Sargon Botley is the half-brother of Lord Sawane Botley. He has a bastard son, Wex.
Sargoso Saan was a Lysene pirate-lord in the Stepstones during the reign of Aegon I Targaryen. Sargoso was a member of the Saan family.
In 29 AC and again in 30 AC, Prince Maegor Targaryen assisted by Lord Aethan Velaryon and Ser Osmund Strong led a punitive campaign to drive out Sargoso.
Sarhoy
Western Essos and the location of Sarhoy
Sarhoy is a ruined city in Essos at one of the four mouths of the Rhoyne..
The Rhoynar built Sarhoy as a great port city made of pink stone with canals and saltwater gardens. During the Second Spice War, three dragonlords and men from Volantis sacked the city. The city's warriors were slaughtered and its children sold into slavery. The Volantenes burned the city and salted the earth. After further defeats, Princess Nymeria led her ten thousand ships down the Rhoyne past Sarhoy and into the Summer Sea.
According to Maester Yandel, Sarhoy "remains in ruins to this day, a desolate and haunted place."
Sarne
Essos west of the Bone Mountains and the location of the Sarne
The Sarne is a river in northern Essos located east of the Forest of Qohor and north of the Painted Mountains. Its western tributaries begin in the hills south of Vaes Khadokh, while its eastern tributaries have their sources in the western Dothraki sea. The Sarne flows north into the Shivering Sea, with the cities of Saath and Morosh and the ruins of Vaes Graddakh located in the Sarne delta. A Valyrian road connecting Vaes Khadokh to Vaes Khewo crosses the Sarne.
The ancient Kingdom of Sarnor developed around the Sarne and its tributaries. Sarnath, the seat of the High King of the Sarnori, was located along the southwestern branch of the Sarne. However, the grassland kingdom and its cities were ruined by the Dothraki in the Century of Blood following the Doom of Valyria.
Sarra Frey is twin sister of Serra Frey and daughter of Ser Raymund Frey.
Sarra was one of the Frey women presented to Robb Stark when he came to the Twins for Lord Edmure Tully's wedding.
Sarra Stark was a member of House Stark. She was the eldest daughter of Lord Cregan Stark and Lady Alysanne Blackwood.
Sarsfield
The Westerlands and the location of Sarsfield
Sarsfield is the seat of House Sarsfield in the Westerlands. It is situated along the River Road, northeast of Casterly Rock and southwest of the Golden Tooth.
This unnamed squire from House Sarsfield
By his age and dress, he looked like a squire. He was brown-haired and chunky in build. He had a big white pimple on one side of his nose, and some red ones on his forehead.
In 300 AC, the squire visits the Inn at the Crossroads with Polliver and the Tickler, to lose his virginity to one of the whores there. Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark arrive at the inn for wine and information; Sandor converses with Gregor's men, and the drunk squire insults the Hound for fleeing King's Landing in the Battle of the Blackwater and will not be quiet until the Tickler torments him. When Sandor refuses to go to Harrenhal with his brother's men, a fight ensues. The squire tries to join in, but Arya throws a wine cup at him and knocks him down. During the fight, the squire tries to attack Arya, and she stabs him in the belly with his own knife. After the fight is over, the squire is still alive but mortally wounded. He cries and begs for mercy, asks to be taken to a maester, and says his father has gold. Sandor says the squire will be a long time dying, tells Arya to give him mercy, and asks if she remembers where the heart is. She takes Needle, which she had recovered from Polliver's body, and kills the squire.
Arya remembers how the pimply squire had cried after he was stabbed.
The Mountain's men at Harrenhal tell Jaime Lannister that Sandor Clegane and "a ragged peasant lad" had killed Polliver, the Tickler, and "that Sarsfield boy" at the crossroads inn.
After Arya receives a new face from the Faceless Men, she dreams of the people she has killed, including "the pimply squire from the crossroads inn".
Is this the lost puppy Ser Gregor spoke of? The one who piddled in the rushes and ran off? Ser said his puppy brother tucked his tail between his legs when the battle got too warm at King’s Landing. He said he ran off whimpering.
—the Sarsfield squire, to Sandor Clegane
Are you the puppy's puppy?
—the Sarsfield squire, to Arya Stark
The squire: Mercy, please. Don’t kill me. Mother have mercy.
Sandor Clegane: Do I look like your bloody mother?
Lady Sarya Whent was a member of House Whent and the fifth wife of Lord Walder Frey. She is deceased with no progeny.
Satin is a recruit of the Night's Watch.
See also: Images of Satin
In 300 AC, Satin claims to be eighteen years old.
Jon Snow cites that Satin is quick to learn, clever, fearless in a fight, and can partially read and write.
Satin received his name while working as a whore at the Oldtown brothel where he had been born and raised.
The wandering crow Conwy brings Satin and other recruits from a dungeon near Gulltown to Castle Black. Before the great ranging, Jon Snow watches the new recruits being trained by Ser Endrew Tarth.
Satin helps defend the King's Tower at Castle Black from the wildlings, fighting alongside Jon during the attack on Castle Black. He pisses himself when the horns are first blown.
Satin tears off half a finger nail in archery practice using a longbow.
Satin grows a beard into which he combs perfume.
When Dolorous Edd is sent to assist in the garrison of Long Barrow, Jon selects Satin to be one of his new stewards. This angers several members of the Watch hierarchy such as Bowen Marsh, Septon Cellador, and Othell Yarwyck, who feel that a former whore should not be the personal steward or squire of the commander.
After the wedding of Alys Karstark to Sigorn, Ser Malegorn of Redpool refuses to allow Satin to escort Selyse Florent to the wedding feast. Satin dances gracefully with three serving girls during the feast, but does not displease Patrek of King's Mountain by approaching any highborn ladies in Selyse Baratheon's party.
Satin prepares Jon's horse when the Lord Commander goes north of the wall to meet Tormund.
Satin: There must be a hundred thousand. How can we stop so many?
Jon: The Wall will stop them. The Wall will stop them. The Wall defends itself.
- Satin and Jon Snow
Satin: It was the priestess we were laughing at. We were only having a jape, my lord.
Jon: You have your gods and she has hers. Leave her be.
- Satin and Jon Snow
Satin, they called him, even in the wool and mail and boiled leather of the Night's Watch; the name he'd gotten in the brothel where he'd been born and raised. He was pretty as a girl with his dark eyes, soft skin, and raven's ringlets. Half a year at Castle Black had toughened up his hands, however, and Noye said he was passable with a crossbow. Whether he had the courage to face what was coming, though ...
- thoughts of Jon Snow
My lord, the boy's a whore ... a ... dare I say ... a painted catamite from the brothels of Oldtown.
Whatever Satin may have done in Oldtown, he is our brother now, and he will be my squire.
- Jon Snow to Bowen Marsh
The Satin Palace is a brothel located in Braavos. It smells of perfume.
It is located east of the Happy Port and south of the House of Seven Lamps.
The Blind Girl knows each inn and tavern by its scent; she has begged there and recalls that the Satin Palace is fragrant with the perfumes of the pretty young girls who dream of being courtesans. It is quieter than the other places visited by the Blind Girl, a place of whispered endearments, the soft rustle of silk gowns, and the giggling of girls.
Sauron Salt-Tongue was a priest of the Drowned God. He declared the ironborn to have originated in the Drowned God's watery halls, made in the god's image, emerging from beneath the seas with dominion over all the waters of the earth.
Savior of the City is a title granted by King Joffrey Baratheon to Tywin Lannister, Warden of the West and Hand of the King, to honor him for his alleged role in saving King's Landing from the attack of Stannis Baratheon during the Battle of the Blackwater. This one of the many homages performed by the Iron Throne to whitewash the role of Tyrion Lannister for the victory.
Lord Sawane Botley is Lord of Lordsport and head of House Botley. He is the captain of the *Swiftfin*.
During Greyjoy's Rebellion, Sawane's castle at Lordsport was burned to the ground by King Robert Baratheon. After the rebellion he rebuilt it in stone.
After King Balon Greyjoy's death, his brother, Euron Greyjoy, returns to proclaim himself King of the Iron Islands. Sawane refuses to do him fealty, stating that the Seastone Chair belongs to Theon Greyjoy by rights. Euron has Lord Sawane drowned.
