CK2AGOT - Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons

[Thaiga]

The Monster of The Broken Branch​

It all started with the death of Lord Halys of House Hornwood.

His only legitimate son, Lord Daryn, succeeded him as the Lord of The Broken Branch. Everything was relatively normal at first. Lord Daryn was married to a natural daughter of late Lord Brandon of House Stark and the pair had three living children together.

Then a tragedy struck. Lord Daryn was grievously injured on a hunting trip and left bedridden for almost a year. When he finally pulled through he apparently was so disfigured that he had to wear a full mask every hour of every day. His throat was apparently also affected as he did not ever speak and all the orders and rulings seemed to come through the members of his immediate family first. At some point people also started to notice that Lord Daryn appears to be fasting a lot going for days without any sustenance.

But when someone dared to raise some concern they often simply vanished or were dragged to the dungeons where Lord Daryn apparently loved to spend his days and even nights. Things became so unbearable that the subjects of Lord Daryn the Terrible sent a secret messenger to the court of the Queen herself. And the Queen answered.

Lord Daryn was arrested and brought in chains before the Queen who flew on her dragon along with the King and his dragon all the way to the Hornwood hall. The mask was removed from Lord Daryn’s head though it had to be physically torn off of him for it had become a part of his slowly decaying flesh. Lord Daryn’s long-dead eyes sat deep inside their sockets, unmoving, unblinking, unseeing. His mouth was sewn shut to prevent it from opening on its own. The thing was unnatural. Abhorrent. It had to be put down and out of its misery.

So it was done. Lord Daryn’s head was separated from his body and then both parts were burned to ashes on a pyre.

No further arrests were made though because unfortunately it was unclear who was responsible for that atrocity and who even knew about it in the first place.

Content with the fact that the monster was eliminated, the Queen and King left for the capital.

But the nightmare was far from over.

Lord Daryn’s firstborn son and successor, Lord Eyron, had five sons of his own.

His eldest, Lord Roose, succeeded his father as the Lord of the Broken Branch just three years after Lord Daryn’s final death. It would seem that Lord Eyron died in an accident so no foul play was suspected. But then Lord Roose died mere months after his father in what seemed like an even more horrible accident. He was succeeded by his brother, Lord Gawen. Lord Gawen then died a year later from something that looked like a flu.

Lord Daryn, the second of his name, succeeded as Lord of The Broken Branch. For better or worse, he is still alive, but his younger brother, Benfred, died after some stomach pains that he had after a meal.

Lord Daryn is down to one brother who is understandably highly paranoid about this whole situation. While there are no evidence that Lord Daryn is somehow involved, it is worth noting that none of his subjects or family would deny that Lord Daryn is a scheming and dishonest man who could’ve easily resorted to the foul plays to achieve what he deemed to be his by right.

 

[Thaiga]

Old Castle Grows Bigger​

I deemed it worth noting that under the rule of Lord Paramount Eddard there were some changes in the political structure of the Northern region of the Realm.

The first one occurred in the Lordship of Oldcstle where the Lords of Oldcastle were granted dominion over two adjusting territories.

North Clans United​

The second change was more prominent. The new province of North Clans was created and the Lords of House Liddle from Pinesend were given the task of governance and mediation between the various northern mountain clans and the Lords of the North.

 

[Thaiga]

The Wall and Beyond​

Cover art for GRR Martin's "Game of Thrones" for Leya Brazil by Marc Simonetti​

Any talk of Westeros would be incomplete without the tale of the far North. With the acquisition of those lands in the year 340AC the whole continent finally fell under complete control of the Iron Throne. Let us now have a proper look at those wondrous lands.

The Lands Far North​

The lands north of the Wall are cold and remote from the warm cities of the south. To many, even learned maesters, the lands north of the Seven Kingdoms are inhospitable wastelands, their few inhabitants too savage, too primitive and too small in number to be concerned about. The men of the Night’s Watch knew better, that the northern lands are vast and it is possible to survive and live there. It is a hard and tough life that breeds hardy and tough people. Before the War for the Snow they called themselves the Free Folk, but were known to the inhabitants of the Seven Kingdoms as the wildlings. Now they are slowly being integrated and recognised across the Realm, but it is still a long road ahead.

The northern lands can be divided into three broad regions: the Lands of Always Winter in the far north and extending for over a thousand miles to the north pole; the Ice River and Frozen Shore regions on the open, cold plains west of the Frostfangs; and the more temperate, warm and better-populated lowlands of the Milkwater Valley and the Haunted Forest to the south-east.

Kingdom of the Free Folk​

The Lands of Always Winter terminate in a series of great lakes and rivers which, at least occasionally, thaw in the summer. They also end on the northern slopes of the Frostfangs, the greatest mountain range of the northern lands. These lands south to the Wall are considerably more hospitable than the frozen northern tundra, although they are still cold and growing crops is difficult in all but the longest and warmest summers.

The lands of the (formerly) Free Folk are divided in two by the Frostfangs. The Frostfangs extend in a slightly north-easterly direction for about 750 miles before swinging north-east for about 300 miles. The Frostfangs are tall, jagged and cold. They are also beautiful, with frozen waterfalls that gradually thaw in the spring and high mountain meadows covered in wildflowers in the summer. But in the winter they are grey, dark and uninhabitable, save for a few rumoured valleys where shelter can be found.

There are three principal passes through the Frostfangs: the Milkwater Valley, formed by that great river as it winds its way through the mountains from its source; the Giant’s Stair and the Skirling Pass.

There are numerous mountains in the Frostfangs, but one of the largest and most distinctive is Forktop, so-called for the two peaks that crown it. Some maesters claim that the Frostfangs continue south of the Gorge as the Northern Mountains, whilst others hold them to be a separate range.

The lands to the east of the Frostfangs are more hospitable. The Frostfangs shelter the lands on their eastern side from the harsh winds and cold that lash the western slopes, and there are numerous sheltered valleys along the eastern mountain flanks that are more hospitable. The best-known of these is Thenn. Located near the northern end of the mountains in a bowl-shaped valley, local geographic and climatic conditions make Thenn warmer and more habitable than most of the other lands at that latitude. It is still a hard land and the people of Thenn, known simply as “Thenns”, are certainly fierce and unrelenting warriors. They were also more sophisticated than other wildlings, mining for tin and copper, forging weapons of bronze and engaging in trade while other clans were busy with petty squabbles. They are also close to the few surviving giants of the mountains, having won their trust in ancient times. The Thenns are led by a ruler known as the Magnar, who is considered more god than king. The Thenns’ belief in their Magnar makes them more disciplined and confident than other tribes. They were, arguably, the most formidable of the northernmost tribes, at least before the Snowy War.

Further south along the Frostfangs lie great caverns and cave complexes, some natural, some perhaps dug out in ancient times. Some wildlings made their home in these caves for their natural warmth and defensive benefits until the new inhabitants arrived. The cave-dwellers filed their teeth and painted themselves unusual colours. They are also said to have worshipped bizarre and dark gods.

Running along the feet of the Frostfangs is the Milkwater. The largest and longest river in the lands beyond the Wall, the river consists of two major tributaries. The northern river’s source is in the high Frostfangs, not far south of Thenn. The Milkwater proper is born in a valley north of the Giant’s Stair, a common meeting and gathering spot for the tribes and the seat of House Weg Wun Dar Wun. The two rivers join near the Giant’s Stair and then proceed south-east before swinging south-west and flowing through the Gorge to meet the Bay of Ice. All-told, the river is over 650 miles in length. During the winters the river is a source of food for the local tribes, who engage in ice-fishing along its length. The only major crossing over the river is the Bridge of Skulls which stands in the shadow of the far western end of the Wall. Before the Snowy War the Bridge was held by the Night’s Watch and no crossing of the bridge against a determined opposition was possible. Now it serves as a major trading route. However, there are fords further north and crossing the river when it is frozen during the winter is certainly still possible if desired.

East of the Milkwater lies a vast canopy of trees: the Haunted Forest. This forest extends for almost 600 miles from the Wall to the northern lakes and rivers and is over 300 miles across at its thickest point. It is the largest woodland still extant on the continent of Westeros and is vast and foreboding. The thick trees of the forest, particularly the weirwoods, block some of the worst of the freezing cold that runs from the north or off the Shivering Sea. Other trees in the forest include ironwood, sentinel and oak.

The forest is home to many more tribes, such as the Nightrunners and Hornfoots, as well as many individual homesteads, such as the infamous “keep” of the repulsive Craster, and entire villages, such as Whitetree near the Wall. The forest is also the home to many dangerous animals. For example, direwolves can still be found in the deepest parts of the forest.

The forest is also home to ruins. The Children of the Forest lived in the woodlands for millennia, and the First Men also once dwelt there, raising ringforts for defence. The ruins of one such stronghold – the “Fist of the First Men” – can be found on a tall hill in the western forest, overlooking the Milkwater. It is currently being rebuilt and used as a primary seat of the King Beyond the Wall. Many of the tribes claim descent from the First Men and hence kinship with the people of the North in the Seven Kingdoms.

There still are no settlements large enough to be really called towns, let alone cities. This was not always the case. The better part of a thousand years ago, an enterprising wildling chieftain founded a settlement at the northern tip of Storrold’s Point, a great peninsular in the eastern Haunted Forest. This settlement was located on a sheltered bay with a deep natural harbour, capable of keeping the biggest ships afloat. The waters are filled with fish and seals, and wood and stone supplies are plentiful. There are nearby caves providing natural shelter, although the wind had a tendency to run through these caves and make unnerving shrieking noises.

Before long the settlement had turned into a great boom town, Hardhome. Wildling tribes from the interior traded there with ships from the Seven Kingdoms and even the Free Cities (Braavos, located just a couple of weeks to the south and always in need of wood, was particularly well-suited to benefit from this trade). Great trade was made in lumber and fish and word of the town began to spread. Maester Wyllis travelled from the Citadel to Hardhome and established himself there as an advisor to Gorm the Wolf, one of the four warlords who had arisen to rule the settlement. After three years Gorm was murdered and Wyllis rapidly took ship back to Oldtown, where he wrote a respected account of his time amongst the wildlings.

Three centuries before Aegon’s Landing, Hardhome was destroyed. The cause of the devastation is unclear. It is known that the town was razed to the ground and the intensity of the fire was so great that it could be seen from the Wall, almost 200 miles to the south. A vast swathe of surrounding forest was destroyed. Oddly, it appears that there were no survivors at all. What could cause the town to be destroyed so quickly and completely remains unknown.

The wildlings at that time chose not to resettle the ruins, claiming that demons and ghosts prowled the area and the bay was too choked with corpses. Maesters would later theorise that slavers from Skagos or the Free Cities had raided the town and taken the survivors away in chains, but it seems implausible that they would be able to destroy the town so completely. The truth of the affair remains a mystery to this day, but with the current effort to reestablish Hardhome and bring it to its former glory we are eager to discover the clues to this mystery.

The Snow Wars​

There are still quite a lot of veterans of the War that made it possible. But the road to this war was long and treacherous.

It all started when a Magnar of the Thenns named Sigorn began his subjugation of the wildling tribes east of the Frostfangs. He was met with fierce opposition but in the year 313AC he declared himself the new King-Beyond-the-Wall and ruled with fear and pain.

Right from the start the new realm fell into a state of constant internal struggles. Traditional battles, fair duels or dishonorable assassination - the end justified the means.

There were also whispers about a boy born to a man named Mance, a mysterious Night’s Watch deserter who tried to unite the tribes with talks of a common enemy coming not from the South but from the North. After Mance’s suspicious death his heavily pregnant wife disappeared.

Mance playing the lute by Amok

Dalla by by Jason Engle (allegedly, could not locate this picture on the artist's official page)​

Years later her son by Mance reappeared with an army of his fellow Free Folk that came from the Gorge. To the Magnar’s surprise that army then marched along the Wall and camped just outside the gates of Castle Black. It was then met by another army that poured through those gates. “The Pair of Dragons” themself were at the helm, although they left the actual dragons south of the Wall. What shocked the Magnar the most though was that instead of battle both armies exchanged some awkward courtesies and marched together all the way to the valley of Thenn. And the rest is history.

