Vaes Dothrak
| Vaes Dothrak | |
|---|---|
| Dothraki city | |
 Vaes Dothrak, by Matthew Cowdery © Fantasy Flight Games | |
| Location | Dothraki sea, central Essos |
| Government | Dosh khaleen |
| Religion | Dothraki religion |
| Notable places | Horse Gate, Western Market, Eastern Market |
| Organizations | Dosh khaleen, khalasars |
Vaes Dothrak is the only city of the Dothraki people. It is located in the northeast of the vast Dothraki sea, beneath the Mother of Mountains and near a lake, the Womb of the World. Vaes Dothrak has no walls.[1]
The city is ruled and inhabited by slaves and the dosh khaleen, the wives of all the khals who have come before. It is forbidden to wear a blade or shed a free man's blood within the confines of the city.[2] The name Vaes Dothrak means City of Riders in the Dothraki language.[3]
Contents
Layout
- See also: Images of Vaes Dothrak
Vaes Dothrak is the heart of the Dothraki sea and culture. It is at once one of the largest cities, due to its expansive layout, and one of the smallest, due to its small inhabitant population. It has broad, windswept streets paved in grass and mud. There are carved stone pavilions, manses of woven grass, wooden towers, stepped pyramids and log halls. All of the buildings were brought to the city by slaves from the lands the Dothraki have conquered.[1]
Vaes Dothrak sprawls languorously in the warm sun. It is large enough to hold every khalasar, were they all to return at once.[1]
The godsway runs from the Horse Gate of Vaes Dothrak to the Mother of Mountains. It is lined with monuments and holy symbols from a hundred different religions on both sides, showing the vast range and power of the Dothraki's conquests.[1][2] Along the way it passes through the Western and Eastern Markets, the lake named the Womb of the World and a pit where important ceremonies are done in Vaes Dothrak.[2]
Markets
The Western Market and the Eastern Market are the two markets in Vaes Dothrak. The Western Market is a grand bazaar used by traders from the Free Cities. It is a great square of beaten earth surrounded by mud-baked brick, animal pens and whitewashed drinking halls. Hummocks rise from the earth and beneath the square lie large storerooms. The interior of the square is made up of stalls and aisles.[4] In the Eastern Market, traders from Asshai, Yi Ti, and the Shadow Lands come to trade. There one can find rarer items, such as manticores, elephants, and striped white and black horses (zorses) of the Jogos Nhai.[4]
Traders are free to cross the Dothraki sea unmolested to Vaes Dothrak as long as they keep the peace, do not profane either the Mother of Mountains or the Womb of the World, and give the traditional gifts of salt, silver and seed to the dosh khaleen.
History
The exiled Ser Jorah Mormont has traveled as far east as Vaes Dothrak.[5]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Magister Illyrio Mopatis is said to have friends in Vaes Dothrak.[6] After wedding Khal Drogo outside Pentos,[5] Daenerys Targaryen travels with his khalasar to Vaes Dothrak,[1] where she is presented to the dosh khaleen. Daenerys ceremonially eats a horse heart and washes in the Womb of the World.[2]
Daenerys survives an assassination attempt by a wineseller in the markets, leading Drogo to announce he will lead his khalasar against the Seven Kingdoms.[4]
Drogo's khalasar departs Vaes Dothrak for Lhazar.[7] After the khal dies and his khalasar disbands, Daenerys burns his body on a pyre and hatches dragon eggs in the flames.[8]
During his coma, Bran Stark has a vision of Vaes Dothrak beneath the Mother of Mountains.[9]
A Clash of Kings
Daenerys thinks that other khals would attempt to slay her meager khalasar and drag her back to Vaes Dothrak to join the dosh khaleen. Her khalasar travels through the red waste[10] toward Qarth.[11]
A Storm of Swords
Following the siege of Meereen, the envoy Ghael informs Daenerys that Yunkai has dispatched riders to Vaes Dothrak to bring a khalasar against her.[12]
Chapters that take place in Vaes Dothrak
- A Game of Thrones: 36. Daenerys IV
- A Game of Thrones: 46. Daenerys V
- A Game of Thrones: 54. Daenerys VI
Quotes
Only the crones of the dosh khaleen dwell permanently in the sacred city, them and their slaves and servants, yet Vaes Dothrak is large enough to house every man of every khalasar, should all the khals return to the Mother at once. The crones have prophesied that one day that will come to pass, and so Vaes Dothrak must be ready to embrace all its children.[1]
In this place, the crones of the dosh khaleen had decreed, all Dothraki were one blood, one khalasar, one herd.[1]
—thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 36, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 46, Daenerys V.
- ↑ The Tongues of Ice and Fire Wiki
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 54, Daenerys VI.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 3, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 61, Daenerys VII.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 72, Daenerys X.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 17, Bran III.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 12, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 27, Daenerys II.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 71, Daenerys VI.
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