Difference between revisions of "Essos"

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==History==
 
==History==
  
The first contact between Essos and Westeros would occur with the arrival of the First Men across the Arm of Dorne, who would be welcomed by the first inhabitants of the western continent, the diminutive Children of the Forest, who were masters of nature and powerful magic. They would expand throughout the land and built their holdfasts, farms and villages, forging the Salt Throne upon their incursion into the Iron Islands without any interference until their cutting and burning of the sacred trees of the Children began a war for dominance between the races, where the newcomers' numerical superiority along with their technological advancement made them the stronger opponent. Eventually after much disaster and bloodshed, which ended in the Arm of Dorne breaking into the Broken Arm and the Stepstones, the First Men and the Children agreed to peacefully coexist granting the open lands to humanity and the forests to the Children.
+
The first contact between Essos and [[Westeros]] would occur with the arrival of the [[First Men]] across the [[Arm of Dorne]], who would be welcomed by the first inhabitants of the western continent, the diminutive [[Children of the Forest]], who were masters of nature and powerful magic. They would expand throughout the land and built their holdfasts, farms and villages, forging the [[Seastone Chair|Salt Throne]] upon their incursion into the Iron Islands without any interference until their cutting and burning of the [[Weirwood|sacred trees]] of the Children began a [[War of the First Men and the Children of the Forest|war for dominance]] between the races, where the newcomers' numerical superiority along with their technological advancement made them the stronger opponent. Eventually after much disaster and bloodshed, which ended in the Arm of Dorne breaking into the Broken Arm and the Stepstones, the First Men and the Children [[Pact|agreed]] to peacefully coexist granting the open lands to humanity and the forests to the Children.
  
Essos would also bring more change upon Westeros that would gradually shape it's political and cultural landscape to the present with the Andal Invasion, where the tall and fair-haired Andals from the hills of Andalos came to Westeros, spurred by their new religion to carve out a kingdom outside their homeland, beginning their conquest at the Vale, easily subduing the divided First Men with their weapons of iron against the First Men's bronze, and their own elite warrior knights, and leaving the first of their nobility, House Arryn, to rule the Vale, and converted much of Westeros to the worship of the Seven-Faced God except the North, who remained a kingdom of the First Men, preserving their traditions and resisted the Andals at Moat Cailin in the Neck, and worshiping the Old Gods; and some of the Andals converted to the ironborn religion of the Drowned God instead of converting the Iron Islands to their faith. The Night's Watch would also survive the Andal Invasion without much change, as they valued it's extralegal status and importance against wildling raids and an outlet for their own younger sons, criminals, or the defeated soldiers in their own wars.
+
Essos would also bring more change upon Westeros that would gradually shape it's political and cultural landscape to the present with the [[Coming of the Andals|Andal Invasion]], where the tall and fair-haired [[Andals]] from the hills of [[Andalos]] came to Westeros, spurred by their [[Faith of the Seven|new religion]] to carve out a kingdom outside their homeland, beginning their conquest at the [[Vale of Arryn|Vale]], easily subduing the divided First Men with their weapons of iron against the First Men's bronze, and their own elite warrior [[Knighthood|knights]], and leaving the first of their nobility, [[House Arryn]], to [[King of Mountain and Vale|rule]] the Vale, and converted much of Westeros to the worship of the Seven-Faced God except the [[North]], who remained a [[Kingdom of the North|kingdom]] of the First Men, preserving their traditions and resisted the Andals at [[Moat Cailin]] in the [[Neck]], and worshiping the [[Old gods|Old Gods]]; and some of the Andals converted to the [[ironborn]] religion of the [[Drowned God]] instead of converting the Iron Islands to their faith. The [[Night's Watch[[ would also survive the Andal Invasion without much change, as they valued it's extralegal status and importance against [[Free folk|wildling]] raids and an outlet for their own younger sons, criminals, or the defeated soldiers in their own wars.
  