 

[Thaiga]

King-Beyond-the-Wall​

After the fall of the Thenns a Great Meeting of the Tribes was called. There was a lot of talking, shouting and a couple of fights, but in the end most of the tribes saw reason and agreed that peace is better than constant wars. A safe passage and a piece of land to settle in any region of their choosing was granted to any and all who would so desire.

And of course the matter of rulership was resolved with an obvious choice - Karlon, son of Mance, that very same posthumous son, now a man and a formidable warrior in his own right. From a very young age he travelled incognito along the tribes and then through the Seven Kingdoms, all the way to the Capital where he presented his case in front of the Iron Throne. That fateful meeting resulted in the Snow Wars despite the constant grumble coming from all the corners of the Realm as most of the Throne’s subjects did not understand the need for any of it.

He was permitted to style himself as a “King-Beyond-the-Wall” as a gesture of good will and respect for tradition. He also strived to act as a bridge between the North in the South and the Old North and married Lady Mina from an esteemed northern House of Umber. He did so in a fashion that honored both traditions as he came openly to her home and asked for her hand from both herself and her family and then he sparred with a family chosen champion as a nod to the tribal tradition of wife-stealing. This gesture and the subsequent intermarriages and intermingling between the northerners are slowly shifting the perspective about the Free Folk as more and more people of new generations don’t see them as “wildlings” but rather as some peculiar northmen akin to the ones on the island of Skagos.

In the end the new “royal” union proved very loving and fruitful and it would seem that Lady Mina does not hold any ill will towards her husband for his most recent “mishap”.

Mance Rayder KING beyond the wall by 1oshuart

The pair’s three daughters married into different noble Houses both North and South of the Wall and maintain close and warm relations to their parents.

The younger son, Harmon, is also very fond of his father. The feeling is mutual and King Harlon is very supportive to the pair in their dark time.

It is not the same with the heir apparent though. He (arguably quite fairly) hates his father for a bastard he put in the belly of his own son's wife and even named said bastard after himself.

Prince Mance’s own bastard daughter was born before his marriage. She is married to the heir of Hardhome.

Six Skins of Hardhome​

Hardhome sure is a turbulent place. After its initial abandonment it was resettled by a group of people led by a powerful warg named Varamyr. He was the one to lead an attack on the Wall that ended in deaths of both himself and his wife and the capture of his son.

A song of ice and fire - Varamyr Sixskins by Abend86

His poor daughter hid away in a small hillfort deep in the forest and died there at the age of just eight and ten. Her husband lived there after that. He never remarried and his only child abandoned the keep after his death.

After the Unification of the Tribes Varamyr’s son Vayon returned to his father’s home. He was given resources and manpower to begin the enormous task of rebuilding Hardhome to its legendary state. A flock of maesters also descended onto it in an effort to finally understand what actually happened there all those years ago.

The current Lord of Hardhome is Alaric, Lord Vayon’s oldest son. He is married to Lady Aliona from Ruddy Hall, half-sister to the King-Beyond-the-Wall himself.

 

[Thaiga]

Mead-Kings of Ruddy Hall​

There would be no King-Beyond-the-Walls if not for the Tormund Giantsbane of Ruddy Hall and his brood because that was exactly the place Mance’s wife Dalla fled and found both shelter and love. Tormund once thought to make himself King-Beyond-the-Wall, but he was defeated by Mance, a feat that earned them both respect from one another, so after Mance’s demise his staunchest supporter fought tirelessly for his friend’s son.

A man of big appetites, Tormund was married thrice, all the while having children “with the bears” as his marriages seemed to be cursed. His first wife was killed by a leader of another tribe, his second - by an upjumped leader of the other, and his third was the killer of his first.

Tormund Giantsbane by Ryan Valle

Many of his children were sent on missions across the Gorge to win support for the future King.

On one of those trips Tormund’s son Toregg the Tall met his Lady Mormont. He was so amused by the tales that Mormont women sleep with bears that he laughed himself into marriage and stayed on the Bear Island (more about them can be found in the North Chapter).


Tormund’s daughter Munda took the same road as she fell in love and married a Liddle. Her death broke lord Rickard and he drank himself into a stupor every waking hour. In his last year he somehow mistook one of his washer girls for his wife, conceived a son and died a year after his birth.

After Tormund’s death his youngest son Dryn was elected as an overlord of the Lower Frostfangs tribes. He was married to lady Thyri the Tall Talker who claimed descent from the Thenns just because she came from the valley of Thenn. Tragically Lord Dryn died just two years after his father. Lady Thyri remarried to her husband’s brother who succeeded him.

Dormund was already a widower himself. His first wife, Val, was a sister of that same Dalla, Mance’s wife and future King’s mother.

Val by Drazenka Kimpel

Dormund’s daughters all married into notable families on both sides of the North.

Dormund’s son Tormund married his cousin, Lady Spruce of House Rayder, King Karlon’s daughter. The pair lives with the bride’s side at the Fist of the First Men.

Their son Sygurrd is married to lady Lyarra of House Manderly, herself a widow of another tribe’s late leader, Toramun. Toramun’s first wife and Toramun himself died under rather questionable circumstances, and Toramun’s and lady Lyarra’s infant son was outright murdered. It was discovered that the boy was killed by Toramun’s cousin (as were probably Toramun and his first wife as well). As an ultimate punishment, insult and humiliation imaginable among the Free Folk, the killer was made to take the black and sent to Westwatch-by-the-Bridge.

After the Unification, Dormund, already ravaged by an unrelenting tumor, abdicated in favor of his older brother Torwynd, future King-Beyond-the-Wall’s step-father, but Torwynd died in the last month of the same year.

Lord Torwynd and his beloved Lady Dalla had two children together.

Lady Aliona’s marriage at Hardhome is already covered above.

Dalla by by Jason Engle (allegedly, could not locate this picture on the artist's official page)​

Lord Theo, who succeeded his father as the Lord of Ruddy Hall in the same year that his half-brother became the King-Beyond-the-Wall. It would seem that Lord Theo is still deeply hurt from grooving up in his brother’s shadow and hates him with a passion bordering on madness. He was heard more than once that he considers his brother his one and only rival.

Lord Theo’s daughter Lady Beinerra is married to Lord Edwyn of House Stark of the Shadow Tower.

Lord Theo’s “bear-born” lives in a hillfort near the edge of the Gorge. It is said that ih has a stunning view on the Bay of Ice.

Lord Theo’s heir Sigorn and his wife Aly are yet to have a son. It is rumored that Aly is not particularly fond of her husband but is definitely fond of wild parties and carnal pleasures and that she may be very skillful in making sure that no other child would hinder her care-free life.

Lord Theo’s second son already does have a son of his own despite the fact that his wife is ten years his senior and twice a widow.

 

[Thaiga]

The Monsters of Craster’s Keep​

One particular “tribe” is closely linked to the Ruddy Hall, but not in the usual sense of blood relation but rather by bloodshed.

After the infamous “Lord Craster” was finally taken to the seven hells, his “keep” went to his daughter-wives. But instead of feeling liberated, they continued the vile practice of infanticide by luring men (often brother of the Night’s Watch) into their home and then leaving the resulting offspring in the blizzard.

Craster by Amok

As part of his mission to raise awareness of his late friend Mance’s message about the Enemy to the North, Tormund Giantsbane of Ruddy Hall took it upon himself to eradicate this blight. He descended on the “keep” with a raiding party, capturing some and scattering the others into the wind.

While he was at it, one of his raiders named Jorakul decided that he would very much like to be the new Craster and captured the homestead along with Tormund’s wife. When Tormund returned, he found his wife’s body hanging along with those who stayed loyal to Tormund, and Jorakul delirious with fever. Tormund then put the keep to the torch, left Jorakul bound naked in the snow just outside of reach of the ring of warmth and left the place for good.

The only known sister-wife of Craster to have escaped was poor young Gilly. She fled south and even managed to marry the Lord of Crow’s Edge. But she died at the young age of just twenty years from a rapid growth that ate her away. Her grandson Cley is the current heir of Crow’s Edge.

It’s close proximity to the Wall makes the place a prime location both for trade and more nefarious deeds. So when the fires had raged off and the ashes were blown by the winds a new group settled on the hill where Craster’s Keep once stood.

After The Unification they were allowed to stay despite their predecessor’s reputation because no child should be held accountable for the deeds of their forebears.

Thenn Thousand Strong​

After being deposed by the united armies, Magnar Sigorn saw it as the will of the Gods and lived out his life in the Thenn valley with drink and women.

His son Styr seems to be content with his place as well.

But not all of the former “King’s” progeny were and are willing to abandon what they see as their birthright. Sigorn’s grandson An is dead set on both avenging his father and reclamation of the throne. He stole Sigorn’s blade, the horrendous Skeenpeeler, and is now travelling from one tribe to the next hoping to gather enough support.

 

[Thaiga]

Ice Rivers​

The lands to the west consist of cold, open plains and hills through which run a series of rivers. Although far more hospitable than the Lands of Always Winter to the north, these are still sparse and bare lands.

Two groups of wildlings live in this region.

The Ice River clans live around the great rivers, carrying out fishing and, during the winters, ice-fishing to survive. The Ice River clansmen are said to feast on human flesh (although it is unclear if this is reliable or just rumour). The Ice River (or rivers) flow south out of the heart of this region into the Sunset Sea west of Bear Island. The coastline around the mouth of the river and east to the Frostfangs, including the entire northern coast of the Bay of Ice, is known as the Frozen Shore.

The Frozen Shore is inhabited by a different culture of wildlings, men and women who ride chariots made of walrus bone and pulled by gigantic dogs (reportedly as big as direwolves, although this may be exaggeration). They clad themselves in sealskins and breed reindeer. There are several Frozen Shore tribes: one adorns itself with walrus tusks, another with reindeer antlers. The “Great Walrus” is the name given to the leader of the walrus tusk tribe.

The tribes of the Frozen Shore usually do not get along with one another or the Ice River clans, and internal warfare is common. They are also known to build primitive boats to raid Bear Island and Sea Dragon Point to the south, although after the Snowy War the reports of these occurrences are in a rapid decline. According to some legends, the ironborn may have tried to conquer the Frozen Shore in ancient times but, if so, they were rebuffed.

A promontory on the Frozen Shore is known as Lorn Point. Its precise location is unclear, but some mappers identify this as the largest and southernmost peninsular on the shore, separating the Bay of Ice from the Sunset Sea. Redwyn, a ranger of the Night’s Watch, undertook a long journey from the Shadow Tower to Lorn Point during which he met and traded with the Children of the Forest. The report is considered fanciful; if Lorn Point is that promontory, it is well over 500 miles (as the wolf runs) west of the Shadow Tower.

Seal of Disapproval​

When the united armies were done dealing with the Thenns, whey came for the ice river clans. Their leader, a man named Devyn of the Seal tribe, saw the futility of resistance and reluctantly bent the knee. When the previous power decided not to go back into the ice and stay in the Upper Frostfangs, the Ice River clans were emboldened and declared Devyn the “King of the Ice Rivers”, similar to the King-Beyond-the-Wall.

It would seem that “king” Devyn’s only daughter did indeed run away to the bear island, so the girl Gnila that married Ser Ramsay the Bear is actually a princess of a sort.

“King” Devyn’s brother dwells on the shores of the Bay of Ice. He has three sons so when the time comes the future “queen” Gnila will have a healthy opposition, a factor that might have driven the anxious girl to run in the first place. There is hoping that her husband has enough bravery for the both of them.

A Coiled Snake​

“King” Devyn’s younger half-sister (a daughter of his mother, Ice Cat), Coiled Snake of the Walrus tribe, is another kind of woman entirely.

To better understand this peculiar situation, we must look back a few generations.

There once was a chieftain. the Great Walrus of the Frozen Shore. He was married to a “Proud Bitch of Eglia”, despite the fact that Eglia is a province on the Essarian border and it is highly unlikely that anyone from that region could've come all this way up North.

Great Walrus had two sons, Young Walrus and Little Walrus, and a daughter, Ice Cat.

