CK2AGOT - Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons
- Thread starter Thaiga
- Start date
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
I notice that most of the Rhoynar have a little trait that looks like a raindrop, mind explaining what that is?
- 2
More like a historical claim as Ghoyan Drohe was a Rhoynar city before its previous encounter with the dragons and was a ruin ever since, but now the new Andals claimed it and I just imagined that the new Rhoynar would not be too happy about that. I am however considering giving some of them an actual claim on it just for manure and chortle if the region would become too stagnant.
I definitely hope they would, that would be such a natural thing to do, but I'm afraid the game's mechanic of "EW, HERETICS!" might spoil that.
I am so glad that the visuals are conveying exactly what I want them to, both artworks and in-game one, means my time lurking in google images and game files was not wasted in vain!
Thank you! It's so nice to know that my little passion also brings joy to others!amazing details on the stories And I Love Work you doing.
It's called "Favored by Mother Rhoyne", I have not played that much in the Rhoyne region before, so I am not particularly familiar with it's mechanics, so I went googling about it myself and here one of the Devs said that "Favored by Mother Rhoyne is the trait that let's those characters use the water wizard magic during battles and sieges that take place in provinces beside the Rhoyne river system", and with magic being back in the open any future conflicts along the Rhoyne are gonna be quite interesting it seems.
Last edited:
- 2
Apart from the superb writing of the story,
'Of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men'; the structure immediately prompts the question for reading more, whether it is about the lore, or by knowing the themes and thus hinting a premise, in any case brings the reader to question without even aware of it, thus it will be ever charming to see 'Of Mice and Men', or 'After the Funeral', or 'Out of Africa', 'or 'On the dynamical theory of incompressible viscous fluids and the determination of the criterion', it is simple and remarkable.
Thus, kudos.
Even though the quote is from a common-structure in the story-verse as well as the english language, and even if this is a simple taste, yet will comment on it, that the enchanting beauty of the titles with prepositions.
'Of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men'; the structure immediately prompts the question for reading more, whether it is about the lore, or by knowing the themes and thus hinting a premise, in any case brings the reader to question without even aware of it, thus it will be ever charming to see 'Of Mice and Men', or 'After the Funeral', or 'Out of Africa', 'or 'On the dynamical theory of incompressible viscous fluids and the determination of the criterion', it is simple and remarkable.
Thus, kudos.
- 1
- 1
The New Trade League: Chroyane. Sarhoy. Morosh
The New Trade League
Nature fears and hates the emptiness
The great merchant cities of Lys, Myr, Tyrosh, Pentos and Volantis held their dominion over trade in the region for centuries, but after they knelt before the Dragons, new opportunities arose and the New Trade League was born.
Cursed Sorrows
About 130 miles south of Dagger Lake, in the southern Sorrows at the confluence of the Lhorulu and the Rhoyne, the river reaches the colossal foggy ruins of Chroyane, the once-greatest city of the Rhoyne that stretches for miles along the river.Chroyane of old, nicknamed the Festival City, once the richest and most splendid of the cities along the Rhoyne, was said to have streets made of water and houses of gold. It now contains sunken statues and temples, green obelisks, upended trees, and broken spires and marble stairs.
Chroyane, as depicted by Philip Straub in The World of Ice & Fire
(unfortunately couldn't find this particular picture on any of the author's pages: official / DeviantArt)
Many a voyager in the Sorrows has been lost in the thick fog, poleboats, pirates and great river galleys too. They eventually succumb to hunger, greyscale, stone men or madness as they wander forlorn in the mists searching for a sun they cannot find.
Garin's Curse is said to be to blame. According to legend, Prince Garin the Great of Chroyane gathered a quarter million soldiers in his city during the Second Spice War. The Rhoynar marched south and were victorious against Selhorys, Valysar, and Volon Therys, but were then defeated by the dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold in a great battle along the Rhoyne. Men of Volantis and Valyria hung Garin in a golden cage and brought him to Chroyane so he could witness the city's destruction. Garin allegedly called upon Mother Rhoyne to destroy the invaders with a Curse, and that night the river's waters rose to destroy the Volantenes and Valyrians. The spirits of the drowned dragonlords are said to remain beneath the water, however, and their cold breath rises to become fog.