After the migration of the First Men and the Andals into Westeros and forming the Seven Kingdoms, Essos itself would undergo a change in it's political landscape. The Ghiscari Empire was the first dominant power in Essos as the first great civilization of the known world, expanding their territory with the first Unsullied as their army, and forcing all conquered neighbors into slavery. During their expansion, however, the first Valyrians, a flock of humble shepherds discovered dragons in the Fourteen Flames and tamed them into devastating beasts of war and began their own expansion, with Valyria as their capital, mastering magic, and building their own architecture with dragonfire, eventually contending with the Ghiscari Empire for control over Essos, emerging victorious with their dragons.
+
After the migration of the First Men and the Andals into Westeros and forming the [[Seven Kingdoms]], Essos itself would undergo a change in it's political landscape. The [[Ghiscari Empire]] was the first dominant power in Essos as the first great civilization of the known world, expanding their territory with the first [[Unsullied]] as their army, and forcing all conquered neighbors into slavery. During their expansion, however, the first [[Valyrians]], a flock of humble shepherds discovered [[dragons]] in the [[Fourteen Flames]] and [[Dragonrider|tamed]] them into devastating beasts of war and began their own [[Valyrian Freehold|expansion]], with [[Valyria]] as their capital, mastering magic, and building their own architecture with dragonfire, eventually [[Ghiscari wars|contending]] with the Ghiscari Empire for control over Essos, emerging victorious with their dragons.
  
The next migration of Essosi to Westeros would be the cause of the Valyrian Freehold's expansion. The Rhoynar city-states would be on good terms with the mighty dragonlords until the Valyrian colonists began hunting their sacred turtles, which ignited a conflict between the Rhoynish and the Valyrians that the Valyrians dominated with their dragons, and the lack of unity between the Rhoynar princes until Prince Garin unified the Rhoynar city-states into the largest army in Essos against the invaders, repelling the dragonlords until the Valyrians unleashed a force of 300 dragons, annihilating the Rhoynish society, causing the surviving Rhoynish women and children to rally behind Princess Nymeria and fled in a refugee fleet, landing in Dorne. Nymeria allied with local ruler Mors Martell, leading to Nymeria's War, in which they used their combined strength to conquer and unite all of Dorne for the first time. As the local Dornish population intermingled with the Rhoynish immigrants, a number of traditions were adopted, among them equal primogeniture, thus allowing women to rule in their own right and even carry on the family name.
+
The next migration of Essosi to Westeros would be the cause of the Valyrian Freehold's expansion. The [[Rhoynar]] city-states would be on good terms with the mighty [[dragonlords]] until the Valyrian colonists began hunting their sacred turtles, which ignited a [[Rhoynish Wars|conflict]] between the Rhoynish and the Valyrians that the Valyrians dominated with their dragons, and the lack of unity between the Rhoynar princes until Prince [[Garin]] unified the Rhoynar city-states into the largest army in Essos against the invaders, repelling the dragonlords until the Valyrians unleashed a force of 300 dragons, annihilating the Rhoynish society, causing the surviving Rhoynish women and children to rally behind Princess Nymeria and fled in a refugee fleet, landing in Dorne. Nymeria allied with local ruler [[Mors Martell]], leading to [[Nymeria's War]], in which they used their combined strength to conquer and unite all of Dorne for the first time. As the local [[Dornish]] population intermingled with the Rhoynish immigrants, a number of traditions were adopted, among them equal primogeniture, thus allowing women to rule in their own right and even carry on the family name.
  