Ice Cat was married off to the Ice River tribe of the Seal to broker some kind of truce.

After Great Walrus’ death his sons divided the Frozen Shore between themselves. Young Walrus became the chieftain of the proper Frozen Shore tribe but died at the age of seven-and-twenty from a festered wound after losing his eye on a hunt so his daughter Laughing Gull became the chieftess of the Frozen Shore.

Young Walrus of the West Shelf was married twice, but only managed to produce one daughter before a bone rot took his life. Soon after his poor little child started to exhibit violent outbursts and even more violent convulsions (for which she was given her milkname) before finally dying at the age of just two years.

So the chieftess Laughing Gull became the matriarch of the Walrus tribe of the whole Frozen Shore. She then made a power move that was supposed to cement her place as a chieftess because she believed that no-one would’ve wanted to mess with their new chieftain - an actual giant, one of the last remaining giants in the ice lands. It is unknown whether or not the marriage was consummated but given the fact that Laughing Gull is still alive it is safe to bet that it probably was not (although some of the more… inquisitive maesters are very upset by the fact that the pair remains childless).

Her kinswoman Coiled Snake did not care for that scare tactic at all. Born to an unknown father and an only daughter of the Great Walrus himself, she believed the Frozen Shore to be her birthright. And she actually managed to press that claim after gathering support within the tribe and riding her dog sled right through Laughing Gull’s yurt. It is said that with the birth of her children she lost her initial audacity and some claiming that she became an outright coward, but the Great Chieftess of the Frozen Shore is still known as the Spearwife and obeyed without question to much annoyance of Laughing Gull.

Coiled Snake’s son and heir seems to take after her. This daring young man stands to inherit the whole Frozen Shore after the Laughing Gull’s death and is seen by some as a potential pretender for the whole “throne” of the glaciers.

 

[Thaiga]

The Return of Magic​

But I suspect, my dear leader, that you didn’t sit through another boring chapter about geography or genealogy just for the fun of it. Of course you are here to know if the rumors about the return of magic are true.

They are.

Think of the children​

It was long speculated that the Royal Couple met with the Children of the Forest while on their campaign beyond the Wall. It is high time to put these rumors to rest.

It’s true. They did.

Children of the Forest by Blu-Oltremare (author's original DeviantArt unfortunately unavailable)

One of them was present as an advisor at the Great Meeting of the Tribes and some might say that her voice was decisive in bringing the people together against their true common enemy. As part of the private agreement with the Throne a good chunk of the Haunted Forest is now considered officially sacred and belongs to the Children in all fullness of the laws of gods and men.

A wooden face, corpse white​

The Royal Couple also met with the mysterious Greenseer. His dwelling within the Children’s territory is now a sanctuary and a place of study to other people with a greensight. It is also fully equipped with a proper ravenry and a glass candle. And a proper pedestal for the ancient Sword.

The Last Greenseer by Karen Petrasko

Nanos gigantium humeris insidentes​

Another surprise for the southern readers would be our new noble houses of Weg Wun Dar Wun and Mar Tun Doh Weg from the slopes of the Upper Frostfangs. Not only are their names a mouthful, but they are indeed actual giants. Not the dreaded Mountain or the esteemed Umbers but an actual between ten to fourteen feet tall giants covered in a shaggy pelt of fur. Giants speak the Old Tongue of the First Men and right now are no doubt grumbling in it as a steady stream of maesters is trickling up to their mountains to learn everything they can about it and them. Also a lot of the giants are vegetarians.

After being driven from their homes in the icy glaciers of the Ice Rivers and the Frozen Shore, the giants came east to join their legendary heroes in the united armies and later became Lords in the Mountains. Their voices held very high regard during the Great Meeting.

(Picture found on Pinterest, if anyone knows the author, please contact me)

(Picture found of Imgur, if anyone knows the author, please contact me)

 

[Thaiga]

And Now Their Watch Has Ended​

The Wall and Castle Black by Félix Sotomayor​

The Wall, according to tradition, was raised eight thousand years ago at the end of the War for the Dawn, to bar the return of the mysterious Others from out of the Lands of Always Winter. The sworn brotherhood of the Night’s Watch was formed to defend it and hold back the darkness beyond.

Nineteen castles run along the base of the Wall, but at the time of the Unification of the Tribes only three were permanently-manned, a consequence of the declining manpower of the Night’s Watch. Each of the castles guards a gate and tunnel through the Wall, but the tunnels in all of the abandoned castles had been filled with rubble and ice so they had to be excavated and rebuilt in order for them to be used to pass under the Wall again.

The Night’s Watch also controlled all of the land south of the Wall, coast to coast, for 150 miles. Originally Brandon the Builder granted the Watch all the lands south for 75 miles as the Gift, or Brandon’s Gift, but this was doubled by Queen Alysanne and King Jaehaerys I, with the new stretch known as the New Gift. The Gift consists of a huge stretch of farmland, forest, pasture and, in the west, mountains. At one time this land was heavily farmed and home to many thousands of smallfolk toiling to support the Watch, sending grain and ale and milk up to the Wall. Centuries and millennia ago, the manpower of the Night’s Watch was comfortably counted in the tens of thousands, with men willingly choosing to serve with honour and distinction. When Aegon the Conqueror landed, ten thousand men stood guard on the Wall.

But that number has dwindled and in the year 340AC only around a thousand men guarded the entire length of the Wall, most of them criminals or exiles. With fewer men guarding the Wall, fewer farmers and blacksmiths were needed to supply them. However, fewer men guarding the Wall also meant more raiders and wildlings able to attack farmsteads and smallholdings, discouraging settlers. As a result, the Gift was largely empty and abandoned, the people moving south for warmer and more readily-defended climes.

Little by little, the Night's Watch forgot that its main mission was not the fight against the wildlings, but against the Others.

The Unification brought about the end of the Watch as it was. The whole new kingdom North of the Wall was now on the lookout for the real enemy and the Throne itself became the shield that guards the realms of men. The Night’s Watch was effectively disbanded and only the castle of Westwatch-by-the-Bridge remains under the chargeless black banner, no more an honorable place, but an ordinary penal colony for the ordinary criminals.

Westwatch-by-the-Bridge by Marc Simonetti for Fantasy Flight Games​

Recent Lords Commander​

The last two Lords Commander who remembered their vows and knew about the real Enemy were:

Lord Commander Jeor the Beast Tamer, formerly of the House Mormont, who died on active duty at the age of eight-and-seventy.

Jeor Mormont by Manzanedo

and

The honorable Lord Commander Benjen, formerly of House Stark, who was slayed by a fellow black brother in a trial by combat at the age of seven-and-sixty.

Benjen Stark by BrittMartin


His killer, Commander Lewyn of the infamous Nightfort, abandoned his vows and married a girl from Mole’s Town. He was confronted by his Lord Commander Benjen who demanded that he send the girl back where she came from, but the traitor refused and a duel ensued. It was debated whether Lewyn had killed his Commander on purpose or if that was a tragic accident due to the extreme remorse and agitation exhibited by the perpetrator, but it was of no meaningful consequence for the outcome. Lewyn was arrested and died in the dungeons of Castle Black four months later. The girl he chose to die for was sadly reported “dead from natural causes” a mere month after his death, although the true nature of those natural causes is highly questionable.

The next Lord Commander was Triston, formerly of House Arryn of Eastwald. The whole ordeal with the murder of his predeccessor and the subsequent trial and death of his fellow brother that did the gruesome deed had left Lord Commander Triston in a state of deep despair. He was known to sympathize with both parties as he held Lord Benjen in the highest regard but also had three bastard children with the women of Mole’s Town himself.

He also was the last Lord Commander to be the actual Lord Commander of the Watch. Under his command the Watch was disbanded, sentences retried and the remaining convicts sent to the Westwatch-by-the-Bridge to serve out their days as ordinary criminals toiling for their sins in the mines that were found nearby.

After Lord Commander Triston’s death two years after the Night’s Watch dissolution, Lord Commander Elys, formerly of House Shett, took the post. A good man, he was actually found to be wrongfully sent to the wall by his own father after he found out about his inclination towards men (even though Lord Elys actually had a daughter, or he claimed one as her own at least). He refused to go though and asked to remain where he was, a deed that elevated him to the post of an overseer after the previous Lord Commander died.

The current overseer is Lord Commander Tristifer, formerly of House Vance. An ambitious man with questionable morals and disregard for any fairness of conduct, he was elevated by his fellow inmates for his proficiency with words as they hope that he would be able to weasel his way around and maybe negotiate some better deals for them, which is highly unlikely as Lord Commander Tristifer seems to care only for one person in this world - himself.

 

[Thaiga]

Essos​

The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments) from the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas)​

Essos is the largest continent in the known world. To its inhabitants it is the birthplace of civilisation, the probable birthplace of humanity and up until the most recent times it was the world, Westeros less than an afterthought.

Essos is a land of great extremes: its great rivers (such as the Rhoyne and the Sarne) dwarf the largest rivers in Westeros and its tallest mountains are far beyond the tallest peaks of the Sunset Lands in size. Its cities are larger and its merchants richer, by far, than their western cousins.

It is also still a much more fractious and violent land. Whilst all of Westeros is now united as a single polity, Essos, especially it’s Far East, is still divided between dozens of city-states and kingdoms, as well as several large empires and nomadic warriors whose territories extend over thousands of miles.

It is also a land of mysteries and the unknown. Even its geographic constraints have not been measured: beyond the forests of Mossovy, the plains of the Grey Waste, the peaks of the Mountains of the Morn and the mist-shrouded waters of the Saffron Straits, all knowledge of the continent abruptly ceases. Expeditions seeking to explore the lands to the east of Carcosa and the Shadow Lands – even by the ancient Valyrians on dragonback – have simply all vanished without a trace. Even the famed Sea Snake of Westeros, Corlys Velaryon, chose to turn back at Nefer rather than risk further travel through uncharted seas.

The mapped portion of Essos, stretching from the western-most promontory in the Disputed Lands to the eastern shores of the Hidden Sea, extends across a distance of approximately 6,335 miles. At its widest in the far east, the continent extends for approximately 2,600 miles from Nefer on the Shivering Sea to Asshai on the Jade Sea. The continent is divided into several informal cartographic regions by maesters when discussing its geography, for ease of debate.

The western-most region is known as the Great Cities (formerly known as Free Cities), for it is dominated by nine great city-states and the large regions of territory each control. These cities are Braavos, Lorath, Lys, Myr, Norvos, Pentos, Qohor, Tyrosh and Volantis. This is the area that has the most traffic with Westeros, lying as it does just a few days sail across the Narrow Sea.

East of the Free Cities the fledgling colonies of Essaria are just starting to sprawl their wings. In their shadow a newly resurrected Kingdom of Sarnor is trying to find its footing.

Further east lies the vast region known as the Dothraki Sea, consisting mainly of the vast grasslands that give it its names as well as the forests of Ifequevron.

South of this region lies the Smoking Sea, formerly the heartland of the vast Valyrian Freeholdand, but today divided between the ruined lands of Valyria and the newly resettled Lands of the Long Summer; and the Slaver’s Bay, formerly the heartland of the Ghiscari Empire and today consisting of the resurgent cities of the harpy: Meereen, Astapor, Yunkai and New Ghis. Immediately neighbouring them to the east is the kingdom of Lhazar.

East of Slaver’s Bay lies the forbidding Red Waste and the great city-state of Qarth, as well as the immense offshore island of Great Moraq. The gateway between east and west, this region sees immense wealth flowing between the Summer Sea in the west and the Jade Sea in the east.

North of the Dothraki Sea lies the island of Ib (sometimes called Ibben).

East of the Dothraki Sea lies the immense Bone Mountains and the Plains of the Jogos Nhai, home to a formidable, nomadic warrior-race as well as the surviving city-states of the ancient Patrimony of Hyrkoon reborn from the ashes of old.

South of the Plains of the Jogos Nhai lies the Golden Empire of Yi Ti. Probably the most populous nation in the known world, Yi Ti is ancient (some might say decadent), rich beyond reckoning and home to a hundred quarrelsome cities, each larger than King’s Landing or Oldtown. The wealthy island of Leng lies just off its coast.