More rationally inclined people claim that Garin's Curse is only greyscale.
Whatever the truth may be, mists now rule the Sorrows and until very recently people infected with greyscale indeed roamed the ruins and were said to be ruled by the enigmatic Shrouded Lord.
There has not been a law above the Sorrows for a thousand years, so pirates were common in the Rhoyne north of Chroyane, although they did not enter the ruined city.
Lifting the Curse
Dragons without a doubt possess great power. However, they cannot rule the weather. So instead the Throne focused on bringing order and civilization to this forsaken land and spent most of the time between the Rhoynar Homecoming and the Qohorik Liberation War chasing outlaws through the mists.Throughout the centuries, there were numerous attempts to repopulate the ruins. In his The World of Ice & Fire, Maester Yandel mentioned that Lomas Longstrider met and interviewed the descendants of the Rhoynar in the ruins of Chroyane. The last independent one was attempted by young Manfred Rhoynos, but most of the ruins stood abandoned once again when the Dragons finally eradicated most of the pirates and decided to invest in recolonization.
The initial task was laid on Mallor Belgyle, a proper son of Rhoyne. Infant Mallor was found by the stone men of the Sorrows and raised among the vast ruins of Choryane. He never became sick himself however and in his adulthood became somewhat of an envoy for his less fortunate neighbours. In this capacity he met the Dragon Queen near the Goldenbridge and led her delegation safely into the heart of the Festival City, the Palace of Sorrow.
There the Pact of Love and Dreams was signed.
Love
According to the Pact, the Palace of Sorrows (called officially in the document by its ancient name, the Palace of Love, and referred as such ever since) was reinstated as the primary seat of the Archon of Chroyane and returned to the Rhoynar people to rule as they saw fit.The messenger then became the first Archon Mallor of a new House Belgyle. He oversaw his tedious task for almost ten years and died peacefully in his sleep.
None of his seven daughters ever contracted the greyscale.
His oldest, Lady Amary, is the current leader of Chroyane, or the Mist Rhoynar as some call them. Her family is much smaller than that of her father’s. With her husband, Lord Quentyn of House Largyle, she managed to have only one son before Lord Quentyn betrayed his lady wife with his numerous affairs. It broke Lady Amary’s heart as she was of an impression that theirs was the union of mutual affection. She still deeply loves her husband, but his betrayal and sickness that came with it stirs much resentment in her as well.
The pair’s son, Ser Nymor, just married lady Marya of Nor Salis, sister to the Lady of Lower Rhoyne. He also had a bastard-born daughter just a week before his marriage.
Dreams
Many of the people still living in the city are afflicted with greyscale. For that reason another Palace, the one that stands opposite the Palace of Love on the Rhoyne's western bank, right across the Bridge of Dreams, was designated as a sanctuary to any and all stone men of the Sorrows to congregate, live and die with dignity. This palace is now known as Sunfall. Its leader is elected among the inhabitants and serves as long as his sickness permits. Some refer to them as Shrouded Lord or Lady, also known as Their Grey Grace, a nod to the legend of the Prince of Sorrows that was said to rule the mists around the Sorrows since the time of Garin and to spread greyscale through the grey kiss.The current leader of Sunfall is a Rhoynar named Allar. He utilises his vast knowledge of local herbs to bring some relief to his fellow stone men. His wife, a poetess from Qohor, is known to lift the most broken of spirits with her songs of bravery and perseverance.
Ancient tradition started by the the triarchs of Volantis still remains and a mercy galley is sent thrice yearly to aid the stone men.
Of course there still is a long road ahead with sunken architecture and statues still posing threats to passing boats, but the main dangers of piracy and bands of half-mad stone men are the things of the past. Volantene galleys that had this task for centuries still patrol the river south of Chroyane, but the new fleet of fast and sturdy vessels from the Rhoynar Kingdom and the Festival City joined them in this endeavour to ensure order in the north and with them all a renewed flow of trade and politics are rushing up and down the Rhoyne.