Essos would plunge into a state of lawless and war after the Doom of Valyria, which saw the fall of the Valyrian Freehold and the end of the reign of the dragonlords, except the Targaryens who had relocated to Dragonstone before the catalclysm, thus saving themselves and their dragons, while the rest of their homeland and empire fractured. Volantis, the oldest colony of the dragonlords, considered themselves the rightful successor of their dragonlord predecessors and warred against the Freehold's other colonies, now the independent Free Cities, intent on reunifying them into a new empire, only for the other colonies to rebel and gain the support of Aegon Targaryen, the last dragonlord, who defeated the Voltantenes with Balerion. The Doom also left Essos vulnerable to the Dothraki, who were restrained by the dragons' power, who spilled out of their domain and devastated vast swathes of land and left numerous cities ruined in their wake, never to be rebuilt. The Dothraki raided and pillaged unchecked, until Khal Temmo decided to mount an attack on Qohor. Due to the last-minute arrival of the elite Unsullied legions, the Dothraki were repulsed in the resulting Battle of Qohor, leaving 12,000 Dothraki dead including Khal Temmo. This marked a major turning point, ending the terrible years when the Dothraki raided completely at will.
+
Essos would plunge into [[Century of Blood|a state of lawless and war]] after the [[Doom of Valyria]], which saw the fall of the Valyrian Freehold and the end of the reign of the dragonlords, except the Targaryens who had relocated to Dragonstone before the catalclysm, thus saving themselves and their dragons, while the rest of their homeland and empire fractured. [[Volantis]], the oldest colony of the dragonlords, considered themselves the rightful successor of their dragonlord predecessors and warred against the Freehold's other colonies, now the independent [[Free Cities]], intent on reunifying them into a new empire, only for the other colonies to rebel and gain the support of [[Aegon I Targaryen|Aegon Targaryen]], the last dragonlord, who defeated the Voltantenes with [[Balerion]]. The Doom also left Essos vulnerable to the [[Dothraki]], who were restrained by the dragons' power, who spilled out of [[Dothraki sea|their domain]] and devastated vast swathes of land and left numerous cities ruined in their wake, never to be rebuilt. The Dothraki raided and pillaged unchecked, until Khal [[Temmo]] decided to mount an attack on [[Qohor]]. Due to the last-minute arrival of the elite [[Unsullied]] legions, the Dothraki were repulsed in the resulting [[Three Thousand of Qohor|Battle of Qohor]], leaving 12,000 Dothraki dead including Khal Temmo. This marked a major turning point, ending the terrible years when the Dothraki raided completely at will.
  
The most decisive Essosi influence on Westeros would come after the struggles for power between the Free Cities ended. Following his victory over Volantis, Aegon looked away from the ruined lands of his ancestors, which he viewed as the old and tired past fading away, and instead looked west, to the lands that had always interested him. Although Westeros had developed into the Seven Kingdoms, the Lord of Dragonstone was determined to unify the continent into one realm that only he would dominate. After building a small motte as his claim, Aegon and his sister-wives used the last three surviving dragons to launch a conquest of Westeros, Aegon and his sister-wives emerged mostly victorious against large castles and vast hosts of soldiers despite their small army, merging six of the Seven Kingdoms into a realm that would be governed from his new capital and the Iron Throne, with his descendants failing to conquer the sixth kingdom by force.
+
The most decisive Essosi influence on Westeros would come after the struggles for power between the Free Cities ended. Following his victory over Volantis, Aegon looked away from the [[Valyrian Peninsula|ruined lands]] of his ancestors, which he viewed as the [[Doom of Valyria|old and tired]] [[Valyrian Freehold|past]] [[Free Cities|fading away]], and instead looked [[Westeros|west]], to the [[Seven Kingdoms|lands]] that had always interested him. Although Westeros had developed into the Seven Kingdoms, the [[Lord of Dragonstone]] was determined to unify the continent into one realm that only he would dominate. After building a [[Aegonfort|small motte]] as his claim, Aegon and his [[Rhaenys Targaryen|sister-[[Visenya Targaryen|wives]] used the [[Balerion|last]] [[Vhagar|three]] [[Meraxes|surviving]] dragons to launch a [[Aegon's COnquest|conquest]] of Westeros, Aegon and his sister-wives emerged [[Burning of Harrenhal|mostly]] [[Field of Fire|victorious]] against [[Harrenhal|large castles]] and [[Kingdom of the Rock|vast]] [[Kingdom of the Reach|hosts of soldiers]] despite their small army, merging six of the Seven Kingdoms into a realm that would be governed from his new [[King's Landing|capital]] and the [[Iron Throne]], with his descendants failing to conquer the [[Dorne|sixth kingdom]] [[First Dornish War|by]] [[Conquest of Dorne|force]].
  
 
Hostilities between Essos and Westeros would reignite after the Triarchy of the Free Cities of Myr, Lys and Tyrosh conquered the Stepstones and ended it's lawless ways, they would gain the resentment of the Seven Kingdoms after they made trade on the Narrow Sea highly taxed, among them the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon, the greatest Westerosi seafarer who allied with Prince Daemon Targaryen to make a new kingdom in the Stepstones by driving out the Triarchy, beginning a war against the Three Daughters for control of the Stepstones, which they would dominate with the aid of dragons against superior numbers, but would eventually be defeated by the Essosi conquerors with Dornish allies.
 