Sawane's sons are dispossessed of the lordship. Half of the lands are given to House Wynch, while the remnants are left to Sawane's brother, Germund Botley, the new Lord of Lordsport.
Sawwood is a steward of the Night's Watch. A forester, he earned his name more from his snoring than his ability to cut wood.
Sawwood is part of the great ranging, the force that leaves Castle Black in search of wildlings. He is part of the conspiracy to kill Lord Commander Jeor Mormont..
Scales is one of the children of the forest in service to the last greenseer. He/she does not speak the Common Tongue. His/her true name is too long for the human tongue according to Leaf, so Meera Reed and Bran make up the name Scales.
Scales is one of the children of the forest with nut-brown skin that is dappled like a deer's with paler spots, and large ears and large eyes slitted like a cat's eyes. Scales has three fingers and a thumb with sharp black claws instead of nails.
Scales serves the last greenseer in the cave beyond the Wall.
Scar is a slave soldier and serjeant owned by Yezzan zo Qaggaz.
When his master becomes sick from the pale mare, he sends Tyrion Lannister, Penny, and Jorah Mormont to fetch water. The trio use the opportunity to escape instead.
Scarb was a bodyguard in Meereen.
Oznak zo Pahl cut the liver out of Scarb, who had looked at a Meereenese lady wrongly. He knew Brown Ben Plumm.
The scarlet emperors were a dynasty that ruled the Golden Empire of Yi Ti. They founded the city of Si Qo, which served as the capital of the Empire during their reign. The family name of the scarlet emperors is Lo.
The dynasty fell when Emperor Lo Bu was killed in battle by Zhea, jhatar of the Jogos Nhai.
Sceptre is a war galley of the royal fleet in service to Stannis Baratheon. It has one hundred oars.
Sceptre is part of Stannis Baratheon's fleet commanded by Ser Imry Florent during the Battle of the Blackwater. It engages the *Kingslander* with the aid of the *Faithful. After having most of its oars sheared off, the *Sceptre is engulfed and destroyed by wildfire after the explosion of the *Swordfish*.
Several scientific and technological aspects have been described in the known world of George R. R. Martin's *A Song of Ice and Fire*. This page is a representation of such topics, focusing mostly on Westeros and Essos, the primary locations of the story, although information as available on other locations in Martin's known world will be stated whenever possible.
When discussing the technological progress of his world, Martin stated that " [..] the unpredictable nature of the seasonal changes and the harshness of the winters must play a role. I do think that magic perhaps makes development of the scientific method less likely. If men can fly by means of a spell, do you ever get the Wright Brothers? Or even daVinci? An interesting question, and I'm not sure I know the answer."
Main article: Maesters
See also: Citadel, Alchemists' Guild, and Great Sept of Baelor
The maesters are an order of scholars, healers, messengers, and scientists. They educate new students at their "seat", the Citadel, which is located in Oldtown, a city in the Reach. The maesters are sometimes called "the knights of the mind."
A more specialized institute of knowledge is the Alchemists' Guild
The Great Sept of Baelor, the large sept of the Faith of the Seven atop Visenya's Hill in King's Landing, is a preeminent center of religious education in the realm.
Main article: Medicine
In Westeros, medical treatments are most frequently given by the maesters of the Citadel. George R. R. Martin has stated that the medical knowledge of the maesters is more advanced than real-life medieval medical knowledge:
"I've made a deliberate decision when the books began to have the maesters, and have Westeros in general, have better medical knowledge than the real-life Middle Ages. Mostly because I didn't want everybody dying at twenty-six. So it is generally improved, the maesters have improved the standard of hygiene, and they understand certain practices, and they can do things better."
The Westerosi healing arts include potions that dull pain (e.g., milk of the poppy
While the nobles have access to maesters, commoners usually do not. They instead rely on local healers,[*citation needed] midwives,[citation needed*] hedge wizards,
The Dothraki khalasars employ two types of healers: barren women who practice their healing with herbs, potions, and spells, and eunuch slaves, who use knives, needles, and fire.
In the Free City of Braavos, healers for hire can be found at the House of the Red Hands.
Main article: Astronomy
Astronomy is a topic studied by the maesters in Westeros. Myrish eyes mounted on tripods can be used to observe the stars.
The names of constellations can differ between cultural groups. For example, the constellation known by the people of the Seven Kingdoms as the King's Crown
The Dothraki, on the other hand, associate the stars in the sky with the deceased. They believe that the stars in the sky are horses made of fire, and that the starry sky is a great herd of fiery horses racing across the sky.
Westeros has a deep mythic and historic legacy recounted in song, story, and literature. Not only do these tales recount the epics of legendary heroes and romances, but they also retell romanticised history and fables of fantastic creatures.
Books, scrolls, parchment, and paper have been described throughout the novels as in common use. No society has ever been mentioned that use printing presses, or even wood block printing.
Main article: Measurement
A measurement is the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event, which can be compared with other objects or events..
There are several basic units of measurement[N 1] that have been described in usage in Westeros: length, weight, and time. Most other units of measure thus far mentioned in text are units which have been derived from these basic ones, such as area and volume. Additionally, some units of measurements commonly used in the novels are more archaic in their usage, e.g. the term "stone" to indicate weight
Main article: Currency
For currency, coins are the manner used most frequently, especially by merchants, owners of establishments, and the noble classes. Smallfolk might use either coins or barter.
Thusfar, no society in Westeros or Essos has been described as using paper currency. Most societies use currency in the form of coins made from precious metals such as gold, silver, or copper (with a few notable exceptions, such as the iron coins used in Braavos). Contracts written on parchment or paper are also accepted, though these are not "currency" as such: for example, the Brotherhood without Banners during the War of the Five Kings would give commoners notes promising to pay them for supplies they took after the war ended.
A notable exception on this system is the system of the Dothraki, a nomadic people from Essos. The Dothraki are commonly said to neither buy nor sell.
George R. R. Martin has compared the Westerosi coinage to medieval coinage, saying that *"Westerosi coinage is probably more complex than actual British medieval coinage"*, despite some similarities.
Scolera is a septa of the Faith of the Seven in service at the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing.
Scolera is short, thick waisted with heavy breasts and olive skin. Cersei Lannister believes Scolera has a sour smell.
Septa Scolera is among the septas who arrest Queen Regent Cersei Lannister at the Great Sept of Baelor.
Scolera continues to be one of the holy septas who visit Cersei every hour of the day or night and asking her to confess, sometimes reading from *The Seven-Pointed Star*. When Cersei relents, Scolera is one of the septas who bring her before the High Sparrow.
Septas Scolera, Moelle, and Unella are part of the escort for Cersei as she completes her walk of atonement through the streets of King's Landing.
You must feel so much lighter now, clean and innocent as a maid on the morning of her wedding.
- Scolera after Cersei Lannister confesses to the High Sparrow
But one day I will have your tongue ripped out with hot pincers, and that will be hilarious.
- thoughts of Cersei Lannister
Scoro was a Dothraki *khal* who lived during the Century of Blood. He broke through the Whalebone Gates of Ibbish and sacked the city, looting temples and treasuries and carrying off the city's gods to Vaes Dothrak.
Scourge
Dorne and the location of the Scourge
© Fantasy Flight Games
The Scourge is a river in southern Dorne. It meets the Vaith in the Dornish eastern mountains to form the Greenblood near Godsgrace.
The Scouring of Lorath was the conquest of the Lorathi islands by the Valyrian Freehold, as described in *The Fires of the Freehold*.
When Qarlon the Great led his Andals against Norvos, the Free City appealed to Valyria for aid, resulting in the destruction of Qarlon and his host near Norvos. The Valyrian dragonlords then flew to Lorath, burning Qarlon's keep at Lorassyon and settlements throughout Lorath Bay and scorching the ancient labyrinths of the mazemakers with dragonfire. According to legend none of the Lorathi Andals survived the attack. More than a century later the Lorathi islands were resettled by Valyrian colonists who worshipped Boash.
The Scribe's Hearth is located in Oldtown.
In the Scribe's Hearth, the acolytes of the Citadel of Oldtown practice the art of letters.
Maester Yandel was a foundling in an empty stall of the Scribe's Hearth in 272 AC, where he was found by an acolyte.