Atonement of the Dragons
Almost 300 miles to the south, after being joined by the Volaena and flowing past the ruined Rhoynar city of Sar Mell, the Rhoyne finally splinters into four major (and many smaller) branches as it opens into a wide delta. Volantis sits on one of the eastern-most branches, whilst one of the western branches loops around to flow into the Summer Sea at the ruins of Sarhoy, a once-great port city of the Rhoynar made of pink stone with canals and saltwater gardens, obliterated by Valyria on behalf of Volantis during the Second Spice War.
AI by me
So right after the Liberation of Volantis the Queen decided to re-establish the ancient city on behalf of the Rhoynar, personally sowing the earth with different kinds of grains to recall the curse that her ancestors put on it when they sowed the ground with salt (this deed along with recolonisations along the northern Rhoyne are collectively known now as the Atonement of the Dragons for it is seen by many as if the ruling family was addressing the crimes of their ancestors). She then paid the engineers, the masons and all the others who would be needed for this project and left the new city to govern itself.
It is not doing a very good job.
The first Archon of Sarhoy, Garyn of House Rhoynos, ruled the new city for about five years before dying on his privy at the age of nine-and-sixty. He is not remembered fondly.
It is curious to note that his oldest son, Manfrey, tried to recolonize the Sorrows years before the Atonement. He failed miserably and died among the ruins with his lungs full of mist. Some reports claims that Manfrey’s daughter Caroley made the same journey to the Isle of Women as the famous Rhoynish Princess Nymeria did when she fled on her ten thousand ships, and some say that Mistress Caroley is even leading the descendants of those few thousand of Nymeria’s followers that chose to remain behind.
The current Archon of Sarhoy is the very inventive Ryon of House Ryonar. After executing his wife on rather dubious claims (if rumours are true, he did it because she was actively preventing him from dallying with his mistresses), Archon Ryon married to a wayward Dornish woman of House Toland who was his last mistress and the first one from a noble House.
Archon Ryon’s preferred heir as the leader of House Ryonar is his son by one of his mistresses, Nymor the Ruthless. The man grew up as a constant witness to his father’s depravities and feels strong disgust to all things carnal, so at least this debauchery might be avoided if he comes to power.
Morosh
AI by me
On the northernmost mouth of the Sarne behind a veritable maze of rivers, streams and marshes, lies Morosh. A former colony of Lorath, founded after the fall of Sarnor, Morosh is a mining and trading port. The distance between the two cities (Morosh lies approximately 1,000 miles east of Lorath, almost halfway to Ib) precluded direct rule and for many decades the colony-city was left to chart its own course in most matters.
That course took a drastic turn in the late 320s AC when another Aegon descended on his dragon in the hills south of Morosh. When the Slaughter of Horses had finally ended, Archon Izembaro of House Kaldorys was faced with a choice - does he wait for the Dragon to come to him or does he go to the Dragon himself.
Archon Izembaro of House Kaldorys chose wisely and now Morosh enjoys all the privileges of being a part of the Dragons’ Dominion.
After Archon Izembaro’s death of a heart attack at the age of four-and-sixty and two very brief reigns of two forgettable Archons, Izembaro’s son became the new Archon of Morosh.
Oddly enough, it is his second son, Terro the Knight. Archon Terro’s brother, Master Vargano, does not seem too bothered about that and serves as his brother’s equivalent to the Throne’s Lord Confessor.
Two of Master Vargano’s daughters were eventually sent to the neighbouring Kingdom of Sarnor and by a mere chance became lovers and official mistresses of the Kingdom’s two most powerful men. Lady Bellegere, the middle daughter, is even rumoured to aim at an even higher position for herself, despite the fact that it is currently occupied by her benefactor’s lawful wife.
Last edited:
- 3
- 1
Thank you! Sarhoy and Morosh is AI, but the Sorrows is from the Unseen Westeros collection.
- 1
Really like the art for Sarhoy. I also really like your world in terms of how much it has progressed(ruins being reclaimed) and how many new areas there are.
- 2
It's interesting that the dragons seem to be undoing the work of their ancestors. That should help prevent rebellion, but those ancestors might not be too satisfied... It's a very good thing that they're dead and can't influence Westeros and Essos, isn't it?
- 2
Thank you! It was surprisingly difficult to make the AI understand that I want the walls to be pink and not everything else XD
It pleases me immensely that my attempt to simulate change is noticeable! It was my intention to gradually emulate the natural changes in the realms and I'm very glad it worked.