In the far south-east of the world lies the Jade Sea, a vast, circular ocean whose shores teem with great cities, forbidding jungles and dark mysteries. Hundreds of islands fill the Jade Sea, chief among them fire-shrouded Marahai and the exotic Island of Elephants.

East of the Jogos Nhai lies the Far East, home to the Thousand Isles, the heavily-forested realm of Mossovy and the disturbing Bleeding Sea. This region is home to the Cannibal Sands, the Land of the Shrykes and the Cities of the Bloodless Men. The Mountains of the Morn loom over the landscape, in a hidden valley of which is said to lie the Hidden Sea, the homes of the fabled winged men and the forbidding, mysterious city of Carcosa. Knowledge fails us in this land and reality and myth become entwined.

Finally, south of the Mountains of the Morn and east of the Jade Sea lies the Shadow Lands, a land of towering mountains so high that they block out the sun, plunging the surrounding valleys into utter darkness even during the day. This is the land of ghost grass, the brackish waters of the River Ash and the corpse-city Stygai, where even the greatest sorcerers of the Shadow refuse to tread. At the mouth of the Ash lies the largest city (but most heavily under-populated) in the known world, Asshai-by-the-Shadow, mostly left in derelict ruins where sorcerers practice foul rites and hungry merchants lust for gold.

The population of Essos is hard to estimate, although maesters suggest it is considerably more than the (conservative) estimates of forty-five million for Westeros. Yi Ti is densely populated and the Free Cities almost all dwarf the largest cities in Westeros in population.

Due to its huge size, Essos is home to numerous disparate factions and forces. The Free Companies, or mercenary sellswords, are considerably influential. Many of the city-states cannot afford to maintain standing armies, so they instead hire swords for coin to fight their battles for them. Although traditional, this has been cited as ineffective, since sellswords are untrustworthy and may turn their cloak if another city offers a better price. The Unsullied of Astapor, famed warrior-eunuchs with a reputation for absolute loyalty and fearlessness, are still popular for their staunch reliability in battle, but this comes with a price. The warrior-nomads of both the Dothraki and the Jogos Nhai are feared for their skill and savagery in battle.

In matters of religion, Essos is home to almost as many faiths as there are stars in the sky. Rising in popularity is the cult of the red god, R’hllor, Lord of Light, which has gained vast numbers of followers in recent centuries. The center of this faith is in far Asshai, but there is also a significant temple to him in Volantis. The Moonsingers are the most popular religious sect in Braavos, as they helped found the city, but temples to almost every deity under the sun can be found in the city. Also popular are the Great Shepherd of Lhazar, the Lion of Night, the Many-Faced God, the Stone Cow of Faros, the Weeping Lady, Trios, Bakkalon the Pale Child, the Hooded Wayfarer and the Black Goat of Qohor, amongst many, many others.

Essos then is a vast land of many different peoples, gods and lands, a teeming and confusing morass of cultures and races whose beliefs are very alien to those of the Seven Kingdoms.

 

[Thaiga]

The Great Cities​

The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments) from the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas)​

To the people of Westeros, “beyond the Narrow Sea” is a phrase promising exotic new locales, adventures in remote and interesting lands and a reference to rich cities specialising in exotic gods, heathenism and corruption. They refer to the Twelve (formerly Nine) Great Cities of Essos (Braavos, Lorath, Andalos, Norvos, Qohor, Rhoynar, Pentos, Myr, Lys, Tyrosh, Volantis and Essaria), often talking about them in the same terms when each city is remarkably different in tone, character and history. The Great Cities share a history – they were founded or ruined by or in response to the actions of the Freehold of Valyria – but culturally and economically each stands unique.

The region covered by the Great Cities is vast, matching the entire South of Westeros in size. It extends for approximately 1,800 miles from north to south and for over 1,300 miles from east to west. The Great Cities region is bordered by the Shivering Sea to the north, the Narrow Sea to the west, the Summer Sea to the south and the Dothraki Sea and Painted Mountains to the east.

Internally, the Great Cities region consists of large and fertile plains watered by numerous rivers. Several rivers rise in the hills and mountains of the north. Generally referred to as the “Hills of Norvos”, although many of these “hills” rival mountains in Westeros in size, these highlands give rise to the rivers which rush down to the plains and forests, forming the mighty Rhoyne along their way. The Rhoyne sweeps south for almost 1,350 miles, from the source of the Upper Rhoyne all the way to the river delta just below Volantis, watering the Flatlands, the Golden Fields and the Volantene hinterlands along the way.

The Ones No Longer Free​

Each Great City in this Chapter will be mentioned in order of their inclusion in the Realm.​

While for the westerosi the practice of slavery is abhorrent and is strictly forbidden for thousands of years, it is still widespread throughout many parts of Essos. The Slaver’s Bay got its name for it, the Dothraki are notorious for their slave raids and the warlocks of Quarth are known to participate in this vile trade. It also was just recently practised openly in the Stepstones, the Three Daughters and not-so-openly in Pentos. But it all finally came to an end with the Liberation of the Stepstones (covered in the appropriate previous Chapter) that marked the beginning of the subsequent Liberation Wars of the Narrow Sea. By the end of those, the whole eastern coast was changed forever.

 

[Thaiga]

Tyrosh​

Game of Thrones: Tyrosh II by Claudio Pilia for Unseen Westeros​

Tyrosh is located on the north-easternmost island in the Stepstones, 400 miles south-west of Myr and 450 miles north-west of Lys. It dominates the northern part of the island and started life as a Valyrian military outpost, with walls of fused black dragonstone. Later, the inhabitants discovered a unique species of sea snail on the islands nearby which produced a remarkable dye. Tyrosh built its reputation and its riches on both this dye and controlling the treacherous trade routes through the Stepstones.

Tyrosh is also the nearest of the Great Cities to the mainland of Westeros; the coast of Dorne lies barely 200 miles south-west of the city. That is why it was the first to fall.

The Tyroshi War of 308-314AC marks the second victory in the series of conquests collectively known as The Liberation Wars.

It started in the late 308AC with an ultimatum that Archon Myrmello the Second had imprudently refused. He unfortunately did not live to see the full extent of the consequences of his actions, so on the First day of the Sixth moon of the year 314AC his successor, Archon Oro the Third, became the last Archon of Tyrosh.

The Storm of Crows​

After the reorganisation of administration in Tyrosh was completed, a new Lord Paramount for the region was appointed by the Queen. Her choice surprised almost everyone, especially the chosen. When he was called to stand before the Queen, a long, awkward silence ensued as the Queen pierced the flamboyant sellsword with her purple eyes for some long minutes. She finally muttered something to herself and averted her gaze toward the parchments before her (reportedly her words were: “Seriously?..”, but no-one knows what she actually meant by that). She then proceeded to put her final signature and press her ring into the wax thus making Daario Naharis, the former sellsword from the Stormcrows company, the first Lord Paramount of Tyrosh.

Daario Naharis.Fragment by steamey

Lord Daario made his crest the three black crows on a grey stormy sky, a tribute to his origins (three instead of four because “One often must lose something in order to gain something, and I’d rather just lose a bird”).

He never married, cheerfully stating that he already had two wives while brandishing his Dothraki arakh and Myrish stiletto with golden hilts of a matched pair of wanton naked women. He did however sire three children by three different women, two of them being declared as his legitimate.

His oldest daughter, Lady Roslin, was married to the son of the famous Lady Asha of the Southern Stepstones. As their wedding gift the pair was granted their own little isle near Tyrosh thus making Lady Roslin’s husband Lord Tyler of Little Tyrosh.

Lord Daarion’s second daughter, Lady Tiryna, was married to another son of Lady Asha, Lord Aeron of Wreckstone. Unfortunately she died at the age of just two-and-twenty under very questionable circumstances. Her only son, Lord Torwyn, later became Lord of Little Tyrosh after the death of his uncle. Lord Aeron remarried to Lady Sera of House Saan, fathered three more children and gloriously died in a reaving.

Lord Daario’s only son became the next Lord Paramount of Tyrosh. Lord Paramount Harlan was married to Lady Lyssa of House Seastag from the neighbouring Stepstones. They had three daughters and two sons together. After Lord Harlan’s death Lady Lyssa declared an indefinite mourning.

Both of their oldest daughters are married into prominent houses in the region.

The younger son, Master Joryo, recently married mistress Laresha of House Otherys. He was granted a palace of Dynelos as a wedding gift from his brother, a deed that earned his brother his moniker.

The current Lord Paramount of Tyrosh is Lord Daarius the Open-Handed. He is the only Naharis that forgoes the usual tyroshi practice of dying his hair and flaunts his silver mane he inherited from his mother. His wife, the merry Lady Saka of House Drahar from Myr, is also a silverhead.

Notable Vassals​

After the war some redistribution of lands was inevitable and expected.

Krakens of Tyrosh
An island of Little Tyrosh first went to Lady Roslin’s husband Lord Tyler, but due to their lack of sons it then went to Lady Tiryna’s only son, Lord Torwyn. He is married to Lady Lysanei of House Vunatis from Western Stepstones.

The lands of Tyroshi Landing near the capital was granted to another Greyjoy descendant, Lord Lucimore, a bastard son of “king” Euron Crow’s Eye. Lord Lucimore held no love for his sire and quickly adopted both the customs and the faith of his new subjects. To further commemorate this shift, he changes his family name to Greytrios and his sigil to three golden circles on a light-grey line across the black field, a tribute to both the three-headed god Trios and his Greyjoy colours.

Lord Lucimore was married to Lady Nakodi of House Ormolan from a nearby land of Kylos.

Their oldest daughter, lady Syrea, is married to Nakorno Orlonnis, a former sellsword of pentoshi origin. Curiously enough, Nakorno follows the drowned god of the ironborn, the faith of lady Syrea’s infamous grandsire. Lady Syrea herself formally follows the Trios, but is heavily influenced by her family history and her husband’s belief and seems to merge the different ideas of both faiths. She also does not dye her hair.

Her two sisters do though. Ladies Nilora and Doreza are both married into prominent families of the region and fully embody its faith and traditions.

The current lord of Tyroshi Landing is Lord Tregar, Lord Lucimore’s only son. He too does not dye his hair. He is married to Lady Nesynea, the last member of the short-lived minor house of Vynenohr.

The Disputes in the Disputed Lands​

Lord Tychan Dynohrin was Lord Paramount Daario’s comrade and friend, so when Lord Daario became the ruler of Tyrosh, he elevated his friend as well. Some years later he shattered that friendship beyond repair with one swift order of execution. When the light of Lady Zansa’s pyre went out, so did the one in her husband’s eyes. His body lingered in this world for four more years, but then his soul could not wait any longer. He died from a broken heart at the age of nine-and-sixty and for his devotion he is forever remembered as the Chaste Lord Tychan.

He was succeeded by his son from his previous relations though. Lord Malero of Tyroshi Disputed Lands is married to Lady Jonna, twin-sister of late Lord Lucimore of Tyroshi Landing. Lord Malero is also stark raving mad and had chopped off his own hand in one of his more violent fits, but fortunately for him his kind-hearted wife did not take anything after her father and is looking after her beloved deranged husband.

 

[Thaiga]

Myr​

Concept Art - Arabic City A by LoneGaze (Aaron Fong)​

Myr is located some 450 miles south of Pentos and commands an impressive harbour at the eastern end of the Sea of Myrth, a significant inlet of the Narrow Sea. The city controls a wide swathe of territory, extending inland for several hundred miles and south to the river that marks the northern perimeter of the Disputed Lands.

On the eighth day of the third moon of the year 315AC that river was crossed by an enormous westerosi army that had just liberated Myr’s southern neighbour Tyrosh a year prior. This crossing marked the beginning of the Myrish Liberation War.

It was a time of great promises and great deeds.

Lord Paramount Willas of House Tyrell of the Reach has made a pledge of eternal loyalty on behalf of his whole House, which the Queen had accepted with great gratitude.

But the most immediately rewarding gift in this war was made by Lord Yohn of House Royce of Runestone when in one of the earliest battles he managed to capture Magister Ferrego of House Uteuran, the contemporary ruler of Myr at that time.