The sea-green emperors were an ancient ruling dynasty of the Golden Empire of Yi Ti. Under their rule the empire reached the apex of its power, conquering Leng and Great Moraq and exacting tribute from Qarth, Old Ghis, and Asshai. The family name of the sea-green emperors is Jar.
The Sea Bitch is a new longship built by Sigrin. It has a lean, black hull a hundred feet long, a single mast and fifty oars. The longship has a deck large enough to hold a hundred men and an iron ram shaped like an arrowhead.
Theon Greyjoy is given command of the new longship at Lordsport after he returns to Pyke. He names it Sea Bitch after Esgred (actually his sister Asha) claims the longship is a sea bitch instead of a fair maiden.
Theon sails the Sea Bitch as the flagship of his force that harries the Stony Shore. Deviating from the plan of his father Balon, King of the Iron Islands, Theon grants six longships to Aeron Greyjoy to continue raiding the shore but keeps the Sea Bitch and Dagmer's *Foamdrinker*.
Theon: I would never mistreat such a fair maiden.
Asha: Fair maiden? She's a sea bitch, this one.
Theon: There, and now you've named her. Sea Bitch.
- Theon Greyjoy and Asha Greyjoy
Sea Demon is a war galley of the royal fleet in service to Stannis Baratheon. It has one hundred oars.
Sea Demon is part of Stannis Baratheon's fleet commanded by Ser Imry Florent during the Battle of the Blackwater.
Sea Dragon Point
The north and the location of Sea Dragon Point
Sea Dragon Point is a forested peninsula west of the wolfswood in the north.
Thinly-populated Sea Dragon Point contains hills and bogs. Ancient strongholds of the First Men have fallen into ruins, while its highest hills contain weirwood circles of the children of the forest. Wildlife include otters in lakes, salmon in rivers, clams along the shore, and colonies of seals. Sea Dragon Point has a hundred hidden coves and pine forests useful for ship-building. live or have lived in the neighboring sea.
At some point after the Long Night, the Kings of Winter, House Stark of Winterfell, conquered Sea Dragon Point from the Warg King and his allies, the children of the forest.
In her candidacy for Queen of the Iron Islands at the kingsmoot, Asha Greyjoy tries to convince the ironborn to make peace with the north and settle for the Stony Shore and Sea Dragon Point. However, they choose Euron Greyjoy's plan to expand their war instead.
Asha hopes she can hold Sea Dragon Point and develop it into a kingdom of her own.
For the lord nicknamed the Sea Snake, see Corlys Velaryon.
The Sea Snake was a ship captained by Corlys Velaryon. His expeditions aboard the Sea Snake, described in Maester Mathis's *The Nine Voyages, garnered him great wealth from Essos, including stops at Qarth, Yi Ti, and Leng. During the last journey, Corlys loaded the *Sea Snake with gold and purchased twenty ships in Qarth, allowing him to sail most of them back to Westeros with spices, elephants (which did not survive the voyage), and silk.
Corlys acquired his nickname, the Sea Snake, from the ship. After becoming Lord of the Tides, Corlys used the wealth from the Sea Snake voyages to build High Tide.
The Sea Song is a longship captained by Lord Rodrik Harlaw. Lord Rodrik is known to read while on deck.
Lord Rodrik sailed the Sea Song to Old Wyk to take part in the kingsmoot.
A sea battle off Fair Isle.
Victarion and Euron Greyjoy burned the Lannister fleet at anchor at Lannisport to begin Greyjoy's Rebellion. In response, King Robert I Baratheon brought the royal fleet commanded by Lord Stannis Baratheon, supported by warships from the Arbor, Oldtown, and the Reach, to deal with the longship threat of the Iron Islands. Stannis had overall command against the Iron Fleet.
The Iron Fleet was in the Straits of Fair Isle, with the island of Fair Isle to their west and the mainland of the westerlands to their east. Stannis's ships trapped them from the north and the south, smashing Victarion's fleet off Fair Isle.
The *Golden Storm* of Aeron Greyjoy was destroyed by Stannis's flagship, *Fury*.
With the threat of the Iron Fleet diminished, King Robert I was able to land in the Iron Islands and put down Greyjoy's Rebellion. Aeron Greyjoy, the younger brother of Victarion and Euron, was held prisoner at Casterly Rock.
Victarion: Would you lesson me in warfare? I was fighting battles when you were sucking mother's milk.
Asha: And losing battles too.
Victarion: Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old.
- Victarion Greyjoy and Asha Greyjoy
The memory of Fair Isle still rankled in the iron captain's memory.
- thoughts of Victarion Greyjoy
Sea dragons are possibly mythical creatures of the sea. Some maesters question their existence, as they have not been seen in millenia. Believers think they still exist deep in the Sunset Sea.
It is unknown if sea dragons are related to dragons, although Sea Dragon Tower is a dragon-shaped tower at Dragonstone in the narrow sea.
According to ironborn legend, Nagga was the first and mightiest sea dragon, a creature which fed on krakens and leviathans. She was slain by the Grey King, however, and her bones formed part of the Grey King's Hall.
The sea god is the legendary husband of the goddess of the wind and the father of Elenei, the mythic wife of Durran Godsgrief.
The sea god and the goddess of the wind forbade their daughter Elenei's love with Durran Godsgrief. Regardless, Elenei gave her maidenhead to Durran, thus yielding to a mortal's death. For this, the gods hated Durran and, in their wroth, sent howling winds and lashing rains on Durran's keep on Shipbreaker Bay on his wedding night, destroying his keep and killing all his family and guests. Elenei protected Durran from harm, however. Enraged, Duran declared war on the gods, who replied by hammering his kingdom with massive storms. Thus, each new keep Durran built was destroyed by the gods, despite being larger and more heavily fortified.
Durran's seventh keep, however, resisted the wrath of the gods—thus earning the name of Storm's End. According to some tales it was built with the advice of a boy who would grow up to become Bran the Builder, though others believe the children of the forest took a hand in the construction.
Sea of Dorne
Dorne and the location of the Sea of Dorne
Sea of Dorne
The stormlands and the location of the Sea of Dorne
The Sea of Dorne is a large sea along the southeastern coast of Westeros. It is bordered to the north by Cape Wrath in the stormlands, to the west and south by Dorne, and to the east by the narrow sea. flows into the sea.
Prominent settlements along the Sea of Dorne include Ghost Hill, the Tor, Wyl, and Yronwood in Dorne, as well as Stonehelm and the Weeping Town in the stormlands.
Some maesters, such as Cassander, believe the Sea of Dorne was once a smaller inland sea separated from the narrow sea by salt marshes, and that the narrow sea eventually flooded into this once-freshwater sea through the Song of the Sea.
The Storm Kings of old sometimes kept war fleets at the towns and village situated on the northern shore of the sea.
Within the sea sits an old castle on a rock, Ghaston Grey, which is used as a prison for criminals by House Martell.
Sea of Myrth
The Free Cities and the location of the Sea of Myrth
The Sea of Myrth is a large sea that is situated along the western coast of Essos. To the north lies the Flatlands, the south the Disputed Lands and to the west, the narrow sea. Myr sits along its eastern shore.
Sea of Sighs
Slaver's Bay and the location of the Sea of Sighs
The Sea of Sighs is an inland sea located in central Essos. It lies south of the Painted Mountains and north of the Lands of the Long Summer. At its northerneastern tip sits the city of Mantarys, where a mountain river flows into the sea. Its waters are colored red.
The Seaflower is a war galley of the royal fleet in service at King's Landing.
Seaflower is a part of King Joffrey I Baratheon's fleet at the Battle of the Blackwater. It is engulfed and destroyed by wildfire during the battle.
Seagard by Thomas Denmark © Fantasy Flight Games
Seagard
The riverlands and the location of Seagard (red)
Seagard is a town in the northern riverlands, and its castle is the seat of House Mallister. Located on the western coast along Ironman's Bay, Seagard is sheltered by the Cape of Eagles and is nestled near the headwaters of the Blue Fork.
The Booming Tower of Seagard is named for its immense bronze bell, which is used to call the townsfolk and others into the safety of the castle when longships are sighted.
The castle of Seagard was built to defend the coast from ironborn reavers, especially Greyjoys from Pyke.
Harwyn Hardhand, King of the Iron Islands, landed his longships forty leagues south of Seagard at the start of his campaign to conquer the riverlands from the Storm King Arrec Durrandon.
