaryan he used other servents to offer the same deal to the leadership of Harrenhall, Iron Islands, Kingdom of Bolten, and the Easterlings. With all these parties now obsessed with the hope of getting the "Harp" from Pontus the armies of these nations headed towards Pontus.
The Iron Fleet had become brazen in its actions during his youth, and on one such raid of the area west of the Rhine, and very near to Stormwind Theon was brought with the raiding crew in order to see it in action. The captain of the ship had been ordered to raid the area south of Westbridge, and had taken those commands very liberaly when he went all the way south to the rich countryside east of Stormwind. Attacking this area was forbidden because the leadership of the Iron Islands wanted to take Lorderon and when they did they would need Lucerne as an ally against the very hostile forces of Gondor, and Arnor.
The captain disregardeed this and they made landing in the area where the Port of Stormwind stands now, but at the time it was the neutral village of Mul. As the raiders landed Theon waited on the boat for them to return but two days went by and still noone returned. Eventually a group of Stormwind forces arrived at the location and took young Theon into captivity.
Giving his son away
House Starke who had destroyed the raiding party, and then captured young Theon sent a letter to the Iron Islands suggesting that they not return to raiding this area of Lucerne if they wanted one of their princes back. The letter was sent back with a responce from Balon Greyjoy who didn't want to make an enemy of Lucerne since he down the road saw a great possibility in trade with them once he took control of Lorderon. In order to keep the peace he offered Theon as a gift to House Starke, and a olive branch to let them know he wanted nothing of harm to come to Lucerne. The leadership of House accepted the gift and Theon Greyjoy became a member of the House Starke Honor Gaurd.
The Iron Islands was a very expansionist Kingdom and they were always interested in controlling Harrenhall, as from Harrenhall they could attempt to control the entire Dolish Penensila. At first they attempted diplomacy as the city itself was very strong and they didn't want to attack the city for fear of heavy losses. Their diplomacy was rebuffed by House Strong who wanted to control Harrenhall alone.
With diplomacy over they had attempted to gain control of the banner houses of House Strong but were rebuffed in their attempts at every turn by a people who were very ideologically opposed to the Iron Islands.