Hostilities between Essos and Westeros would reignite after the Triarchy of the Free Cities of Myr, Lys and Tyrosh conquered the Stepstones and ended it's lawless ways, they would gain the resentment of the Seven Kingdoms after they made trade on the Narrow Sea highly taxed, among them the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon, the greatest Westerosi seafarer who allied with Prince Daemon Targaryen to make a new kingdom in the Stepstones by driving out the Triarchy, beginning a war against the Three Daughters for control of the Stepstones, which they would dominate with the aid of dragons against superior numbers, but would eventually be defeated by the Essosi conquerors with Dornish allies.
  
After the Blackfyres had failed to claim the Iron Throne from the Targaryens four times, they would form the Golden Company, the most powerful army in Essos, in exile and would make another attempt in claiming Westeros for the last Blackfyre using the Band of Nine. The Seven Kingdoms would prepare for war against the coalition's advance and would battle with them on the Stepstones, with many influential and legendary figures taking part, ultimately succeeding in purging the Blackfyre dynasty.  
+
After the Blackfyres had failed to claim the Iron Throne from the Targaryens four times, they would form the Golden Company, the most powerful army in Essos, in exile and would make another attempt in claiming Westeros for the last Blackfyre using the Band of Nine. The Seven Kingdoms would prepare for war against the coalition's advance and would battle with them on the Stepstones, with many influential and legendary figures taking part, ultimately succeeding in purging the Blackfyre dynasty.
  
 
==Quotes==
 
==Quotes==

Revision as of 09:24, 13 June 2022

The lands of Essos (in red) west of the Bone Mountains and Krazaaj Zasqa on the map of the known world

Essos, often simply called the east, is the largest of the four known continents in the world. It lies east of Westeros and north of Sothoryos and Ulthos, stretching from the Shivering Sea in the north to the Summer Sea in the south, and from the narrow sea in the west to the lands surrounding the Jade Sea in the east, if not farther. Essos is populated by many different peoples and has a vast and varied geography.

In the novels of A Song of Ice and Fire, the continent is simply called the eastern continent, beyond the narrow sea, or the east; George R. R. Martin first referred to it as Essos in mid-2008 in an interview,[1] and later officially confirmed it. The Appendix of A Dance with Dragons officially refers to the continent east of the narrow sea as Essos.

Geography

Essos is considerably larger than Westeros, though its true extent is unknown as no map of the entire continent currently exists. The north coast of the mainland is separated from the polar cap by the Shivering Sea. To the south, across the Summer Sea, lies the uncharted continent of Sothoryos. In the extreme east, across the Jade Sea, sit Asshai, Yi Ti, and the mysterious region called the Shadow Lands. South of the Shadow Lands is the continent of Ulthos.[2][3]

The geography and climate of Essos varies greatly. Being separated from the polar cap of the Land of Always Winter and located farther to the south, it is affected by winters to a lesser extent then Westeros.[4]

The western coastline appears to be temperate in the north, becoming drier and hotter to the south, and is characterized by green rolling hills, the massive Forest of Qohor, and extensive island chains such as Braavos and Lys. The middle of the continent is covered by the flat grasslands plains of the Dothraki sea and, to the east, the arid wasteland of red sand known as the red waste, where nothing grows. Beyond this desert, the city of Qarth sits beside the Jade Gates that lead to the Jade Sea. The south is dominated by dry rolling hills and has a Mediterranean climate with a coastline along the Summer Sea connecting Volantis with the Valyria peninsula and the great inlet known as Slaver's Bay. Essos is dominated by the Bone Mountains and the Krazaaj Zasqa, longitudinal mountain ranges separating the western half more familiar to the Westerosi and an exotic eastern half of which less is known.[2][3]

Regions

Essos is divided into several regions, each of which are home to distinct cultural groups.

The Free Cities

See also Map of the Free Cities from A Dance with Dragons and its locations.

The Free Cities are nine independent city-states located on the western coast of Essos. Seven of the cities are coastal (Braavos, Myr, Pentos and Volantis) or island ports (Lorath, Lys and Tyrosh), lying on the narrow sea, whilst two others (Norvos and Qohor) are located inland. Except for Braavos, which was founded by refugee slaves, these cities are former colonies of the destroyed Valyrian Freehold; as such they retain elements of its culture. They are more developed and mercantile than the cities of Westeros, even King's Landing. Each of the Free Cities controls a certain amount of territory surrounding it, including smaller towns and villages. The region of the Free Cities extends from the western coastline to the Forest of Qohor and the mighty River Rhoyne in the east, which separate them from the Dothraki sea and the Kingdom of Sarnor.