It toor another two years to liberate all Myr’s territory, but in the end their resistance proved futile and on the fourteenth day of the eleventh moon in the year 317AC Magister Ferrego, still technically the ruler of the City, signed a capitulation. He was then sent to the Wall and is remembered by the scholars as the Black Magister.

Those magisters who were known to not have slaves or have just a few and treated them well were allowed to return to their ancestral lands and continue to rule them as lords. Those who were found guilty of crimes against their slaves were banished or executed and their lands redistributed.

New Order, Old People​

The first order of business was finding a new Lord Paramount for the region.

Black Magister’s predecessor, his rival Magister Roro of House Drahar, was overthrown by his successor and executed in the year 293AC. Roro’s brother Thoros, magister of Byloth, was driven into exile along with his children and died in the same year as his brother under rather suspicious circumstances. Prior to this disaster, heir House was well established and well respected in the region. It can boast several of previous rulers of the City among its members and is believed to be the first House to ever hold that position as well.

So when Thoros’ son Narbo came before the Queen’s court to address his grievances in a civilised and honourable fashion instead of becoming a vigilante, she knew that she had found her perfect representative. His younger brother Cossomo was given back the Drahar ancestors’ land of Byloth and his four-years-old great-grandson is its current ruler.

Lord Paramount Narbo, for his stubbornness in seeking justice remembered as the Tenacious, ruled Myr in peace and prosperity for forty years and died of gout at an impressive age of eighty.

His son, Lord Paramount Conos the Red, is the current ruler of Myr. He was married to his childhood friend and sweetheart, Lady Firanela, daughter of a free company captain that the Drahars met during their exile. After her death Lord Paramount entered a peculiar three-corner relationship with two lowborn ladies who by all accounts are participating in this curious union willingly and with great joy. Both have a son by their paramour with both boys acknowledged and well-provided for. While this is undeniably highly unusual, all parties seem to enjoy each other's company very much, so who are we to dictate the rules of love?

Two of Lord Paramount Conos’ children are married to the members of House Naharis of Tyrosh. The merry silver-haired Lady Salea is the wife of the current Lord Paramount Daarius of Tyrosh. His sister, Lady Pysaria, is the wife of Lady Salea’s brother and Myr’s heir presumptive, Lord Narbo.

Notable Vassals​

Some minor land near the capital and a chunk of the disputed lands that belonged to Myr was redistributed among the people from the Drahar household.

Lord Cadaros, the Drahar’s master of whispers, was granted the lordship of Naqes Embar at the mouth of the Myrth river, establishing the House of Cadaro. Lord Cadaros was married to Lady Saella, but after she was found to participate in the vile orgies of some local cult Lord Cadaros was forced to execute his own wife. The paternity of his children by his first wife was questioned at every turn, but deep down Lord Cadaros was a kind-natured man, so he could not find a strength in him to disown his children outright, but in his pride he did proclaim them not fit to inherit. He later remarried to the last member of the fallen house of Lornel, the former holders of Naqes Embar, to both add the legitimacy of his own rule and that of their progeny.

After Lord Cadaros’ death he was succeeded by Lord Cossoquo, his son by his second wife. Thoren, the disinherited son of a disgraced first wife, definitely holds a grudge against his younger brother. In an attempt to get at him he even went so far as to get his brother’s wife drunk and father a child on her. As it was established that the lady went with him “willingly”, he could not be charged with violating her, so he continues to live at his brother’s household and parades the poor boy in front of him whenever he can. To his credit, a kind-hearted Lord Cossoquo does not hold any contempt against his wife or the boy.

Lord Donicho, the Drahar’s steward, was granted the lordship of Myrwater and the overlordship of the two adjacent lands. His House became known as the House of Iranin with a clay watchtower against a pale turquoise sky as their sigil.

Lord Donicho’s son Lord Tregys is the current ruler of the Myrish Disputed Lands. After the death of his first wife, Lady Serenei, he took Lady Dorelna of House Vhassar as his second wife, a girl twice his younger, and the toll of keeping up with his young wife seems to be catching up with him.

 

[Thaiga]

Lys​

(Picture found randomly, I suspect that the author might be Georgia Low)​

Lys is the southernmost of the Free Cities. It is located on an island in the Summer Sea and commands the sea lanes leading north to the Narrow Sea, south to the Summer Isles and east to Volantis and the Jade Sea, all of which combine to make it immensely rich. It is also well-known as the most beautiful of the Free Cities, with graceful buildings and walls. Its pleasure houses are the finest in the known world and its origins as a retreat for Valyrian nobles is well-known.

Lys is not a soft target, however. It commands a formidable fleet and its walls may be beautiful but are also strong and thick. The Lyseni are devoted to pleasure but fearful when roused to battle, and they are rich enough to hire fleets of sellsails and armies of sellswords quite quickly.

But ultimately it did not save them when the full might of the Iron Throne’s armies, well rested in the newly liberated lands of Myr, descended upon it in the year 319AC. War lasted for three years, most of the resistance met upon the main island of Lys. But it too was finally broken and on the nineteenth day of the eleventh moon in the year 322AC the last Magister of Lys, Lord Freeholder Syrion of House Ormollen, was stripped of his office and sent to the wall making him the second Black Magister in recent history, much to the historians’ despair.

Free Range Stags​

In one of his unfamous outings to a pillow house, the Usurper had deflowered a young lysene girl named Myrella, who later gave birth to a strong baby boy. They both were found by Lord Eddard Stark's agents, brought to the court and generously provided by the Queen. Myriella later fell in love with Lord Maric of House Celtigar of Claw Isle, married him and died a nervous wreck that she became after her husband was forced to execute their only son. Lord Maric himself was also deeply distraught, turned to the bottle and ultimately lost to it both his liver and his life.

But Lady Miryella's first son, the one from the Usurper, fared much better. He grew up to be a skilled fighter and was knighted in recognition of his prowess in a tourney held in the Reach. Ser Ballar was married to Doreah, a lysene girl that the Queen had brought with her from Pentos, and had distinguished himself in the Lysene Liberation War. He knew their language and their customs, but he was a devout opponent of the practice of slavery and the follover of the Seven, so he was the perfect bridge between Lys’ past and the new present. Therefore there was no hesitation when it came to naming the new Lord Paramount.

Thus knelt Ser Ballar, but rose Lord Paramount Ballar of House Baarthreen, his father’s House name spelled in a lysene fashion. He had his fair share of troubles in the beginning of his rule, like the uprising in the Lysene Disputed Lands, but he came out triumphant and still rules Lys. He mourns his late wife, Lady Doreah, and shuns any and all ideas of marriage or bed-warmers.

His oldest daughter, Lady Pella, was married twice. Her first husband, Lord Belano of House Rogare, was the heir presumptive to the main branch of the Rogare family until his death after a hunting accident at the age of four-and-thirty. Lady Pella remarried to Ser Royce of House Dalt as his second wife, but he also died at the age of six-and-thirty from a heart attack. Lady Pella returned to Lys after that.

Lady Pella’s younger sister, Lady Saranella, is married to another Rogare, Lord Gyellso, her sister’s late first husband’s brother. The pair’s son tragically died at the age of just ten years, so their daughter stands to inherit. Throughout the marriage the old drunkard also openly entertains his long-time paramour, the famous lysene poetess Minelney, who is ten years senior than his wife. That pair also has two daughters, both of whom are acknowledged and considered to be in line of inheritance, much to the annoyance of both Lady Saranella and her father.

Lord Paramount Ballar’s third daughter, Lady Voraria, is married to Master Salladhor of House Saan, the grandson of the last pirate king of the Stepstones. They reside in the palace of Numys between the main sept and the Pleasure Gardens.

Lord Zoraphos is Lord Paramount Ballar’s youngest child. He, as well as all his older siblings, was born in the Red Keep before his father became the ruler of Lys. While there he became friends with a foundling that was left by an unknown mother on the steps of one of the small septs in the city and eventually brought to the keep to be raised by the washerwomen. Even though Lord Zoraphos was very young when his family relocated to Lys, he never forgot his childhood friend and while accompanying his father on one of his visits to the capital he found her and convinced her to elope. They were ordained in that same sept now Lady Leria was found at. Lord Paramount Ballar was quite upset with his son for marrying a lowborn nobody, but he could not do anything not that they were officiated before the Gods.

The pair’s daughter, Mistress Seryllei, is married to Master Alios of House Saerys. They reside in the palace of Kyzaria near the temple of Volantis.

The son, Ser Jaqario, is married to lady Daenehyrs (a lysene spelling of the Queen's name), a bastard daughter of the essarian Lord of Bajys.

Lord Fredo is Lord Paramount Ballar’s second son. He is married to Lady Zansa of House Greyjoy from Little Tyrosh.

The pair’s only daughter, Lady Firanynei, is married to Lord Konrad of House Seastag, the heir presumptive of The Stepstones.

Lord Fredo’s younger son, Ser Gyllen, is married to lady Daella from the essarian House of Vilinion.

Lord Fredo’s older son, Ser Pazenkho, took a page from his uncle’s book when on one of his patrol missions as a high-ranking member of the city guard he stumbled upon an illegal pillow-house full of enslaved girls from all over the known world. He and his fellow guardsmen took the wretched place by storm and liberated all of the poor women who then got help getting back to their families or starting a new life. But one woman Ser Pazenkho just could not let go, for he fell madly in love with the stubborn silverhead and begged her to marry him. She readily agreed and became Lady Meshaena. At this point Lord Paramount Ballar just gave up on trying to influence his family and just accepted his grandson’s decision.

The current heir of Lys is Lord Paramount Ballar’s first son, Lord Haric. He is married to Lady Narrya of House Seastag of the Stepstones.

Their older daughter, Lady Mellario, is married to Lord Esyrno of House Mopatis, the heir of Pentos. The younger, Lady Mellianna, is a girl of nine and she is betrothed to the heir of the heir of Volantis.

Ser Esodos is Lord Haric’s youngest son. In his recent tour to Westeros he visited the Vale and stayed the night at the Stonyhead castle on his way to the Bloody Gate. There he met a beautiful lady Eddyne, a distant kin of his host. He then abducted the girl, disguised her as a boy to look like she’s his servant and fled to Lys, a deed for which his grandfather had to pay a hefty reparation. Lady Eddyne though does not seem to mind her ordeal in the slightest and is often seen playfully sparring with her husband who sometimes affectionately calls her his squire.

Ser Donelos is Lord Haric’s third son. He is married to lady Izembara of House Otherys of the Dark Den.

Ser Beleqor is Lord Haric’s second son. He is married to Lady Jorylla of House Saerystos of Volantis.

The current heir’s heir is Lord Haric’s firstborn, the first member of the Baarthreen family to follow the Lysene pantheon rather than the Seven. He is named after his grandfather and his wife is lady Yaranei, also from the House of Saerystos. A cruel man, he reportedly has often been heard to voice his hopes that “the Stranger would stop being such a stranger to his grandsire already, and maybe get his father while he's here”. Fortunately he is also a known sluggard, so at least he probably would be too lazy to act his wishes out himself.

Notable Vassals​

Lysene Spring​

After the fall of the House of Ormollen and the Lysene Dispute, the Lysene Disputed Lands were all taken from their rulers and given to the Rogare family for their support of the Baarthreens in the Dispute.

On the death of Lord Byan, his lands were divided between his sons.

The major chunk of the land was given to his older son, Lord Gyleno, while the lands around the Dyreno Hill went to his younger son, Lord Tybaro.

Because Lord Gyleno’s firstborn son and heir died before him, Lord Gyleno’s lands upon his own death were further divided between his grandson, Lord Harlano, and his second son, Lord Gyellso, who got the lands of Morghos.

Lord Harlano is the current Lord of the Lysene Disputed Lands. In his marriage life he seems to have been heavily inspired by his neighbour, Lord Paramount Conos of Myr, for he had taken the two Ormollen twin sisters as his wives, although one of them can technically only be his consort. Despite that both women have a daughter and a son by their shared lover and all of the children are considered legitimate.