Not everyone is happy with that though. Some more traditionally or ambitiously inclined might see all those as humiliation and also perceive all that as a slight to their own person in terms of not getting titles, for example Rhaegar's son Aegon has -780 Did Not Give Me Title towards Dany and if the boy wasn't honourable I would've worried!
- 1
The Independent Ones
The Independent Ones
Before we go further east, let us make a quick journey back west. Out of the nine city-states that composed what was traditionally known as the Free Cities only three remain truly free.
- 2
- 1
The Independent Ones: The Hundred Isles of Braavos: The Pledge of Braavos
The Hundred Isles of Braavos
Arya in Braavos by Marc Simonetti
(The following paragraph was taken in its entirety from
the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas)
(The following paragraph was taken in its entirety from
the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas)
The northernmost of the Free Cities is Braavos, also known as Braavos of the Hundred Isles, or the Secret City (a name also attributed to the city Nefer, the last remaining city of N'ghai, but more on that will come in appropriate later Chapters). Sometimes Braavos is also referred to as the bastard daughter of Valyria, but unlike the other Great Cities, Braavos was never part of the Valyrian Freehold.
The youngest of these cities, Braavos was founded by escaped slaves fleeing the grasp of the Freehold. The slaves rebelled on their way from Valyria to a new colony in Sothoryos, took control of the ships, and turned north instead of south, travelling as far as they could. According to the histories of Braavos, it was a group of slave women from the lands of Jogos Nhai, the moonsingers, who predicted where shelter could be found. Thus, the slaves travelled to the distant lagoon, hidden away from sight of the dragonlords by the wall of hills covered with pine trees and the fog covering the lagoon. The founders of Braavos risked their lives for freedom, and swore a vow that no one in their city would ever be a slave, thrall, or bondsman. This vow became the First Law of Braavos.
The ancestry of the founders of Braavos was highly diverse and they spoke many different tongues. Because of this, they used the language of their masters, High Valyrian, as their common tongue. The current Braavosi tongue is a corrupt dialect of the original High Valyrian.
Braavos is located in a lagoon at the far north-western tip of the Essosi continent, where the Narrow Sea meets the Shivering Sea, surrounded by ridged islands which keep the worst of the winter winds and storms away from the city. Braavos itself is said to sprawl over a hundred islands, although the real number is fewer, due to some of the islands having sunk beneath the waves since the city’s founding eight centuries ago.
The nearby mainland is mostly marshland, whilst the isles of Braavos are enclosed in a brackish, saltwater bay protected by tall, mountainous islands which form a semi-circle around the city and open to the sea via channels through the outlying islands.
Treacherous reefs and rocks dot these channels, leaving only one, in the north-west between Sellagoro’s Shield and a neighbouring island, large enough for ocean-going ships. This channel is guarded by the stone Titan of Braavos, a colossal combination of statue, lighthouse and fortification. The Titan, which is at least 300 feet tall and possibly more, has fires burning within its eyes to guide ships home and an immense horn, sometimes called the Titan’s Roar. The Titan roars every dawn and every sunset, when a ship is approaching and appears to roar every hour as well. Its roar can be heard across the isles, faint, but capable of waking the sleeping city.
Just inside the bay is the Arsenal, an island where Braavosi war galleys can be constructed in a day from pre-fabricated components. The Arsenal itself is heavily defended and Braavosi warships patrol both the bay and the surrounding waters in impressive numbers. Firewood and lumber is brought in by barge, while pines on the islands surrounding the city are left to act as windbreaks to protect the harbours, and are illegal to cut down.
Behind the Arsenal is the Chequy Port, a small island containing a customs inspection port. Ships passing the port will be waived to their destinations: foreign ships are directed south to the Ragman’s Harbour and Braavosi vessels are directed east to the Purple Harbour.
Braavos is a city of canals, rivers and small lakes, all spanned by many hundreds of bridges.