During Greyjoy's Rebellion, the bronze bell of the Booming Tower rang for the first time in three hundred years, when Rodrik Greyjoy led the storming of Seagard. Lord Jason Mallister killed Rodrik beneath the castle walls and threw the ironmen back into the sea.
Catelyn Tully, Lysa Tully, and Petyr Baelish visited Seagard in their youth, once camping at Oldstones on the way there with Lord Hoster Tully.
Ser Kevan Lannister notes that the Mallisters of Seagard and the Freys of the Twins are the only standing threats to the Lannister campaign in the riverlands. Lord Tywin Lannister disregards them, stating that Lord Walder Frey will not take the field when victory is doubtful and that Lord Jason Mallister is not strong enough to fight alone.
Seagard is said to be one of the only riverland keeps still mercifully untouched by the War of the Five Kings.
Some Lannister captives from the Whispering Wood and Battle of the Camps, including Lord Gawen Westerling,
After Robb Stark, the King in the North and King of the Trident, weds Jeyne Westerling at the Crag, the king orders the release of Jeyne's father, Gawen, from captivity at Seagard.
The Myraham returns to Seagard from Lordsport, bringing word of the death of Balon Greyjoy, the King of the Isles and the North and Theon's father, and the return of Balon's exiled brother, Euron, who has claimed the Seastone Chair.
Robb intends to have his mother, Lady Catelyn Stark, travel to Seagard for protection,
Ser Jaime Lannister learns from Ser Ryman Frey that Lord Jason surrendered Seagard and swore fealty to the Iron Throne only when Black Walder threatened to hang Patrek Mallister, a captive from the Red Wedding, if his father refused to surrender.
After Ryman is hanged south of Fairmarket, Edwyn Frey places blame for his father's death on Black Walder, even though his younger brother is away at Seagard.
Jason and Patrek are imprisoned in their own castle.
Seahorse is a war galley in service to House Velaryon.
The Seahorse is part of Stannis Baratheon's royal fleet commanded by Ser Imry Florent during the Battle of the Blackwater.
The Sealord's Palace is the seat of Ferrego Antaryon, the Sealord of Braavos. It is located on a small peninsula in the northeast of the Free City of Braavos, at the eastern end of the Purple Harbor. It is north of the Moon Pool, the headquarters of the Iron Bank, and the end of the sweetwater river.
The Sealord's Palace has domes and towers.
Deserting from the Night's Watch, Dareon intends to one day perform at the Sealord's Palace. He is killed by Arya Stark, however.
The Sealord of Braavos is the ruler of the Free City of Braavos. His champion and protector is the First Sword of Braavos and he resides at the Sealord's Palace.
Statues commemorating past Sealords and their achievements line the canals of Braavos.
Since the founding of Braavos, the Sealords have opposed slavery in all its forms and have fought many wars against slavers and their allies.
Laena Velaryon was betrothed to the son of a Sealord of Braavos, but the Sealord died before any marriage, and the son turned out to be a fool, wasting his family's money and power before ending up on Driftmark. Daemon Targaryen, who wished to marry Laena, provoked him into a challenge by single combat, and he died.
Daeron I Targaryen planned to marry one of his sisters to the Sealord of Braavos for an alliance to remove the Narrow Sea pirates that were hindering trade with newly-conquered Dorne, but the marriage never occurred.
Many years ago Prince Oberyn Martell travelled to Braavos where Viserys Targaryen and Daenerys Targaryen were being kept by Ser Willem Darry. Oberyn and Willem signed a secret pact, which the Sealord of Braavos witnessed, promising Viserys the hand of Arianne Martell in return for Dorne's help in claiming the Iron Throne. The name of the Sealord who witnessed the pact has not been mentioned.
Syrio Forel tells Arya Stark that Braavosi captains bring exotic animals to the Sealord. His menagerie includes striped horses, great spotted things with necks as long as stilts, hairy mouse-pigs as big as cows, stinging manticores, tigers that carry their cubs in a pouch, and terrible walking lizards with scythes for claws.
The Sealord in power, Ferrego Antaryon, owns a pleasure barge covered with laughing faces.
Ferrego is sick, and there is a rumor that Tormo Fregar will be chosen as the new Sealord.
Sealskin Point
The Iron Islands and the location of Sealskin Point
Sealskin Point is the seat of House Farwynd on Great Wyk.
Seasmoke was a dragon that had been previously ridden and left to go wild on Dragonstone.
Seasmoke was a pale silver-grey dragon. It was of fighting size during the Dance but still a young dragon and nimbler in the air than his older brothers. He was of comparable size to Tessarion, who was about three times smaller than Vermithor, and not as fearsome a beast as him in comparison.
Seasmoke was the pride and passion of Laenor Velaryon. After his death no one had yet claimed Seasmoke.
Jacaerys Velaryon called for dragonriders during the Dance of the Dragons. Seasmoke killed one of his kingsguard, Steffon Darklyn, during an attempt. Later, Addam of Hull was able to claim and ride it.
Seasmoke and its rider, Addam of Hull, were one of the five dragons participating in the Battle in the Gullet, and also took part in the Fall of King's Landing. Once it was decided that Queen Rhaenyra would remain in the King’s Landing, Syrax, Seasmoke, and Tyraxes were expected to suffice for the defense of the city, and the rest of the dragonriders went to battle. Seasmoke was kept in the Dragonpit while in King's Landing.
With the Two Betrayers on their minds, many voices in the black council questioned Ser Addam’s loyalty. Only the Queen's Hand, Lord Corlys, spoke in defence of the dragonseed, remarking that Ser Addam and his brother Alyn were “true heirs” and worthy of Driftmark. The Hand’s impassioned protests were in vain and Queen Rhaenyra, suspecting a turncloak, commanded Ser Luthor Largent to arrest Addam Velaryon in the Dragonpit. Ser Addam, who had been forewarned, managed to make his escape flying away with Seasmoke, fleeing before he could be put to the question. By ordering the arrest of Addam, the queen lost not only a dragon but her Queen’s Hand as well. Corlys was beaten and imprisoned for warning Addam.
As the Second Battle of Tumbleton was put into motion, Ser Addam was determined to prove that all bastards need not be turncloaks. Ser Addam attacked Tumbleton at night, taking the greens completely unawares. As chaos ensued Addam could see the battle turning into a rout below him. By this time, two of the enemy dragonriders, Hugh Hammer and Daeron the Daring, were dead; although Addam could not have known that, he could see Vermithor, Silverwing and Tessarion. The riderless Tessarion took flight and Addam turned his dragon to meet her. Both being young dragons they moved fast and nimbly as they fought. The fight ended when the riderless, enraged Vermithor rose into the sky and set about indiscriminately killing those on the ground.
As the Bronze Fury wreaked carnage, Seasmoke fell upon him, driving him shrieking into the mud. According to Archmaester Gyldayn, Addam must have felt duty bound to protect his men on the ground, though surely he knew in his heart Seasmoke could not match the older dragon. The riderless Blue Queen soon joined the fray and all three dragons fought to the death on the ground amidst mud and blood and smoke. Vermithor killed Seasmoke when he locked his teeth into his neck and ripped his head off. He attempted to take flight with his prize still in his jaws but his tattered wings could not lift his weight. After a moment he collapsed and died. Vermithor had also mortally wounded Tessarion, who died soon afterwards.
After the Second Battle of Tumbleton Lord Unwin Peake bowed to defeat and ordered a retreat, taking the remnants of the great host that Prince Daeron and Lord Ormund Hightower had led all the way from Oldtown. The accused turncloak Addam Velaryon had managed to save King’s Landing from the queen’s foes at the cost of his own life.
Seastone Chair by Logan Feliciano, © Fantasy Flight Games
The Seastone Chair is an ancient throne of the Iron Islands, now used as the seat of the Lord of the Iron Islands, Balon Greyjoy. The Iron Fleet is sworn to the holder of the Seastone Chair.
See also: Images of the Seastone Chair
The Seastone Chair is made of a block of oily black stone carved into the shape of a kraken. Legend says it was found on the shores of Old Wyk by First Men when they came to the Iron Islands.
House Greyjoy of Pyke has ruled the Iron Islands since Aegon's Conquest., used the Seastone Chair as their throne.