In the northwestern corner of this region, between Braavos and Pentos, are the hills of Andalos, the ancient homeland of the Andals and, according to legends, the source of the Faith of the Seven.

Kingdom of Sarnor

East of the Forest of Qohor and north of the Dothraki sea are the grasslands of the Kingdom of Sarnor, which are watered by the great River Sarne and its tributaries. Most of the kingdom has been left in ruins by the Dothraki.[5]

The Dothraki Sea

East of the Free Cities and Sarnor, the vast grassland plain known as the Dothraki sea covers much of inland Essos. It is inhabited by the Dothraki people, a copper-skinned race of warlike nomads with their own language and unique equestrian culture. While the Dothraki do not trade, their slave raids are a driving force of Essos's economy. There are numerous ruined cities of older cultures in and near the Dothraki sea.

The Shivering Sea

North of the Dothraki sea along the shores of the Shivering Sea are the Kingdom of Sarnor, Omber, and the forested Kingdom of the Ifequevron. North of mainland Essos are the islands of Ibben.[2][6]

Valyrian Peninsula

The Valyrian peninsula is a large headland extending south from Essos into the Summer Sea. Once the heartland of the Valyrian Freehold and the location of the city of Valyria, it was partially destroyed in the Doom of Valyria, during which many islands formed, low-lying areas flooded, and Valyria fell into ruin. The peninsula and the Smoking Sea that surround its remnants are considered to be demon-haunted and rife with poisonous fumes; with few exceptions, those who travel there seeking the ruins of Valyria or its treasures never return.

Slaver's Bay and Ghiscar

South of the Dothraki sea, east of Valyria, and west of Lhazar are Slaver's Bay and Ghiscar. The region holds many small city-states and the three great slaver port cities of Yunkai, Meereen, and Astapor. The cities were built from the rubble of Old Ghis and the Ghiscari Empire, an ancient rival of the Valyrian Freehold which crushed and superseded it thousands of years ago. The slaver cities are still connected to the Free Cities by the Valyrian road network. The city of New Ghis sits on an island south of Ghiscar, but the novels reveal little about it. The Skahazadhan is the largest river of the region.

Lhazar

Lhazar is located southeast of the Dothraki sea and northeast of Slaver's Bay. It is a semi-arid land of pastures and hills. The horselords consider the Lhazareen, its shepherding people, as easy targets and good slaves, calling them haesh rakhi ("Lamb Men").

Qarth

Qarth is an ancient city in the distant east, beyond the red waste, on the shores of the Jade Sea. It is home to warlocks and merchant princes. Its position at the Jade Gates makes it the gateway of commerce and culture between the east and west (such as the Free Cities and Slaver's Bay), and more eastern lands (such as Asshai, the Shadow Lands, and Yi Ti). Brimming with wealth, and priding themselves on their sophistication, the Qartheen engage in unending intrigue between the many powerful factions of their society.

South of Qarth is the large island Great Moraq, located between the Summer Sea and the Jade Sea.[2]

Eastern Essos

Little is known of the lands of Essos found east of the Bone Mountains and the Krazaaj Zasqa. The southern lands along the Jade Sea include Yi Ti, Asshai, and the Shadow Lands. North of Yi Ti are trading cities encircling the Great Sand Sea, as well as the Plains of the Jogos Nhai. Farther east are even more exotic lands - the Thousand Islands in the Shivering Sea, Mossovy, the Grey Waste, the Land of the Shrykes, the Mountains of the Morn, the Cities of the Bloodless Men, the Hidden Sea with Carcosa and the City of the Winged Men, the Five Forts, etc.[3]

People

Essos is home to a much larger and more diverse set of races and cultures than Westeros. They are descendants of old cultures ranging from the Andals, the Rhoynar, old Ghis, and Valyrian Freehold. Unlike Westeros, which is unified under the Seven Kingdoms, Essos is divided into many different sovereign regions and city-states and has had no dominant power since the Valyrian Freehold fell almost four centuries ago. Its peoples include:

  • Dothraki, a copper-skinned race of warlike nomads with their own language and unique culture.
  • Ghiscari, a mongrel race that populates most of Slaver's Bay, that speak a bastardized version of High Valyrian. Descendants of old Ghis.
  • Peoples of the Free Cities, descendants of the Valyrian Freehold and their slaves. They speak a distinct form of High Valyrian, though the Common Tongue of Westeros is also used.
  • Lhazareen, a peaceful people with bronze skin, flat faces, and almond eyes. They are predominantly shepherds who worship the Great Shepherd and are called the 'Lamb Men' by the Dothraki, who frequently prey on them.
  • Qartheen, the inhabitants of Qarth.
  • Ibbenese fishing colonies in the north.
  • Jogos Nhai, renowned for capturing zorses.
  • N'Ghai, kin to the more nomadic Jogos Nhai, the inhabitants of Nefer the Secret City.
  • Sarnori, or Tagaez Fen meaning "Tall Men", the brown-skinned, black-haired people of Sarnor, whose last survivors occupy Saath.
  • YiTish, the bright-eyed people of the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, the oldest and largest civilization of Essos.
  • Lengii, perhaps the tallest race, with teak-colored skin, golden eyes, long legs, slender build, inhabiting the island of Leng

Vanquished or vanished cultures include the Jhogwin, the Mazemakers, and the Ifequevron. The Rhoynar largely fled the Rhoyne for Dorne in Westeros.

History

The first contact between Essos and Westeros would occur with the arrival of the First Men across the Arm of Dorne, who would be welcomed by the first inhabitants of the western continent, the diminutive Children of the Forest, who were masters of nature and powerful magic. They would expand throughout the land and built their holdfasts, farms and villages, forging the Salt Throne upon their incursion into the Iron Islands without any interference until their cutting and burning of the sacred trees of the Children began a war for dominance between the races, where the newcomers' numerical superiority along with their technological advancement made them the stronger opponent. Eventually after much disaster and bloodshed, which ended in the Arm of Dorne breaking into the Broken Arm and the Stepstones, the First Men and the Children agreed to peacefully coexist granting the open lands to humanity and the forests to the Children.

Essos would also bring more change upon Westeros that would gradually shape it's political and cultural landscape to the present with the Andal Invasion, where the tall and fair-haired Andals from the hills of Andalos came to Westeros, spurred by their new religion to carve out a kingdom outside their homeland, beginning their conquest at the Vale, easily subduing the divided First Men with their weapons of iron against the First Men's bronze, and their own elite warrior knights, and leaving the first of their nobility, House Arryn, to rule the Vale, and converted much of Westeros to the worship of the Seven-Faced God except the North, who remained a kingdom of the First Men, preserving their traditions and resisted the Andals at Moat Cailin in the Neck, and worshiping the Old Gods; and some of the Andals converted to the ironborn religion of the Drowned God instead of converting the Iron Islands to their faith. The [[Night's Watch[[ would also survive the Andal Invasion without much change, as they valued it's extralegal status and importance against wildling raids and an outlet for their own younger sons, criminals, or the defeated soldiers in their own wars.

After the migration of the First Men and the Andals into Westeros and forming the Seven Kingdoms, Essos itself would undergo a change in it's political landscape. The Ghiscari Empire was the first dominant power in Essos as the first great civilization of the known world, expanding their territory with the first Unsullied as their army, and forcing all conquered neighbors into slavery. During their expansion, however, the first Valyrians, a flock of humble shepherds discovered dragons in the Fourteen Flames and tamed them into devastating beasts of war and began their own expansion, with Valyria as their capital, mastering magic, and building their own architecture with dragonfire, eventually contending with the Ghiscari Empire for control over Essos, emerging victorious with their dragons.