Just south of the Chequy Port is the entrance to the Canal of Heroes, a broad waterway crossed by multiple bridges, including a carved stone bridge decorated with half a hundred kinds of fish and crabs and squids, a bridge carved with lacy leafy vines, and a painted bridge with a thousand painted eyes. Along both sides of the canal, a row of statues of deceased great Braavosi warriors and Sealords can be found. They are mostly carved wearing long bronze robes, and hold various items in their hands, such as books, daggers, or hammers. One holds a golden star and another is upending a stone flagon from which fresh water flows. Heading east, this canal leads to the bay at the heart of the city, where the Isle of Gods and Palace of Truth are located.
The Isle of the Gods is one of the islands in the centre of Braavos, located near the junction of the Canal of Heroes and the Long Canal. It is named after the many temples and shrines found in its vicinity. Located on nearby islands are the Temple of the Lord of Light to the north, the Temple of the Moonsingers to the northwest, the House of Black and White (the reputed headquarters of the Faceless Men) to the south, and the Sept-Beyond-the-Sea to the southwest. Other places on and around the Isle of the Gods include the shrine of the Weeping Lady of Lys, the Gardens of Gelenei, the wooden hall of the Lord of Harmony, the Warren, the house of the Great Shepherd, the three-turreted tower of Trios, the Stones of the Silent God, the Patternmaker's Maze, and the temple of Aquan the Red Bull. The temples of Semosh and Selloso are on opposite sides of the Black Canal, and the scrying tower of the Church of Starry Wisdom is also located nearby.
Across the water to the northeast is another large island. The Palace of Truth, a palace with green copper domes where the voting is taking place, is located there along the Long Canal.
The Long Canal leads south from this bay, leading to the fish market and south side of the lagoon. The First Law of Braavos has been engraved in stone on an arch spanning this canal.
The Green Canal leads from the Palace of Truth in the city centre to the east side of the lagoon in which the hundred isles of Braavos are located.
Although the city technically consists of many islands, it can be divided into three primary districts.
The northernmost is the richest, being the home to many of the city’s nobles and richest merchants. The Sealord’s Palace is located at the north-eastern edge of the city, with the Moon Pool and the Iron Bank just to the south.
The Purple Harbor is located west of the Sealord's Palace. The Purple Harbour serves only Braavosi ships, such as those of local merchants and the Iron Bank. The best alehouses, inns, and brothels lie near the Purple Harbour. The Purple Harbour is richer, nicer, and cleaner than the Ragman's Harbour in the west of the city, which is where ships from other Free Cities and the rest of the known world must berth.
To the south-west lies the most bustling district of the city, home of the Ragman’s Harbour, the biggest markets and many of the most popular taverns and places of business. Ragman's Harbour is open to all foreign ships, unlike the Purple Harbour, which tends exclusively to local ships. It is poorer, dirtier, and noisier than the Purple Harbour. Many people make their living around Ragman's Harbour, including porters, mummers, ropemakers, sailmenders, taverners, brewers, bakers, beggars, and whores. The trade tongue, a pidgin developed from a dozen languages, is spoken and gestured along the harbour.
The Drowned Town, the oldest part of the city, can also be found here. Only the tops of half-sunken towers and domes are visible as the rest is submerged in the lagoon, although some people still live in the high towers and upper floors of buildings there. Below the Drowned Town are a series of wharves.
AI by me
To the south-east lies the city’s poorest district, the Silty Town, where the buildings are smaller and less grand compared to the rest of Braavos, although some noble houses have taken up residence here due to favourable prices.
The Sweetwater River, an immense aqueduct, extends from north-eastern part of the city south before swinging south-west to meet the mainland, thus supplying all three main districts of the city with fresh water.
The mainland of the lagoon is brackish and swampy, so there appear to be no settlements immediately adjacent to the city itself. However, Braavos has claimed the coast of the Narrow Sea southwards from Braavos for approximately 450 miles, as well as the entire western shore of Lorath Bay. This region surrounding the city is dotted with mines, villages and some more substantial towns, all keeping Braavos supplied with food, timber and iron and, combined with trade, all allowing Braavos to maintain its position as the richest and most militarily powerful of the Free Cities.
The population of Braavos is unknown, although some speculate that maybe twice as many people live in and near the city as in King’s Landing in Westeros.