The Seastone Chair is now located on a dais in the Great Hall of the Great Keep of Pyke, the seat of Lord Balon Greyjoy. His younger brother Aeron Damphair, a priest of the Drowned God, claims that only a pious ironman can sit the throne, not an ungodly man or a woman.
Lord Balon Greyjoy declares himself King of the Isles and the North during the War of the Five Kings.
The day after Balon falls to his death while crossing Pyke, his notorious brother Euron returns to the Iron Islands and claims the Seastone Chair.
Aeron Greyjoy insists upon a kingsmoot to determine the new king,
Euron explains that Victarion Greyjoy will receive the Seastone Chair once Euron claims the Iron Throne.
The ironborn would never seat a stranger in the Seastone Chair.
- "Egred" to Theon Greyjoy
For I have heard the god, who says, No godless man may sit my Seastone Chair!
- Aeron Greyjoy to his drowned men
Aeron: We shall have no king but from the kingsmoot. No godless man—
Euron: —may sit the Seastone Chair, aye. As it happens I have oft sat upon the Seastone Chair of late. It raises no objections.
- Aeron Greyjoy and Euron Greyjoy
An iron king shall rise again, to sit upon the Seastone Chair and rule the isles.
The Seastrider is a trading cog from Oldtown.
After trading in Duskendale, Pentos, Tyrosh, and Oldtown, the Seastrider stops in Maidenpool, where it is encountered by Brienne of Tarth. She buys an orange for Podrick Payne, but rejects the captain's offer of heading north to Sisterton and White Harbor.
Seaswift is a war galley of the royal fleet at King's Landing. She is a small ship with big sails. Her captain claims that she is faster than any war galley afloat.
The Seaswift is part of the fleet Tyrion Lannister sends to bring Princess Myrcella Baratheon to Braavos. As the fastest ship, it is to carry Myrcella. If they spot any lone ship they are to run it off or destroy it. Should an enemy fleet give battle the *Bold Wind* will escort the Seaswift to safety while the rest of the fleet, consisting of the *King Robert's Hammer, *Lionstar and *Lady Lyanna*, gives battle.
Lord Sebastion Errol is Lord of Haystack Hall and head of House Errol in the Stormlands.
Ser Cortnay Penrose acknowledges a "Lord Errol" at the parley beneath the walls of Storm's End who supports Stannis Baratheon. It is probable it is Lord Sebastion Errol.
Sebastion has become Lord of Haystack Hall
Sebaston Farman is the Lord of Fair Isle and head of House Farman. His sister, Jeyne, is married to Ser Gareth Clifton.
The Second Battle of Tumbleton or simply Second Tumbleton was a battle during the Dance of the Dragons. It took place between the greens and the blacks at the town of Tumbleton in the Reach, which was already ravaged from the earlier First Battle of Tumbleton.
During the Battle of Tumbleton, the market town of Tumbleton was betrayed by Ser Ulf White and Ser Hugh Hammer, who had the dragons Vermithor and Silverwing burn the town. The greens then sacked the town and executed blacks who surrendered. Ser Hobert Hightower was the most senior Hightower remaining in the green army, as his cousin, Lord Ormund Hightower, had been killed in the previous battle. Prince Daeron Targaryen, sickened by the sack of Tumbleton, ordered Hobert to put a stop to the victors' behavior, but Hobert failed to do so.
Ulf and Hugh were reluctant to help Daeron advance toward King's Landing. Lord Unwin Peake wanted to wait until the greens were reinforced by Lord Borros Baratheon, while Hobert Hightower desired to retreat to gather supplies from the Reach. The greens' inaction caused their great host to slowly dissipate through desertion and disease.
After hearing of unrest in King's Landing against the rule of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, younger nobles such as Ser Jon Roxton, Ser Roger Corne, and Lord Peake called for advancing on the capital, but Hobert preached caution and the Two Betrayers remained stubborn. When Hugh crowned himself king and had his men attack Roger, thirteen loyalist lords known as the Caltrops plotted against the two baseborn dragonriders.
Meanwhile, the baseborn dragonrider Ser Addam Velaryon, whom Rhaenyra had condemned after hearing of the Two Betrayers, was resolved to defend his honor by retaking Tumbleton from Ulf and Hugh. He fled from King's Landing atop Seasmoke and allegedly sought counsel from the Green Men on the Isle of Faces. Addam gathered an army of near 4,000 from the Riverlands.
On the day on which the Caltrops had decided to enact their coup against Ulf and Hugh, the greens in Tumbleton were awakened in the night by sounds of battle. Though Addam's 4,000 rivermen were outnumbered, they had the advantage of surprise. Columns of knights attacked from the north and the west, while archers fired their arrows. Seasmoke's dragonfire burned the greens' camps outside of Tumbleton, as well as buildings in the town which had survived its earlier sack.
Ulf White slept through the battle within the Bawdy Badger, an inn in Tumbleton. Hugh Hammer rushed to the stables so he could ride to Vermithor, but he was slain by one of the Caltrops, Lord Jon Roxton. Prince Daeron the Daring died amongst his camp west of the town, although his method of death is disputed. The blacks tried to kill the sleeping Silverwing and Vermithor in the fields south of Tumbleton, but failed to do so. The riderless Vermithor slew two score knights who attacked him, then took to the air and fought indiscriminately. Lords Piper and Deddings were burned by the dragon.
Addam and Seasmoke had been battling Daeron's dragon, Tessarion, in a nimble fight. When Addam saw the raging Vermithor, he redirected Seasmoke to the larger dragon. Lord Benjicot Blackwood believed that Vermithor would have torn Seasmoke to pieces, but Tessarion suddenly joined the brawl and all three dragons fought. Vermithor slew Seasmoke, but then collapsed and died shortly after. Tessarion failed to take flight three times, so Lord Blackwood has his best archer, Billy Burley, mercy kill the Blue Queen.
The battle ended at dusk.
The blacks were victorious in the Second Battle of Tumbleton, but their victory was incomplete. Although the river lords lost less than a hundred men and slew more than a thousand of Hobert Hightower's green army, the blacks failed to retake Tumbleton. King Aegon II Targaryen's green survivors retreated into Tumbleton and sealed the gates. The blacks, lacking siege equipment, retreated during the night after the battle. Three of the four dragons died, with only Silverwing surviving. The Caltrops continued their plotting against Ulf White; Hobert and Ulf died from drinking poisoned wine. Lord Unwin Peake succeeded Hobert as commander, but the great host which had marched from Oldtown was wracked with plundering deserters. Lord Peake led the remainder in a retreat from Tumbleton, ending the green threat to King's Landing.
Apart from the losses in dragons, the battle was a decisive victory for the blacks, with under 100 men lost compared to over 1,000 greens killed despite their numerical superiority. Ultimately the battle was also a strategic victory for the blacks, given that the disintegrating Hightower army had to withdraw back to the south. Even so, while Addam's sacrifice had saved King's Landing from the Hightower army, the blacks had lost control of King's Landing itself anyway, when due to fear at the approach of the Hightowers the city was plunged into chaotic riots. Lord Grover Tully passed away shortly after Second Tumbleton, allowing Ser Elmo Tully to briefly become Lord of Riverrun.
The dragon was Seasmoke, his rider Ser Addam Velaryon, determined to prove that not all bastards need be turncloaks. How better to do that than by retaking Tumbleton from the Two Betrayers, whose treason had stained him?
- Archmaester Gyldayn
The Second Blackfyre Rebellion was the second attempt of the Blackfyre Pretenders to claim the Iron Throne. The failed plot which took place in 211 AC
The marriage of Lord Ambrose Butterwell to a daughter of Lord Frey was used by some of those who had sided with House Blackfyre during the First Blackfyre Rebellion to come together along with those who resented the rule of Hand of the King, Brynden Rivers, and join their forces. Most of those who had fought for the Black Dragon in the original rebellion had their children taken as hostages, but most of those hostages had died during the Great Spring Sickness, which allowed their families to plot once more.