The next migration of Essosi to Westeros would be the cause of the Valyrian Freehold's expansion. The Rhoynar city-states would be on good terms with the mighty dragonlords until the Valyrian colonists began hunting their sacred turtles, which ignited a conflict between the Rhoynish and the Valyrians that the Valyrians dominated with their dragons, and the lack of unity between the Rhoynar princes until Prince Garin unified the Rhoynar city-states into the largest army in Essos against the invaders, repelling the dragonlords until the Valyrians unleashed a force of 300 dragons, annihilating the Rhoynish society, causing the surviving Rhoynish women and children to rally behind Princess Nymeria and fled in a refugee fleet, landing in Dorne. Nymeria allied with local ruler Mors Martell, leading to Nymeria's War, in which they used their combined strength to conquer and unite all of Dorne for the first time. As the local Dornish population intermingled with the Rhoynish immigrants, a number of traditions were adopted, among them equal primogeniture, thus allowing women to rule in their own right and even carry on the family name.

Essos would plunge into a state of lawless and war after the Doom of Valyria, which saw the fall of the Valyrian Freehold and the end of the reign of the dragonlords, except the Targaryens who had relocated to Dragonstone before the catalclysm, thus saving themselves and their dragons, while the rest of their homeland and empire fractured. Volantis, the oldest colony of the dragonlords, considered themselves the rightful successor of their dragonlord predecessors and warred against the Freehold's other colonies, now the independent Free Cities, intent on reunifying them into a new empire, only for the other colonies to rebel and gain the support of Aegon Targaryen, the last dragonlord, who defeated the Voltantenes with Balerion. The Doom also left Essos vulnerable to the Dothraki, who were restrained by the dragons' power, who spilled out of their domain and devastated vast swathes of land and left numerous cities ruined in their wake, never to be rebuilt. The Dothraki raided and pillaged unchecked, until Khal Temmo decided to mount an attack on Qohor. Due to the last-minute arrival of the elite Unsullied legions, the Dothraki were repulsed in the resulting Battle of Qohor, leaving 12,000 Dothraki dead including Khal Temmo. This marked a major turning point, ending the terrible years when the Dothraki raided completely at will.

The most decisive Essosi influence on Westeros would come after the struggles for power between the Free Cities ended. Following his victory over Volantis, Aegon looked away from the ruined lands of his ancestors, which he viewed as the old and tired past fading away, and instead looked west, to the lands that had always interested him. Although Westeros had developed into the Seven Kingdoms, the Lord of Dragonstone was determined to unify the continent into one realm that only he would dominate. After building a small motte as his claim, Aegon and his [[Rhaenys Targaryen|sister-wives used the last three surviving dragons to launch a conquest of Westeros, Aegon and his sister-wives emerged mostly victorious against large castles and vast hosts of soldiers despite their small army, merging six of the Seven Kingdoms into a realm that would be governed from his new capital and the Iron Throne, with his descendants failing to conquer the sixth kingdom by force.

Hostilities between Essos and Westeros would reignite after the Triarchy of the Free Cities of Myr, Lys and Tyrosh conquered the Stepstones and ended it's lawless ways, they would gain the resentment of the Seven Kingdoms after they made trade on the Narrow Sea highly taxed, among them the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon, the greatest Westerosi seafarer who allied with Prince Daemon Targaryen to make a new kingdom in the Stepstones by driving out the Triarchy, beginning a war against the Three Daughters for control of the Stepstones, which they would dominate with the aid of dragons against superior numbers, but would eventually be defeated by the Essosi conquerors with Dornish allies.

After the Blackfyres had failed to claim the Iron Throne from the Targaryens four times, they would form the Golden Company, the most powerful army in Essos, in exile and would make another attempt in claiming Westeros for the last Blackfyre using the Band of Nine. The Seven Kingdoms would prepare for war against the coalition's advance and would battle with them on the Stepstones, with many influential and legendary figures taking part, ultimately succeeding in purging the Blackfyre dynasty.

Quotes

Essos, the vast continent across the narrow sea, teems with strange, exotic, and ancient civilizations, some still extant and striving, others long fallen and lost to legend.[7]

—writings of Yandel

He lifted his eyes and saw clear across the narrow sea, to the Free Cities and the green Dothraki sea and beyond, to Vaes Dothrak under its mountain, to the fabled lands of the Jade Sea, to Asshai by the Shadow, where dragons stirred beneath the sunrise.[8]

—dream of Bran Stark

Tyrion: In Westeros, the word of a Lannister is considered good as gold.
Tybero: This is not Westeros. On this side of the narrow sea, we put our promises on paper. Debts written on the wind tend to be ... forgotten, shall we say?[9]

References

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Across the narrow sea. The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Across the narrow sea. As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.