The Pledge of Braavos
Right after the Reclamation, the King and Queen flew on their dragons straight to the Sealord’s Palace of Braavos where they met the serving Sealord of that time, Magister Oro the Scholar from the Tendyris family of Freneros.
The young dragonlords presented Braavosi with a single ornate iron chest.
AI by me
It contained a black stone slab carved with a dragon’s head and a single line that said simply: “No child of Valyria shall ever again be a slave, thrall, or bondsman”.
AI by me
The pair then mounted their dragons and left, leaving shaken and bewildered Braavos for its own devices.
After Magister Oro’s death, Magister Tormo from the Fregar family of Ironport became the next Sealord.
After him was Magister Allaquo Tendyris, second son of the previous Sealord Oro the Scholar.
Then it was Magister Qarro of Antaryonos family from the city of the same name.
Qarro’s firsborn son Jaqeo was blessed with a truly brilliant mind, but cursed with a wicked soul, and this combination cost him both his sanity and his life. Although nothing was proven, it is widely believed that Lord Master Jaqeo was murdered in retaliation for his own involvement in the cold-blooded murder of his uncle Illyrio as Jaqeo’s demise happened not a full year after that. The current head of the Antaryon family is the late Sealord Qarro’s second son Draqan. The third son Lysiros is currently serving as the Commander of The Titan himself, a very prestigious post in Braavos.
It is worth noting that Qarro’s father Ferrego was the Sealord before Oro the Scholar.
He also had a daughter with the famous Braavosi courtesan, the Black Pearl Bellegere (who also had a daughter with the Usurper Robert Baratheon). Ferrego and Bellegere’s daughter Belle became the next Black Pearl of Braavos after her mother retired, but unfortunately poor Belle was not cut for that occupation. The toll it had on her was too great and she died in seclusion. Her only daughter is the current Black Pearl of Braavos.
After Sealord Qarro’s death Magister Treblo the BLessed from the Reyaan family of Moosbridge became the next Sealord. His first wife Lothea was rarely seen outside her chambers, some even say that she was purposely hidden away by her husband out of some kind of shame. She was also constantly pregnant and had five children by the age of six-and-twenty when she rather mysteriously died. Treblo hastily remarried to his second wife, Ferrega Fregar, daughter of Sealord Tormo.
He also had a bastard son with the wife of his own firstborn son.
Poor boy was born a hunchback, probably due to his mother’s sickness that she unfortunately got from her debauched husband.
After Sealord Treblo died at the age of just seven-and-forty, his body was examined by the best physicians of Braavos, but their surprising conclusion was that he actually died from seemingly natural causes.
The next and current Sealord of Braavos is the pompous Sealord Mero of the Fregar family, son of Sealord Tormo and brother to Sealord Treblo’s second wife Ferrega.
Mero’s current wife Lessynea is also his second one. Pulani, his first one, had an eerily similar fate as the first wife of the previous Sealord as she also died under rather questionable circumstances. His poor second wife is believed to be cursed by her predecessor and suffers from a severe case of greyscale.
The pair’s young son currently resided in Fregar’s family mansion in Ironport. He is set to be married to Lady Feria Mopatis of Pentos who was sent to be fostered alongside her husband-to-be and the young couple seems to be inseparable.
Sealord Mero’s firstborn son Illoquo is the current Magister of Sweetwater. He is married to the Princess of Andalos and the pair is expecting their first child.
Illoquo’s sisters, Elaera and Ilona, were unfortunately caught in a gruesome affair of murder and retribution.
Elaera, the younger, was married to Florio of the Tendyris family as his second wife. The marriage was controversial from the beginning as it happened just months after the death of Florio’s first wife Yna, who was much older than him. I became even more scandalous when Florio’s new bride was found mysteriously dead within a year.
It became the proper scandal though when Elaera’s sister Ilona accused her husband, Harlano of the Zalyne family, with Elaera’s death. She presented the case before her brother, Magister Illoquo, who held a court proceedings where Harlano was found guilty of all charges and executed in the most gruesome manner.
In the Marshes of Braavos the Forel family is standing its vigil. The current head is Lady Meshaena, the granddaughter of Syrio Forel, the legendary bravo and the First Sword to the Sealord of Braavos, whose sword is now considered a family heirloom and is passed down from parent to heir.