They sure have much more open notions of love and marriage in the East, and farther the east, more open the notions…

 

[Thaiga]

Volantis​

The Tourists by Vincent Joyal
The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments) from the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas)​

Volantis is the oldest, largest and most populous of the Free Cities, and some say the most corrupt and decadent. Located at one of the several mouths of the River Rhoyne on the far south coast of Essos, the city is an immense metropolis, one of the biggest cities in the known world. Its vast, crescent-shaped harbour extends for many miles and the entire city of Braavos could fit within its confines with room to spare. Its population may exceed one million, certainly when the surrounding farms, villages and towns are included.

Volantis controls a significant swathe of surrounding territory and, almost uniquely among the Free Cities, commands the authority of several settlements also large enough to be called cities: Volon Therys, located 75 miles upriver; Valysar, located a further 80 miles or so the north; and Selhorys, located about 120 miles even further north. Each of these cities exceeds Oldtown in population and maybe King’s Landing, putting their population at around 300,000-450,000 each. Volantis’s influence also runs approximately 225 miles to the east, where the so-called “demon road” reaches the top of the Valyrian Peninsula, and 300 miles to the west, along the so-called Orange Coast where some Volantene families have coastal retreats when they wish to avoid the city.

The city itself is divided into two halves by the River Rhoyne. The western half is newer and of more recent construction. The docks and ports for foreign visitors are located along the coast here and markets, taverns and housing extend for many miles inland. To the east of the Rhoyne lies the older and more up-market part of the city, with sprawling noble estates and higher-quality housing. Dominating the eastern district are the 200-foot-tall Black Walls, a large, circular construction extending for miles and including the most ancient parts of the city. Only those of noble Volantene blood may set foot inside the Black Walls.

Many places of worship can be found around the city, most notable among them is the massive temple to the Lord of Light, the largest outside Asshai. Thrice the size of the Great Sept of Baelor, the temple is seen as the centre of R’hllor worship in western Essos and commands tremendous loyalty from both freedmen and new nobility in the city, to the growing disquiet of the old bloods.

Although it is still the largest and most populous of the Free Cities, Volantis’s population is much reduced from what it once was; entire districts of the city have fallen into ruin and disrepair and are currently undergoing a grand renovation. Part of the reason for Volantis’s decline may be its reputation for corruption, but also its uncomfortable climate (the city was once a swamp, and outbreaks of disease make that clear) and its remoteness from the other Free Cities. However, Volantis’s position athwart the main shipping land east to the Jade Sea and its prime location as a resting stop on the ever more busy road to Valyria will ensure its continued prosperity for centuries to come.

Saera's Sons​

The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments) from
Archmaester Gyldayn’s Fire & Blood, Being a History of the Targaryen Kings of Westeros and Maester Yandel’s The World of Ice and Fire.​

Before we speak about the current events in and around Volantis however, we must look upon the days long past and a certain disgraced Targaryen princess.

Princess Saera was born in 67 AC as the ninth child and fifth daughter of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Queen Alysanne Targaryen. She was a difficult child given to mischief and pranks. After her flowering, Saera took to the men at the royal court. When she was fourteen years old, Saera told her father that she wanted to become a queen like her mother, by wedding the Prince of Dorne or the King-Beyond-the-Wall. When she saw a trader from the Summer Islands, she declared that she might wanted to marry him as well. By the time she was fifteen, however, she had come to entertain other fantasies. She quickly had three favorites of all the men who attended her, and two girls her own age became Saera's closest friends. For more than a year, the three girls and young lordlings did everything together.

In 84 AC, two men of the City Watch of King's Landing rescued the court fool from the whorehouse, where Saera’s three young favorites were amongst the drunken patrons laughing at the fool. When one of them admitted the joke had been Saera's idea, the three lordlings and Saera's two friends were brought before King Jaehaerys and the whole thing unravelled (for more details on that scandal look for the works of Maester Yandel and especially Archmaester Gyldayn).

Jaehaerys might have been willing to forgive Saera, had she done as she had been told. Instead, Saera escaped her confinement that night and attempted to enter the Dragonpit, only to be caught by the Dragonkeepers. Enraged by this attempt of stealing a dragon, Jaehaerys had her confined to a tower cell and a fortnight later sent to Oldtown to be given to the Faith.

In 85 AC Saera fled from the motherhouse during the night, knocking down an older silent sister during her escape. Instead of hiding within the Seven Kingdoms, however, Saera had found passage on a ship at Oldtown, which had brought her to Lys. There, she took service at a pleasure garden, still clad as a novice of the Faith, pretending to be a godsworn maiden for the patrons to despoil.

A few years before 99 AC Saera, infamous but wealthy, left Lys for Volantis. There she became the proprietor of a famous pleasure house.

When King Jaehaerys called a Great Council in 101 AC to settle the matter of his succession, three bastard sons of Saera, each fathered by a different man, came to press their claims. Saera herself, though only thirty-four, decided not to press her own claim, boasting she had "her own kingdom" in Volantis.

She peacefully died in her mansion at the age of seven-and-fifty, ever independent and surrounded by her wealth.

Legend of the Cryptids - Caella reg. by anotherwanderer

After the rejection in the Great Council of 101AC, all sons returned to Volantis and lived there in relative luxury, all forming their own Houses. In the years since Saera’s scandal the Houses of her sons became somewhat odd, but definitely respected and integral parts of political and economical life of Volantis. They followed a peculiar mix of old Targaryen tradition of sibling-marriages and at the same time worshipped the Red God R’hllor instead of the Old Valyrian religious traditions of more ancient Volantene families.

In this Chapter we will not need to concern ourselves with the first son and will go straight to the two younger ones.

 

[Thaiga]

The Elephants​

Contemporary reports on the Great Council of 101 AC all claim that one of Saera’s bastards (the second one) looked like the very image of King Jaehaerys in his youth. It is rather ironic then that the son’s name was Jaecerys, a clear volantene bastardization (no pun intended on the part of your humble author, but a clear attempt at one from Saera’s side) of the King’s name.

Jaecerys was a son of Archon Colloquo, an elephant party’s Triarch of Volantis from the Vhassar noble family.

His descendants formed the House of Saerystos. One such descendant, Vaemond of House Saerystos, was present at the somewhat “history repeats itself” moment when Queen Daenerys decided to hold the Great Council of Volantis after finally liberating the city and its surrounding countryside in a conflict now known as the Volantis Liberation War of 323-330AC.

The Queen and King met with their long-lost cadet cousins and the other Volantene noble families that were permitted to hold onto their lands and after many days of discussions, deliberations and a couple of heated arguments the remaining Volantene nobility finally narrowed their choice down to two candidates, both conveniently claiming their descend from the Targaryens. The voting was a draw however so the final decision was made by a game of cyvasse. The aforementioned Vaemond won and became the first Lord Paramount of Volantis. His rule was mostly fair with an acceptable amount of questionable decisions here and there. The first Lord Paramount of Volantis died at the age of two-and-sixty, some say from a broken heart, some from a broken hip.

His youngest daughter, Lady Jorylla, is married to Ser Beleqor of House Baarthreen of Lys.

The third daughter, Lady Loreah, is technically still married to her younger brother, Lord Agelardo, but as soon as their daughter was born he ran away from court and joined The Bright Banners.

Their only daughter Aena unfortunately started to exhibit the signs of a very disturbed mind when she was just a little girl and Lady Loreah decided to give her to the Red Priests in hope that they might be able to ease her suffering. They could not and although Aena was able to somehow undergo the training and become a priestess she still suffers from outbursts of violent and erratic behaviour. After the her fellow priestesses made a gruesome discovery of a bloody foetus diligently hidden in a pillow and tucked under the mattress, Aena was accused of adultery, becoming pregnant while under an oath and (most importantly) infanticide. She did not name the father, but he is rumoured to be a fellow red priest Caezar, the Bastard of Great Plaza, himself a child of a fornicating red priest.

Until the investigation is complete, Aena is confined to the temple in Volon Therys, a rather questionable decision given the fact that the temple’s High Priest Hasporio is widely known as the Wicked for his lack of morals.

Lady Larissa is Lord Paramount Vaemond’s second daughter. She was married to Lord Thoronno of House Maegyr, Lord of Little Valyria. Interestingly enough, Lord Thoronno managed to become a knight in a Westerosi fashion despite being the follower of the Red God. He unfortunately died young, eaten away by a horrible bone cancer that even the amputation of his most afflicted limb could not stall. The pair’s son, Lord Asporio, is the current Lord of Little Valyria. Later in life Lady Larissa fell in love with her son’s master of whispers and quietly married him before their household’s priest.

Lady Daena is Lord Paramount Vaemond firstborn child. She was married to Lord Ulmer of House Saerys, another House that traces its descent from the infamous princess Saera. Their son later became the new Lord Paramount, but that will be discussed later in this Chapter.

Life of Lord Paramount Vaemond’s youngest son, Lord Agelardo, and his marriage to his sister, Lady Loreah, was already discussed previously in this Chapter, so let us move on to the other sons.

Commander Daenar of The Black Wall is Lord Paramount Vaemond’s second son. He is married to Lady Hessa of House Saerys, daughter of the Mad Master Pyrio of Kyzaria, who was a life-long nemesis of Commander Daenar.

This is where the many, many intermarriages of Houses Saerystos and Saerys first become very problematic and rather muddy, so let your humble author try and ease you, dear reader, into this cesspool of debauchery.

Lady Hessa, Commander Daenar’s wife, was born to Master Pyrio of House Saerys, master of Kyzaria palace, and his sister-wife, lady Tanda. Together they had four daughters and one son, but the boy suddenly and mysteriously died when he was just one year old. Then his daughter disobeyed him and married Commander Daenar, the very same man whose position as Commander of The Black Wall Mastery Pyrio was coveting.

Years went by, Master Pyrio cheered the news that his rival was having problems with having a child with his ungrateful daughter and he readily made it as much of a public knowledge as he could.

At some point after that his rather estranged sister-wife, lady Tanda, who loved all of her daughters very much and lived her whole life with a broken heart, rebelled against her husband and snuck away to go visit her daughter. She was in her mid-forties at that time, which makes the following even more unusual. What exactly happened there and why is not known as all the parties staunchly refuse to ever speak about it, but the result was seen as one of the Great Scandals of Volantis.

The result was a daughter, Onalella, who was readily and openly acknowledged by her father, Commander Daenar.

She was quickly followed by lady Hessa’s legitimate son Vaemond, Onalella’s half-brother and nephew at the same time. The boy was later gifted with a palace of his own and is the current master of Voltys.

Life and death of lady Tanda will be covered in more detail later in this Chapter when we will be talking about the House Saerys. For now however let us turn our gazes back upon the House Saerystos.


Lord Haerys was Lord Paramount Vaemond’s first son and heir. He was married to Lady Weninei of House Lohar, a former lyseni House that became the vassal of Volantis under Lady Weninei’s grandfather. Unfortunately their marriage wasn’t long and tragically ended with Lord Haerys’ death during the bloody flux outbreak. Lady Weninei later remarried.

Lord Haerys’ older daughter, lady Jaerya, is married to lord Relidos of House Maegyr.

Her younger sister, lady Yaranei, is married to lord Ballar of House Baarthreen of Lys.

Due to Lord Haerys’ death, his son Carios, who was born the same year that his father died, became the new heir of Volantis. He succeeded his grandfather in the year 342AC as the new Lord Paramount, but due to his tender age he was deemed unfit to rule by the regency council. He was peacefully stripped of his title in favour of his regent and, ironically, future father-in-law, Lord Davo of House Saerys, the current Lord Paramount of Volantis. Lord Carios grew up to appreciate this turn of events as he still can enjoy all the privileges of being a high nobility without worrying about the obligations. He and his wife, Lady Alerie of House Saerys, reportedly are deeply in love with each other and prefer to spend their days snuggly secluded in their mansion.

 

[Thaiga]

The Tigers​

Saera’s third son Aegon was born from her affair with another triarch, from the tigers party this time.

Aegon’s descendants eventually became known as the House of Saerys. Their representative in the Great Council of 330AC was the honourable Lord Maekar of House Saerys. He lost the game for the position of Lord Paramount, but gracefully accepted his defeat and lived out his life in a drunken idleness.