The organizers of the tourney, mainly Ser Tommard Heddle and Lord Gormon Peake, convinced Lord Butterwell to name his dragon egg as the prize for the winner of the tourney. They attempted to rig the tourney so that Daemon Blackfyre would win. The plot was foiled by the intervention of Ser Duncan the Tall and the prowess of Ser Glendon Flowers in tourney. The dragon egg had been stolen and Ser Glendon was framed for the deed, due to his refusal to lose from Daemon in the lists. The missing egg was even found to be in his possessions. He was arrested and thrown in a cell. However, Duncan slew Tommard in single combat and revealed the egg that had been 'found' in Glendon's saddlebags was a painted stone. The real dragon egg was still missing. Daemon had been unaware of the plots, and was unsure who to believe. He ordered a trial by joust, during which Glendon unhorsed Daemon on the first pass.
Bloodraven takes Daemon II Blackfyre prisioner - by Marc Simonetti ©
News spread throughout the castle that Lord Brynden Rivers was marching on the castle with three of the Kingsguard, his three hundred Raven's Teeth, and five hundred knights and five thousand infantry from the crownlands and riverlands. These were drawn from Houses Darklyn, Hayford, Massey, Rosby, Stokeworth, Mooton, Lothston, and House Blackwood, the house of Brynden's mother, Melissa.
Daemon called for those within the castle to fight to the death but was laughed off by the fighting men. Daemon then marched out and offered single combat, but was promptly taken prisoner by Lord Rivers, thus ending the Second Rebellion before it actually began.
Lord Ambrose Butterwell kept only a tenth of his fortune and the castle Whitewalls was forfeit to the Iron Throne. The castle would be raised to the ground. Ser Tommard Heddle died at the hands of Ser Duncan the Tall and Lord Gormon Peake was executed for his part in the rebellion. Others were executed for their parts as well. Daemon was kept as a prisoner to prevent Bittersteel (who had refused to give Daemon the sword Blackfyre, nor had taken part in the rebellion) from crowning Daemon's younger brother, Haegon.
The First Blackfyre Rebellion had perished on the Redgrass Field in blood and glory. The Second Blackfyre Rebellion, ended with a whimper.
- Duncan the Tall's thoughts
The Second Quarrel is one of the two recorded estrangements between King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and his queen, Alysanne Targaryen. The quarrel began in 92 AC, when Jaehaerys decided to pass over his granddaughter Rhaenys, the only heir of his deceased eldest son Aemon, in favor of his son Baelon, in the line of succession. Alysanne believed there was no reason to favor a man over a woman, and thought that, if Jaehaerys believed women to be of less use, he would have no need of her. The couple reconciled two years later, in 94 AC, with the help of their daughter, Septa Maegelle.
For the television episode, see Second Sons (TV).
The Second Sons are a sellsword company found in the Free Cities. Their banner is a broken sword and they take commands only from their captain.
The Second Sons are not as well equipped as the Golden Company. While on campaign their camp is a circle of ragged tents, including a cook tent. Brown Ben Plumm’s tent has painted canvas walls cracked and faded by years of sun and rain, as well as a floor covered with threadbare carpets in half a dozen clashing colors.
The Second Sons are amongst the oldest of the free companies. They do not enjoy the shining reputation of the Golden Company, but they have won some famous victories. Four hundred years ago the Second Sons stood in defense of Qohor along with the Bright Banners company against the first Dothraki *khalasar* to venture east since the Doom of Valyria. However, they suffered a defeat and fled the battlefield, though the battle was later won by the Three Thousand of Qohor.
The names of every man to serve with the Second Sons is written in a leather-bound book, as well as when they joined, where they fought, how long they served, and the manner of their deaths. A tradition of the company is to sign in red ink. There was a time when each new man wrote his name in his own blood, but that tradition faded as blood makes poor ink. Famous past members include:
Under the command of Mero, whose evil reputation is known even in Westeros, the Second Sons turned near as bad as the Brave Companions. Mero's reputation has fallen to the point where none of the Free Cities will hire him any longer. .
The Second Sons are employed by Yunkai to defend them against the threat of Daenerys Targaryen. They are placed on the left of the defensive line that faces Daenerys's army. They are commanded by Mero, known as the Titan's Bastard. Mero attends the parley with Daenerys and decides to mull her offer of switching sides or departing only on the condition that she give him a wagon of wine. While the Seconds Sons are getting drunk on it that night, Daenerys sends her forces on the attack. The Second Sons are routed and Mero flees before he can be captured.
The remaining Second Sons vote Brown Ben Plumm as their new commander and they join Daenerys's army. Mero hides among the freedmen and attempts to assassinate Daenerys, but his attempt is thwarted by Barristan Selmy and Mero is killed by an enraged mob of freedmen.
Tyrion Lannister examining the company steel – by Jamga ©
Daenerys sends the Second Sons south of Meereen to guard against any incursions by Yunkai.
Escaped slaves Tyrion Lannister and Ser Jorah Mormont join the Second Sons, accompanied by fellow escaped slave Penny. The company is on their fourth book, which Tyrion signs in blood.
Part of Tyrion’s negotiations with Brown Ben for becoming a Second Son include becoming indebted to them. Just prior to signing their book Tyrion is handed a pile of roughly 50 to 60 promissory notes to sign. Tyrion remarks that only one in ten Second Sons receives a promissory note. He signs each note Tyrion of House Lannister and passes them one at a time to Inkpots, who dusts each one with fine sand.
The promissory notes for the serjeants promise to pay the bearer of the note 100 golden dragons, while higher-ranked officers are to be paid 1,000 gold dragons. The last three notes are made out by name:
The Second Sons' armorer is Hammer; his apprentice is Nail. Tyrion observes the company steel is worse than what he fought in at the Battle of the Green Fork. Jorah states there is some sound steel in there, none of it is pretty, but it will stop a sword.
With the additions of Tyrion and Jorah they number 514 members. Jorah joins up as a fighter while Tyrion is assigned to Inkpots to help keep the books, count coin, and write contracts and letters. When Tyrion makes a jape about supervising camp followers this does not please Brown Ben, who tells Tyrion to stay away from the whores. He wants Tyrion to remain hidden within the camp until Meereen is taken and they are on their way to Westeros.
The Second Sons are commanded by Malazza, the Girl General, to defend the Wicked Sister during the Second Siege of Meereen. A Yunkish messenger comes to the tent to inform them that Morghaz zo Zherzyn, supreme commander of the Yunkai'i, wants them to defend the Harpy's Daughter instead, as the Unsullied are advancing toward the trebuchet while Bloodbeard and two Ghiscari legions stand against them. The Second Sons are informed that Gorzhak zo Eraz has been slain, cut down by the Tattered Prince, meaning that the Windblown have gone over to Daenerys. When the messenger recognises Tyrion as an escaped slave and demands he be turned over, Jorah kills the messenger. Brown Ben then announces that the Second Sons have always been the queen's men and that rejoining the Yunkai'i was just a plot.
I was born a second son. This company is my destiny.
I have signed their book. The old way, in blood. I am now a Second Son.
—Tyrion Lannister, to Penny
Let him go on thinking that he's bent me over and fucked me up the arse, and I'll go on buying steel swords with parchment dragons. If ever he went back to Westeros to claim his birthright, he would have all the gold of Casterly Rock to make good on his promises. If not, well, he'd be dead, and his new brothers could wipe their arses with these parchments.
—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
"'Second Sons" is the eighth episode of the third season of the HBO medieval fantasy television series *Game of Thrones*, and the 28th episode of the series. Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and directed by Michelle MacLaren, it aired on May 19, 2013.
The episode is centered on the wedding of Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark in King's Landing, Gendry's arrival at Dragonstone and Daenerys' meeting with the mercenary company of the Second Sons before the walls of Yunkai.
With their wedding hours away, Tyrion visits Sansa to ease her apprehension at the prospect of being his wife. In the Sept of Baelor, Queen Cersei intimidates Margaery with the story of House Reyne of Castamere, and how her father Tywin destroyed the Reynes root and stem when they rebelled against House Lannister. After arriving at the Sept, Sansa is walked down the aisle by King Joffrey Baratheon. In an effort to embarrass his uncle, Joffrey departs with the stepstool Tyrion was to use to cloak Sansa with the Lannister colors. After some snickering from the crowd, Tyrion gets Sansa to kneel, and they are soon after married.
At their wedding feast, Tyrion gets very drunk, irritating both Sansa and Tywin, who counsels his son to stop drinking and begin trying to conceive a child with his new wife. Joffrey, after threatening to rape Sansa, calls for the traditional bedding ceremony to begin, but his plan is thwarted when Tyrion threatens to castrate Joffrey. Tywin defuses the situation, and Tyrion is able to avoid punishment, using his intoxication as an excuse. Tyrion soon after departs the feast with Sansa. Though Tywin has ordered Tyrion to consummate his marriage, he tells Sansa he will not share her bed until she wants him to.