Last edited:
- 2
- 1
Braavos seems to be doing well, and they have achieved their goals. There shall be no more slavery...
Kind of curious why Norvos and Loath managed to survive
Kind of curious why Norvos and Loath managed to survive
- 2
Really like the artwork of the chest and slab, doesnt look like a lot of bordergore at all with Lorath, Norvos, and Braavos, is that a recent picture? Also how many years into the game are you?
- 1
I come for the artwork and the lunatic eyes. Everything else is a sweet bonus. Thank you
- 1
Maester Vaemond probably won't admit it in his book, but Lorath survived by sheer luck because I, and therefore Dany, totally forgot it existed XD And Norvos was and is on the list, I just didn't have time nor resources to get to it yet as I became obsessed with colonizing everything. Fortunately beardies were sane enough to do what they did when I came for them with an alternative, so I won some time. They are starting to misbehave again though, so I'll probably have to come back for them at some point.
You can fairly take half of the credit for both of those pics as they are made with AI and you inspired me to use it in the first place
Yes, it's surprisingly tidy despite constant infighting, at least in Norvos, those axe-wielding lumps of beard sure know how to party.
It is a very recent picture actually, it's made around 358AC and I am in the very beginning of 360AC. I started when Rickon was born, so in 295AC.
The ugly and rabies are also worth noting XD Thank you for sticking with me on this incredible journey!
- 1
- 1
The Independent Ones: The Islands of Lorath: Omission of Lorath
The Islands of Lorath
LORATH by KIRILL BARYBIN for UNSEEN WESTEROS
The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments)
from the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas
The following paragraph was taken in its entirety (with relevant adjustments)
from the Atlas of Ice and Fire (referred throughout this work as Atlas
Located approximately 375 miles east of Braavos, at the northern mouth of Lorath Bay, Lorath is the most remote of the Free Cities; nothing lies to its east for over two thousand miles until hardy sailors reach the island of Ib, although a few ports can be found on the north coast of Essos. Lorath is the poorest, smallest and least populous of the Free Cities, but remains viable due to the rich waters around the Lorathi Isles, which teem with fish, walruses and whales.
The Lorathi claim dominion over both the islands and the entire coastline of Lorath Bay. They do control the islands, most notably Lorath Island itself and Lorassyon, the second-largest island, as well as a score of smaller islands and rocks that no-one else wants, but at best they control only the east coast of the bay and the peninsula located immediately to the south of the islands themselves; the west coast is held by Braavos and the effortless superiority of the Braavosi navy means that the Lorathi are unable to press their historical claims. Their only major success has been the founding of the colony city of Morosh at the mouth of the River Sarne, but now they have lost that too.
A curious feature of the Lorathi Isles are their mazes.
Ancient Lorath was inhabited by a people known as the mazemakers, who created mazes on the three islands and on mainland Essos to the south. The largest covers three-quarters of the island of Lorassyon and extends for four levels underground, over 500 feet.
The mazemakers were followed first by a race of hairy men similar to the Ibbenese, and then by the Andals, with each island having its own king. The largest of the islands even had four kings. For the next thousand years, the Andals fought among each other, until the Andal warrior Qarlon the Great united the Lorathi isles under his rule, raising a great wooden keep on Lorassyon in the centre of the vast haunted maze, which he decorated with the heads of those foes he had slain. Qarlon wanted to become king of all Andals, and he conquered petty kingdoms over twenty years. Norvos eventually closed the rivers against him, causing Qarlon to march against the city. Norvos called to the Valyrian Freehold for help, and as Qarlon laid siege to Norvos, the dragonlords came to the aid of their daughter. Qarlon and his army were burned, and the dragonlords flew to Lorath where the city was destroyed in the Scouring of Lorath. It is said that no one survived.
For more than a century, the Lorathi isles remained uninhabited. It was said that the islands were haunted, and the whalers from Ib who went ashore to find freshwater did not dare to venture inland.
In 1,436 BC, Valyrian worshippers of the Blind God Boash travelled to Lorath and founded a temple on the main isle, settling in the ancient mazes of the first Lorathi, turning them into their towns, temples, and tombs. For three-quarters of a century, they dominated the islands. However, more and more people who did not share their faith travelled to Lorath and built villages. In time, the islands became a refuge for freedmen and escaped slaves, as the priests of Boash taught that every man was equal. Three of such fishing villages on the western part of the largest isle grew so populous and prosperous that they merged into a town. In time, the town became a city.