Two of his youngest daughters are successfully married into local Houses of prominence.

Marriage of his two oldest children though is another matter entirely.

Lord Maekar had a lover (some sources claim her to be a slave) who gave him a son. As she lay dying in her birthing bed, Lord Maekar proclaimed the child his trueborn son, thus making Pyrio his legitimate heir (a decision he later deeply regretted). After his mistress’ passing Lord Maekar married properly, but due to his new wife’s common birth she is not named in any archive.

Lady Tanda was the first child of this marriage. As per House Saerys’ claim of descent from the Targaryens of Old Valyria, Lord Maekar then arranged for his two children to be married, further strengthening his firstborn’s claim on his titles.

The only child of this cursed marriage to not be involved in any kind of drama is lady Melala, the fourth daughter. She is married to Ser Rycas of House Treboros, heir to the newly-resettled lordship of Ar Noy on the shore of the Rhoynish Dagger Lake and eventually to the whole Rhoyne valley.

All the others are a disaster.

We have already covered the bizarre story about Lady Tanda’s daughter with her husband’s rival, but unfortunately the list of scandals surrounding this family is far from over.

Lady Hessa’s sisters, Ladies Nilde and Cyeana, have their own Great Scandal, but first we must take a step back and look at yet another Scandal, this one surprisingly not originating in the House of Saerys.

Lord Parios briefly was the newly-appointed Lord of Anyria, the lands on the Volantene-Myrish border, after the previous owner was driven out of his lands by his disgruntled subordinates. Lord Parios was one-and-thirty years of age when he married Lady Triannolla, who was ten-and-five at the time of their marriage. Lord Parios was dead within a year, without an heir and only his wife as his sole successor who oddly enough had a beautifully written document stating that “in an unlikely event of his passing without an issue of his body her generous husband wills to leave all his worldly possessions to his beloved wife”. Lady Triannolla then proceeded to don the mourning attire and delegate the administration of her newly acquired lands to a score of older men swarming around her like a drooling hive of drones. She also started to pop out children, claiming that all of them were actually her late husband’s issue conceived with the help of powerful shadow magic.

Surprisingly she did not have slaves, so after the Liberation she was permitted to keep her lands, but eventually her shenanigans became more and more cruel and her subordinates had finally had enough. There was a minor rebellion stirred by the same house that ousted their previous overlord and Lady Triannolla was killed. Her killer openly boasts about it and still lives at the court of his benefactor. Strangely enough, Lady Triannolla’s son succeeded her without any opposition from his vassal and had not made any attempts at retribution for the death of his mother.

And this brings us back to the troubles of the House Saerys.

Poor Lady Cyeana is married to Lady Triannolla’s son, Lord Belicho of House Syndor, Lord of Anyria. Although a kind and humble man, Lord Belicho however clearly suffers from the tainted blood of his mother (more on her later), as it seems to be utterly unexpected to see this usually shy, easily spooked man having not even one, but two affairs, both disturbingly problematic.

The first one was with his own sister-in-law, Lady Nilde, Lady Cyeana’s older sister. It resulted in a daughter, Meralyia.

The second one was even more inexplicable, as it was and is with his own daughter-in-law, lady Yohan, the wife of Lord Belicho’s own son and heir, Ser Adaros. What makes it utterly despicable is that Lord Belicho actually exiled his own son and openly took his wife as his official mistress. This affair also resulted in a daughter, Ermesande.

All this drama had driven Master Pyrio’s already unstable mind to a breaking point where he quietly sat down with his priest and his steward and in their presence wrote a document declaring all of his daughters disowned and disinherited, even his youngest, thus making his half-brother, Lord Ulmer, his de-facto heir.

But Lord Ulmer was not ready to wait that long, he had his own grand scheme to unravel, so when the honourable Lord Maekar drank himself to death in the year 347AC, Lord Ulmer took matters into his own hands. He and his cohort of loyalists rode to Master Pyrio’s mansion and took him into custody on the pretence of his alleged insanity. Lord Ulmer claims that his poor brother was confined to his room with guards posted outside his doors and windows. This then begs the question on why Master Pyrio’s body was rumoured to be missing a leg, a hand and an eye by the time the priests were called to see to him after his passing, an event that his half-brother claimed to be self-inflicted and happen solely due to Master Pyrio’s state of mind.

Despite the allegations and whispers of foul play, Lord Ulmer was never challenged as the head of House Saerys, probably due to the fact that he was the son-in-law of the Lord Paramount himself or because his half-brother actually was an insane unpredictable narcissist and no one wanted him as their liege.

But Lord Ulmer had a couple of quirks to his character as well. Most importantly, he was fanatically devoted to his Red God. He was also fascinated by the history of House Targaryen, some say to the point of obsession. He meticulously studied any and all works on this topic that he could find, being especially interested in that peculiar idea of “the prince that was promised” that he was convinced equals the asshaii legend of Azor Ahai. He for some reason also believed that the woods witch that came to court with Jenny of Oldstones made a mistake and that the promised prince is supposed to be born into the line of first Jaehaerys, not the second, and the notion of the dragon having three heads is crucial to this prophecy. In short, Lord Ulmer was obsessed with the idea that it was the three sons of Saera that were in fact the heads of the dragon and of their line must Azor Ahai be born. So he ventured to achieve just that.

He married Lady Daena of House Saerystos and had a son by her. He also sought out the descendants of the very first son, the one conceived in the pillow house in Lys, and seduced Lady Alerie. She quickly became disillusioned with his wild ideas and left for Valyria, (but that will be talked about in more details in the appropriate future Chapter), but not before Lord Ulmer had what he wanted from her - a daughter.

He then married them while they were young in an official ceremony witnessed by numerous priests of different faiths in hopes to solidify the union and make it so much harder for them to break it if they ever wished to do so. He must not have worried as the pair grew very close both in friendship and in love.

Lord Ulmer also instilled in both of them the same bizarre notion of them being the chosen line, so it was not much of a surprise that when the opportunity presented itself, Lord Davo, who succeeded his father in the year 353AC, seized it with both hands despite his rather timid nature. He then sought to reconcile with his deposed ward, Lord Carios, and arranged for him the marriage with his daughter, Lady Alerie, which seems like a great success.

Lord Paramount Davo’s second son, Lord Alios, is married to Lady Seryllei of House Baarthreen of Lys. The pair’s wedding gift was the mansion of Kyzaria, the same that belonged to the Mad Master Pyrio.

Lord Essalos in Lord Paramount Davo’s firstborn son and heir. He is married to Lady Arenela of House Vhassar of the Orange Shore.

It is unclear if he is the prince that Lord Ulmer was hoping for or if it’s one of his sons or his future sons’ sons, but Lord Essalos is noted to cite his esteemed bloodline as his justification and grounds for authority.

 

[Thaiga]

Pentos​

Pentos by Marc Simonetti
The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments) from the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas)​

Pentos is located on the west coast of Essos and is a mighty port. It sits at the head of the Bay of Pentos, a body of water almost completely enclosed by a mountainous peninsula, with a wide channel leading out into the Narrow Sea proper. Smaller than Volantis or Braavos, but larger than most of the other cities, Pentos is seen as the gateway to Essos and is located conveniently close to King’s Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, which lies about 800 miles to the west.

Pentos claims the Flatlands, the immense and fertile countryside of plains and rivers extending east from the city to the Rhoyne, north to the Velvet Hills and south to the Golden Fields. In the recent past, the Pentoshi hesitated to build towns and villages out on the plains from fear of the Dothraki, but under the protection of the Dragon the countryside finally flourished.

Say Cheese​

In her heartfelt speech at Magister Illyrio’s funeral, Queen Daenerys honestly said that there would be no Restoration without Pentos and House Mopatis. And that is indeed true. Without venerable Magister Illyrio there would be no dragon eggs and therefore no dragons, there would be no ships and no soldiers and, let us be honest here, there would be no last Targaryens as they would have been murdered by the Usurpers lackeys in some Pentosi back alley a long time ago.

Unfortunately Magister Illyrio died just a year after the restoration. His chambermaids claim that his last words were addressed to his second wife, Lady Serra of House Blackfyre, where he said that his work was done, the dragons were back where they belong and he apologised to her for not seeing their beloved son onto the Iron Throne, but securing him “the third best thing” (probably referring to King Jon’s place as the second best).

We will not be talking about his Blackfyre legacy as it has been already covered in the appropriate previous Chapter. We will focus here on House Mopatis proper and Magister Illyrio’s descendants from his first wife, Lady Torma of House D’han.

Their daughter, Lady Brea, was married to Lord Moredo of House Virginion, Magister Illyrio’s master of spies and Lord of Velvetpeak. After his death their firstborn son was made an overlord of all the Velvet Hills.

After Magister Illyrio’s death his son Pynto was eventually also elected as the Magister of Pentos. In a very fortunate turn of events, he was serving in that capacity in the early 330s AC when the Throne’s attention turned from the liberated Volantis back to the Narrow Sea. So it fell on Magister Pynto to decide the fate of Pentos when the Dragons came knocking.

The meeting very quickly turned into a very pleasant and courteous reunion of old friends, as the Queen and the King both became good friends with Magister Pynto back when he was just young master Pynto, son of Magister Illyrio, and the pair was living alongside him in the mansion. So it was no surprise that Magister Pynto agreed on all the terms of annexation, thus becoming the first Lord Paramount of Pentos. He actively participated in the reorganisation of his homeland, publicly apologising for his family’s part in the indentitude and later weeding out the slavery supporters. Most of the old pentosi families managed to hold onto their lands and some new ones emerged in the following years during the Population of the Flatlands.

Lord Paramount Pynto, for his move for power called the Tenacious, was married to Lady Myrmellios of House Denorys. He also openly entertained a paramour, a courtesan named Bryssa.

With his official Lady wife Lord Pynto had three children. He has five with his paramour. The women hated each other and their children understandably did not get along at all.

Three out of four daughters Lord Pynto had with Bryssa are living relatively normal lives, even considering that Lady Yorka’s husband has two children by his late paramour who was also his simpleton cousin, and Lady Dilona lost her mind during her last pregnancy.

All the others are somewhat of a mess.

To understand the next part we need to talk about the Princes’ Quarrel - failed, but at one point widespread and long-lasting conspiracy to remove from power Lord Pynto’s wicked successor, the current Lord Paramount Donelo.

Lord Donelo is the first child and the only son of Lord Pynto’s paramour Bryssa. He was recognised as his father’s legitimate progeny along with his sisters and eventually succeeded his father as Lord Paramount of Pentos.

His older half-brother, Lord Mollono, was born to Lord Paramount Pynto’s proper wife, Lady Myrmellios, and many believe him to have a much stronger claim on his father’s title despite being technically a second son.

He was raised as a spare heir to his older brother and was presumed to stay in the Prince’s Palace, but he hastily left for his new lands after the sudden death of his little full-blooded brother Garraro who was made the Lord of Pentoshi Flatlands in the beginning of the Population of the Flatlands, but suspiciously died soon after the appointment.

There is much debate about the true nature of his death and many fingers are pointing towards Lord Mollono, but more are pointing to his wife, Lady Brea of House D’han, or his mistress Lessera, a bastard of House Lannett, originally from the Westerlands.

There are also those who blame Lord Paramount Donelo, Lord Mollono himself is the loudest among them.


Enmity between Lord Paramount Donelo and Lord Mollono started with their mothers and spread through the whole House Mopatis, with some unexpected and tragic results.

Lord Paramount Pynto’s youngest daughter, lady Qorella, was married to lord Daaro of House Myrakis, heir apparent to the High Lordship of Nontelos (he died before his Lord father so their son inherited the title). Lady Qorella was one of the key players in the Princes’ Quarrel, along with Lord Collio of House Narratys of Ar Kon, with whom she had a bastard son, and, curiously, Lord Collio’s oldest son and, as it happens, lady Qorella’s half-nephew through Lord Collio’s wife, Lady Jaqea, lady Qorellla’s half-sister and Lord Paramount Pynto’s oldest daughter. The coup failed, all parties were arrested and punished most severely.