Melisandre returns to Dragonstone with Gendry. She then takes him to see King Stannis, who recognizes Gendry as one of Robert's bastards. When Gendry is taken to his chamber, Stannis and Melisandre discuss what they intend to do with him. In the dungeons, Davos continues to learn to read. Stannis visits him to discuss Melisandre's plan to sacrifice Gendry. Davos objects to the plan, seeing Gendry as a nephew to Stannis, but Stannis remains resolved. He then makes Davos swear to never try to kill Melisandre, and frees him.
Later, Melisandre visits Gendry, and after a short discussion, she disrobes him and they begin having sex. Melisandre, who has earlier stated that there is "power" in Gendry's kingly blood, then binds Gendry's hands and legs and lays three leeches on him to draw his blood. Afterward, Stannis arrives and ritually burns the leeches, speaking the names of the usurpers to his throne: Robb Stark, Balon Greyjoy, and Joffrey Baratheon while he does.
Arya tries to kill Sandor Clegane while he is sleeping, but he is revealed to be awake, and thwarts her attempt on his life. They depart their camp and head for the Twins, where he intends to ransom Arya to her brother, Robb.
Ser Jorah Mormont tells Daenerys that Yunkai has employed a mercenary group called the Second Sons, which is led by a man named Mero. Daenerys soon meets with Mero and his lieutenants Prendahl na Ghezn and Daario Naharis. She attempts to bribe Mero to renege on his deal with Yunkai and fight for her, and gives him two days to make a decision. In the Second Sons' camp, the three leaders plot to kill Daenerys that night, with one of them sneaking into her camp. By random draw, Daario is selected to carry out their plot.
After nightfall, Daario enters Daenerys' camp, disguised as an Unsullied soldier. He enters her tent and shows both her and Missandei the severed heads of Mero and Prendahl. He then kneels and pledges the Second Sons, as well as himself, to her cause.
Sam and Gilly continue their journey to the Wall. They stop at an abandoned hut for the night and discuss a name for her son. When they hear a murder of crows cawing nearby, Sam leaves the hut to investigate. Soon after, he is attacked by a White Walker, which shatters Sam's sword with a touch and tosses him aside. The Walker moves towards Gilly, intent on taking her son, but Sam stabs the Walker with his dragonglass spear tip, killing it. Sam and Gilly then flee into the night, chased by the crows while leaving the dagger in the snow.
The Second Spice War was the last of the Rhoynish Wars between the Rhoynar and Valyria.
The war began a thousand years ago when three dragonlords from the Valyrian Freehold joined Volantis in destroying the Rhoynish port Sarhoy on the Summer Sea. The Rhoynar responded by uniting under Prince Garin of Chroyane, the wonder of the Rhoyne who temporarily made Valyria tremble. Garin led a Rhoynish army of 250,000, which conquered Selhorys, Valysar, and Volon Therys, where they defeated three dragons with Rhoynish water wizards. The alarmed Volantenes sought help from Valyria itself, and the dragonlords responded by sending 300 dragons. The Valyrians crushed Garin's army with their dragons,
Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar, seeing the fate of Garin and his army, gathered the surviving Rhoynar, most of whom were women and children and old men, aboard their remaining watercraft and fled from Essos aboard ten thousand ships. and Nymeria's Ny Sar.
During his journey to Volantis along the Little Rhoyne and the Rhoyne, Tyrion Lannister passes the ruins of Ghoyan Drohe,
Garin: We shall all be slaves unless we join together to end this threat.
Nymeria: This is a war we cannot hope to win.
The Second Turtle War is one of the Rhoynish Wars, fought between the Valyrians and the Rhoynar.
The second sack of Maidenpool occurs during the War of the Five Kings.
The town of Maidenpool is sacked by Lannister soldiers. At some point after the Battle of the Camps, the town is sacked by "wolves", northern soldiers sworn to House Stark. William Mooton, Lord of Maidenpool, again remains in his castle and does not defend the town.. It is unknown if there was a Lannister garrison in the town, or if the northmen sack the town for plunder.
Maidenpool is later sacked by outlaws.
Not to be confused with the siege of Meereen, taking place in 299 AC.
Ser Barristan looks at a smouldering Meereen - by Marc Fishman ©
The second siege of Meereen takes place after Daenerys Targaryen has taken control of Meereen. A coalition of slavers besieges the city, in an attempt to restore slavery.
Upon buying eight thousand six hundred trained Unsullied, as well as five thousand boys who had not yet completed their training, Daenerys Targaryen sacks Astapor.
Daenerys conquers Meereen and installs herself as its Queen, taking the Great Pyramid as her seat.
Even without Daenerys, Cleon marches his army out to meet Yunkai in the field. He is defeated during the Battle at the Horns of Hazzat, and flees with his host back to Astapor.
Many of the survivors of the second fall of Astapor have the bloody flux. The Yunkai'i command their sellswords to hunt the survivors down and turn them, driving them back to Astapor or north to Meereen to prevent them from going near Yunkai. to prevent the bloody flux from spreading into Meereen.
With Astapor defeated, the Yunkai'i forces march on to Meereen.
Following the death of the young girl Hazzea and the subsequent imprisonment of Viserion and Rhaegal and the escape of Drogon, Daenerys refuses to use her dragons in battle.
Following Daenerys's occupation of Meereen, Ghiscari descendants known as the Sons of the Harpy began to fight a shadow war against her, killing freedmen and Unsullied, which leads to the formation of the Brazen Beasts, Meereen's new city watch.
Daenerys follows the advice of Galazza and agrees to a pact with Hizdahr: if he is able to stop the Sons of the Harpy from killing for ninty days, Daenerys will marry Hizdahr.
Following the marriage, the peace between Meereen and the slavers is to be signed and sealed, and Meereen's fighting pits are to be opened once more.
Two hundred fourteen people died at Daznak's Pit, while three times as many were injured.
One of the deaths at Daznak's Pit was the Yunkish Supreme Commander Yurkhaz zo Yunzak. Following his death, the Yunkai'i commanders rotate the leadership, with a new general commanding the army each day, starting at dawn.
Following Hizdahr's arrest, the Sons of the Harpy return to their nightly killings. Galazza Galare is send to the Yunkai'i to discuss terms, but upon her return informs Barristan that the they demand that Hizdahr is restored to his throne. Galazza had presented an offer from Barristan to the nobles from Yunkai, but they have refused. When Galazza has informed Barristan of this fact, he is informed that the Yunkai'i are now flinging corpses into Meereen, using the trebuchets.
Meereen prepares for the Battle of Slaver’s Bay
Barristan's plan is to destroy the trebuchet known as the Harridan, in order to distract the Yunkai'i long enough for the Unsullied to form up before the city. The battle itself begins shortly before dawn.
Meanwhile, Tyrion Lannister, who had been enslaved
Dragons wheeled overhead, their shadows sweeping across the upturned faces of friend and foe alike.
Tyrion: "Do you hear that sound?"
Penny: "What is it?"
Tyrion: "War. On either side of us and not a league away. That's slaughter, Penny. That's men stumbling through the mud with their entrails hanging out. That's severed limbs and broken bones and pools of blood. You know how the worms come out after a hard rain? I hear they do the same after a big battle if enough blood soaks into the ground. That's the Stranger coming, Penny. The Black Goat, the Pale Child, Him of Many Faces, call him what you will. That's death."
– Tyrion Lannister and Penny at the start of battle
Whatever might befall us on the battlefield, remember, it has happened before, and to better men than you. I am an old man, an old knight, and I have seen more battles than most of you have years. Nothing is more terrible upon this earth, nothing more glorious, nothing more absurd. You may retch. You will not be the first. You may drop your sword, your shield, your lance. Others have done the same. Pick it up and go on fighting. You may foul your breeches. I did, in my first battle. No one will care. All battlefields smell of shit. You may cry out for your mother, pray to gods you thought you had forgotten, howl obscenities that you never dreamed could pass your lips. All this has happened too. Some men die in every battle. More survive. East or west, in every inn and wine sink, you will find greybeards endlessly refighting the wars of their youth. They survived their battles. So may you. This you can be certain of: the foe you see before you is just another man, and like as not he is as frightened as you. Hate him if you must, love him if you can, but lift your sword and bring it down, then ride on. Above all else, keep moving. We are too few to win the battle. We ride to make chaos, to buy the Unsullied time enough to make their spear wall, we—
– Barristan Selmy’s speech, until he is interrupted.