The numbers of newcomers swelled while the numbers of the followers of Boash dwindled, and as the worship fell away, the remaining priests became more corrupt. Eventually, the colonists rose in rebellion. The acolytes of Boash who remained were killed, though several managed to flee to the great temple maze on Lorassyon, where they remained until the last of them died, the best part of a century later. The Cult of Boash is presumed to have died out roughly around 700 BC. Afterward Lorath became a freehold owing allegiance to the Valyrian Freehold, ruled by a council of three princes: the Harvest Prince, the Fisher Prince, and the Prince of the Streets.
The princes continue to sit today, though their titles are purely ceremonial. The true authority now lies in a council of magisters made up of nobles, priests, and merchants.
Omission of Lorath
Even though the Lorathi do not follow the slavery-hating Blind God of old anymore, the vile practice there is firmly outlawed. This is a rather new development though brought by a total and somewhat humiliating defeat of Lorath by its abolitionist neighbour Braavos during the reign of Sealord Treblo the Blessed. Although most of its land was occupied, Lorath was not incorporated into the Braavosi territories and was allowed to hold onto its independence in exchange for a complete abolition of any kind of slavery or unwilling servitude. Due to this fact Lorath remains free, but under constant silent supervision by Braavos and the Iron Throne.Most of the previous rulers of Lorath are rather dull and ordinary and do not really merit a mention in this humble tome. But the current one is definitely an exception.
Lady Minelna from the Lathis family, originally from the Fisher’s Point on the mainland, holds the post of the Magister, the first woman to ever hold this title in Lorath.
AI by me
Her situation was made even more peculiar by the fact that Lady Minelna spent most of her youth as a captive in Gogossos and a concubine for none other than “king” Boremund, son of the infamous ironborn pirate, Euron the Crow’s Eye. She endured, but the death of their first child forever scarred her kind heart.
But before the birth of their fourth child however, Lady Minelna decided that she had enough and that she desires much more for her children than dying from a curable illness or in another senseless reaving or being given as a trophy to another pirate who might even be their own kin as well.
Unfortunately though, Lady Minelna’s only surviving son became wholly indoctrinated by his father and his brood of other children and remained in Gogossos to rule the Isle of Toads with his wife Noshi, sister to the pirate lords of Death and Skull Islands (not to be confused with The Skulls in the Stepstones) from the Ironmaker clan.
Lady Minelna’s heart was shattered that day, but still she fetched her elder daughter and made a daring escape, even killing one or two pirates with her own impressively strong hands. Two women stole a boat and disappeared into the night.
AI by me
They ended up stranded on the shores of Naath. They got extremely lucky that they were found by the natives before the butterfly fever did. Kind Naathi made haste to help them on their journey back to Lathis’ family and thus the heavily pregnant Lady Minelna finally made it home. Her second daughter was born soon after.
Both her daughters, Tansa and Voraria, think of themselves as the proper Lorathi.
Lady Tansa fell in love and happily married Master Ferrego of Elbateros. He later became a Magister of the whole Elbateros region, and the pair rules there together with kindness and diligence.
Young Voraria dutifully serves as a Mistress of the Fisher’s Point mansion. She was recently married to young master Belidos Mopyris from a minor merchant family in Morosh, the former Lorathi colony. The young couple instantly became fast friends and are gleefully playing family.
Last edited:
- 2
- 1
That enmity might be a problem. Bloody Ironborn
Loath hangs onto independence by a hair. They would be quick to fall... but they remain proud.
Loath hangs onto independence by a hair. They would be quick to fall... but they remain proud.
- 1
- 1
Where do I begin, the maze of Lorath that resembles a glacier, the lines in the face of Lady Minelna that broadcast every trial of her life, her children being bastards as well as children of a concubine (how? fathered by someone other than her 'man'?), the budding love of Mistress Voraria and Belidos? I know, I will just say that everything is grand. Thank you for giving us the myths of legendary peoples.
- 1