Lady Qorella herself was gruesomely executed in the year 341AC, just a year after giving birth to her bastard son by Collio.

Lord Collio and his son Brachyllo were imprisoned and tortured for years before Lord Paramount Donelo finally decided to execute Brachyllo and made his father watch. Lord Collio lost his mind and became possessed by the idea of vengeance. His poor lady wife, Lady Jaqea, stayed by his side despite their unhappy marriage (due to Lord Collio’s frequent liaisons with different women, one of whom being her own half-sister, that often resulted in children, both recognised and not). But it proved too much for poor Lady Jaqea. She could not handle the grief and died from a broken heart, although it also might have actually been the gout like Lord Collio’s healers claim.

Lord Collio then had to be confined and supervised by Master Pallos of Amenos, Lord Collio liege’s commander and designated regent.

Oddly enough, Lord Mollono himself was never arrested or reprimanded by his half-brother in any way. Moreover, brothers seem to have reconciled and Lord Paramount Donelo’s second son is married to Lord Mollono’s daughter, who was long presumed as his heir before her long-awaited brother was born.

Lord Paramount Donelo’s own heir apparent is his oldest son, Lord Esyrno of Prince’s Shore. He is married to Lady Mellario of House Baarthreen, daughter of the heir of Lys.

Odd Lann Out​

I would like to make a quick note on the family of Lord Mollono’s paramour Lessera.

She is an odd character and her family is even odder. She herself was born a bastard, rumoured to have been fathered by the last Prince of Pentos. Her mother, Cerissa Lannett, came to Pentos with her parents, Ser Bertram and Arnessa, after Ser Bertram’s father, Ser Lewys of Goldhollow, lost his mind, title and life.

Ser Lewys himself was rumoured to have been a bastard born to Rollam Lannister of Lannisport and was therefore Lord Tymond’s half-brother. It would definitely explain how such a low character managed to get knighted and bestowed a castle. But there is no definitive proof, Ser Lewys is long dead and his castle is now occupied by House Kingslayer, proven bastard branch of Lannisters.

Ser Lewys’ second son, Ser Tyrion, served as Commander of Lannisport but his debauched life led him to an early grave. His youngest son, Ser Horton, was elected as his successor and still faithfully serves in that capacity.

Ser Tyrion’s two older sons left Westerlands along with their uncle, but they did not stay in Pentos but rather ventured farther east, with one ending up in Yi Ti and the other in Qarth, where both assimilated.

 

[Thaiga]

Qohor​

Castle in the giant forest by William Robinson
The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments from the various works of other maesters)
from the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas)​

The Forest City of Qohor rests on the banks of the River Qhoyne, just as it enters the forbidding Forest of Qohor. The forest's trees are large, with trunks as wide as city gates and leaves which give a golden hue when exposed to sunlight, making a golden canopy above travellers. Much of Qohor’s wealth and riches come from the forest, which it has logged extensively over the centuries. The forest is over 700 miles long from north to south and 300 miles at its widest point. It is thick and dark, home to wolves and other dangerous animals. Travel through the forest is largely restricted to boating along the Qhoyne or by using the Valyrian road which leads from Qohor due east to newly-emerged Essaria and Sarnath (and, across the open plains, beyond to distant Vaes Dothrak and the Bones).

Qohor is also called the City of Sorcerers, for it is reported that warlocks and self-styled wizards spend their time in the city trying to recreate the fallen arts of lost Valyria. This extends to metalworking, where the Qohorik smiths are said to have re-discovered at least some of the secrets of reforging Valyrian steel making then the only ones in the world who still possess this secret that they strictly guard.

The city is mostly united in its worship of the Black Goat, a deity that demands a daily blood sacrifice, such as calves, bullocks and horses on regular days or condemned criminals on holy days. In times of crisis, the nobles of the city are willing to sacrifice their own children in the hopes that their god will defend the city. The Black Goat Is regarded as a demon by some of the other Free Cities. Followers of R'hllor can also be found in Qohor.

Despite something of a dark reputation, Qohor is also immensely rich, as it stands as a self-styled gateway between the worlds of the west and east. Despite that Qohor has a small city watch. Ever since the Three Thousand of Qohor, the city's defences have instead been entrusted to Unsullied from Astapor, each carrying a spear with a braid of human hair. Traditional slave trade of household slaves, bedslaves and pit fighters was also a common practice among the Qohorik.

It all stopped with the Pact on the Rhoyne and the Dissent of the Unsullied that ended the brief Qohorik Liberation War of 336-337AC. The slave trade is now strictly forbidden in Qohor as it is across the rest to the Realm, and the Unsullied that decided to remain in the employ of the city are now considered free citizens of equal rights with a generous wage befitting their unparalleled skills and valiance during the war.

An Escape Goat​

The last Magister and the first Lord Paramount of Qohor, Tagganaro of House Togott, was elected as Qohor’s new Magister at the very end of the war after his predecessor died in a drunken stupor. This move was widely believed to have made as an act of capitulation by the Qohorik nobility in an attempt to please the inevitable new overlords as it was widely known that Lord Tagganaro himself and his half-brother Zollio of House Malavott were staunch opposers to the practice of slavery and worked together with the Rhoynar.
It is now known that Tagganaro and Zollio were betting on the Dragons' eventual descent on their homeland, so they were planning way ahead, sowing dissent in the ranks of the city's Unsullied. Tagganaro and Zollio then used their connection to the new Rhoynar people, clearly favoured by the Dragons, as a leverage to get Tagganaro elected as the new Marister.
It all came to a head when the Dragons actually came and the Unsullied, emboldened by Tagganaro's talks of freedom, refused to fight and opened the city gates instead, letting the Throne's armies into the city. Magister Tagganaro went out to personally greet his new overlords, giving the Queen the keys to the city with a smile and a bent knee.
Unfortunately a steady avalanche of personal tragedies had shattered both Lord Tagganaro’s body and mind and he died just two years after signing the peace treaty at the age of two-and-forty.

First of those tragedies was the death of his beloved first wife, gentle Lady Orios of House Reymnos, in a childbirth bed at the age of just twenty years.

Eventually he remarried to the equally amicable Lady Salea of House Ragat, but the next heartache was just around the corner and emerged with the birth of the pair’s third child. Poor girl’s head was stuck in her mother’s womb for hours so in a desperate attempt to save both the mother and the child the sorcerer that preceded over the birth resorted to using forceps, a horrendous metal contraption that crushed poor little lady Ferrega’s head, ruining both her features and her brains. Lord Tagganaro tried to appease his ruthless goat god and chopped off his own hand in an attempt to perform a blood sacrifice, but it either had no consequence at all or the Black Goat has a twisted sense of humour. Whatever the case might be, this whole ordeal made her obsessed with violence later in life and in one of her most extreme bouts of madness, lady Ferrega ran off into the woods “to hunt”. Scarce reports from foresters and hunters make it seem like she is still alive in there, living in a makeshift hut under the root of a great dead tree. There are also some disturbing rumours about children from the surrounding foresters' villages being last seen in the company of a cloaked figure of a vaguely feminine shape escorting said figure into the forest never to be seen again. People whisper that the Twisted Lady Ferrega comes to steal the children to claim as her own, but she keeps killing them afterwards for their disobedience and has to always come for the new ones.

Wonder AI Art Generator by me​

Then there was his older daughter. Lady Taenanea was married to Pylos of House Reymnos. It was a marriage of love, but also of death. Lady Taenanea was pregnant many times, but most pregnancies ended at the very early stages, and the two times that she managed to bring them to term the children were tragically born dead. It brought much grief to both parents as they dreamed of children, but that dream was never meant to be. Lady Taenanea’s husband broke first and she is merely existing like a shadow, haunting the woods surrounding the Deep Forest.

The next blow came when Lord Tagganaro’s firstborn son and heir, Moreo the Eloquent, somehow contracted a brothel disease and lost his mind as well. The sickness also resulted in the loss of two of his children and broke his simple-minded wife’s heart.

Lady Salea’s death was the last straw for Lord Tagganaro. His heart broke one final time and his body refused to fight any longer. He died a year after his wife from what seemed like a simple case of the flu making his now totally insane son the new Lord Paramount.

His reign did not last long and he was quickly deposed by a coup led by his brother, lord Arillos, in favour of Moreo’s son.

Lord Arillos’ own son, named Tagganaro in honour of his grandsire, is married to his cousin, a sweet and simple Lady Sireyana. He is also very close with his cousin and brother-in-law Qarro, the current Lord Paramount of Qohor.

Lord Paramount Qarro is married to Lady Thorena of House Voatar of Darkwater.

The Soap Beyond the Pines​

Lady Thorena’s grandsire, Lord Pynto the Careless, is the current Lord of Darkwater. He was first married to Lady Narba of House Nartos until her death at the age of two-and-sixty. When his wife fell ill with a womb rot, he took her meekly natured handmaid Laenanah as his official mistress to replace his wife in her duties. After Lady Narba’s death Lord Pynto, now in his sixties, took a new young wife. Lady Helyea, who is young enough to be his granddaughter, is fiercely against this arrangement and actively seeks a way out. She claims that she tried writing to her kinsman Lord Paramount, to the neighbouring states and to the Throne itself, but she suspects that her messages were intercepted. Indeed, all alleged adressants swore that none of them had ever received any letters from Lady Helyea. Now though, because of this humble endeavour of ours, her petition for annulment is safely delivered to the Queen and is currently being considered.

Lord Pynto also sired a bastard daughter, Umma, with a totally unrelated woman. He then gave her away as a second wife to his friend, Lord Roggo the Black, the last overlord of the Southern Forest of Qohor. Lord Roggo, who was obscenely older than his new bride, died in his sleep a year later. Umma quickly remarried to her late husband’s grandson Orbelo with whom she allegedly began an affair at her wedding with his grandsire.

Orbelo’s father, Lord Pupolo of Deep Forest, who had forsworn any contact with women after the death of Orbelo’s moher, turns a blind eye to this whole situation and just shrugs it off for it is what it is.

The strongest Qohorik vassal, Lord Malero the Indolent of House Ragat, Keeper of the Forest of Qohor, was briefly also related to Lord Pynto of Darkwater through Lord Malero’s first wife, Lady Cossoma, Lord Pynto’s daughter with his mistress. But unfortunately Lady Cossoma died soon after the wedding from a winter chill, so Lord Malero remarried to Lady Dysaria of House Qoarg, the oldest daughter and heir apparent of Lord Malero’s newly-appointed vassal and the keeper of the Goatswood region of the Forest…

…whilst Lord Malero’s younger brother Beloque is married to Lady Dysaria’s younger sister Bysaria.

 

[Thaiga]

Of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men​

The Mother of dragons by FlorentLlamas
The following paragraph was taken in its entirety from the works of Maester Yandel and Archmaester Gyldayn​

King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men is the first title born by the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, whose seat is the Red Keep in King's Landing. Originally crowned as King of All Westeros and Shield of His People by his sister-wife Rhaenys, Aegon I Targaryen abandoned these titles when he was crowned by the High Septon at the Starry Sept of Oldtown as "King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm". But why are we talking about those people if most of the Westerosi call themselves Northmen, Rivermen, Valemen, Ironborn, Westermen, Reachmen, Stormlanders or Dornish?

Well, it is because the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men are the three major ethnic groups from which modern Westerosi descend.

The First Men​

The First Men were the culture of humans who first set foot on the continent.

Between eight thousand and twelve thousand years before Aegon's Landing, during the Dawn Age, the First Men came to Westeros from Essos, although no tale recalls exactly why they made the trek westwards. The First Men crossed the land bridge called the Arm of Dorne under the leadership of the First King, according to legends from the North, or Garth Greenhand, the High King of the First Men, according to some legends from the Reach.

The First Men supposedly found the Seastone Chair upon the shores of Old Wyk when they first came to the Iron Islands.

It was the First Men who named the indigenous inhabitants "children of the forest", though the diminutive people's own name for themselves translates as "those who sing the song of the earth".

The influence of the First Men is still felt in Westeros, most strongly in the North and especially beyond the Wall.