According to the pact Viserys Targaryen was to wed Arianne Martell. © Fantasy Flight Games
The secret marriage pact is a clandestine agreement signed in Braavos about a decade before the start of *A Game of Thrones*, forging an alliance between House Martell of Dorne and exiled House Targaryen. Its purpose is to aid in the overthrow of King Robert I Baratheon and restore House Targaryen to the Iron Throne. The alliance is to be sealed by a marriage between Viserys Targaryen and Princess Arianne Martell.
The pact was made in Braavos when Daenerys Targaryen was a little girl. Ser Willem Darry signed on behalf of House Targaryen, and Prince Oberyn Martell signed for Dorne. The Sealord of Braavos was a witness., with gold and ribbons and signatures.
The pact verbatim has not been revealed. Viserys Targaryen was still an immature child when the pact was signed, and since he was not yet ready for the information, Willem did not inform him about it.
According to Ser Barristan Selmy, the secret marriage pact contains "not a word" about Daenerys Targaryen,
Viserys Targaryen dies at Vaes Dothrak unaware of the secret pact.
Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne, reveals to his daughter, Princess Arianne Martell, that she had secretly been promised to the now-dead Viserys as part of his planned vengeance for his sister, Elia Martell, who was killed in the Sack of King's Landing. He informs her that the man she had been promised to is dead, and because of this, her brother Quentyn has gone across the narrow sea to meet with Viserys's sister, Daenerys Targaryen, and wed her.
Quentyn journeys to Meereen with the pact parchment hidden in a flap in his boot. Once presented to Daenerys, Quentyn and his two companions, Gerris Drinkwater and Archibald Yronwood, reveal themselves to the queen as Westerosi knights. When Ser Barristan Selmy reads the parchment, yellowed with age, he thinks that King Robert I Baratheon would have retaliated against Sunspear if he had known of its contents. Daenerys believes that Viserys would have crossed to Westeros if he had been aware of the pact.
Daenerys surmises that with Viserys dead, Quentyn means to marry her to secure the alliance. Quentyn tries to convince Daenerys to marry him, telling her that it will mean fifty thousand Dornish swords pledged to her service. Daenerys tells him of her upcoming marriage to Hizdahr zo Loraq, however, and remarks that it would have been different if he had come earlier. After Daenerys dismisses her audience, she realizes the pact was executed in Braavos, while they were living in the house with the red door. When Barristan tells her that the sigil of House Martell is a sun transfixed by a spear, Daenerys shivers after remembering Quaithe's warning to not trust the "sun's son".
After the wedding feast, Barristan tells his queen that ancient House Martell has been a leal friend to House Targaryen for more than a century. Daenerys replies that she needs to protect her people, but the Martell spears are far away in Westeros. Daenerys introduces Quentyn to her imprisoned dragons and tells him that "the dragon has three heads", suggesting that her marriage to Hizdahr need not be the end of his hopes. Daenerys councils him to leave, but he refuses.
After Hizdahr assumes control of Meereen in Daenerys's absence, Barristan realises that Quentyn's continued presence is a provocation for the king.
You were promised, Arianne.
- Doran Martell to Arianne Martell
Quentyn: The marriage pact—
Barristan: —was made by two dead men and contained not a word about the queen or you. It promised your sister's hand to the queen's brother, another dead man. It has no force. Until you turned up here, Her Grace was ignorant of its existence. Your father keeps his secrets well, Prince Quentyn. Too well, I fear. If the queen had known of this pact in Qarth, she might never have turned aside for Slaver's Bay, but you came too late. I have no wish to salt your wounds, but Her Grace has a new husband and an old paramour, and seems to prefer both of them to you.
Sedgekins is a servant at the Twins, serving House Frey.
When Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark try to sneak into the Twins with a wayn filled with pickled pigs feet, they are stopped by a Bolton sergeant and told to bring their load to Sedgekins.
Sefton Staunton, better known as Septon Sefton, was a member of House Staunton who was a septon of the Faith during the reign of King Aerys I Targaryen. Sefton was the brother of Ser Simon Staunton.
Sefton was a very hefty man, fat with a moon face. He was prone to drink and gossip, but was very well informed about current events. He claimed to suffer from frequent flatulence.
Sefton served many years at the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, attending the High Septon. He was in King's Landing throughout the Great Spring Sickness and witnessed much of the city's misery.
He came to serve at Coldmoat when his brother, Simon Staunton, married Lady Rohanne Webber.
Septon Sefton was present in the yard when Ser Duncan the Tall arrived to discuss terms with Lady Rohanne Webber. He took part in the discussions of the terms and dispensed gossip, informing Duncan of who the courtiers were. After Duncan's dismissal, he accompanied Rohanne to the Chequy Water to try and calm everyone down, to no avail.
The seizure of westerlands gold mines takes place in 299 AC during the War of the Five Kings.
In order to defeat a host being trained by Ser Stafford Lannister, Robb Stark leaves Riverrun and marches for the westerlands. Bypassing the Golden Tooth, the new King in the North smashes the new westermen host at Oxcross. Following his victory Robb divides his force to launch further attacks upon the westerlands.
While Lord Rickard Karstark and Galbart Glover raid the coastline of the Sunset Sea and Lady Maege Mormont leads thousands of cattle back to Riverrun, Lord Greatjon Umber is sent by Robb to capture several gold mines to hurt House Lannister's wealth. Castamere, Nunn's Deep, and the Pendric Hills are seized and held until Robb's withdrawal from the westerlands.
Returning to Riverrun after the storming of the Crag, Robb tells Ser Edmure Tully he remained in the westerlands after Oxcross in hopes of drawing Lord Tywin Lannister back to his homeland.
Nothing's more like to bring a Lannister running than a threat to his gold.
The Selaesori Qhoran is a trading cog, traveling a route from Volantis to Qarth.
The Selaesori Qhoran is a wallowing tub of five hundred tons. She has a deep hold, high castles fore and aft, a single mast between, and a big striped sail. At her forecastle stands a grotesque worm-eaten figurehead, an eminence with a constipated look and a scroll tucked up under one arm. Tyrion Lannister considers the ship to be the ugliest one he has ever seen.
The captain of the Selaesori Qhoran is a mean-mouthed, flinty, kettle-bellied man with close-set, greedy eyes, who is a bad cyvasse player and a worse loser. Four mates, freemen, serve under him. Further, fifty slaves serve on the ship, all tattooed after the fashion of Volantis, with the ship's figurehead on their cheek. Three mates and three-quarters of the ship's crew worships the Lord of Light, but it is uncertain whether the captain worships R'hllor as well.
The Selaesori Qhoran is set to sail from Volantis to Qarth. However, the high priest of R'hllor in Volantis, Benerro, sees in his fires that the ship will not reach her destination.
Jorah Mormont and Tyrion Lannister board the Selaesori Qhoran, and are accopmanied by the dwarf Penny and her pets Pretty Pig and Crunch. The red priest Moqorro travels on the ship as well, and also five warriors of the Fiery Hand.
As predicted,
Selhoru
Western Essos and the location of the Selhoru
The Selhoru is a river in southwestern Essos. The Rhoynar consider it a daughter of the Rhoyne and nickname it the Shy Daughter. Much of its course is hidden in reeds and writhes.
Volantis controls the Rhoyne up to the Selhoru.
During the Long Night, the Rhoyne may have frozen as far south as the Selhoru.
Selhorys
Western Essos and the location of Selhorys
Selhorys is a walled Volantene town located at the confluence of the Selhoru and the lower Rhoyne in western Essos.
Although it is larger than the cities of King's Landing and Oldtown in Westeros,
Selhorys has towers, domes, and cobbled paths. The city's sandstone walls shelter shops, stalls, and storehouses along the piers. The river gate is guarded by Volantene slave soldiers with tiger stripes, while prostitutes in its brothels are also slaves. Volantene river galleys loaded with slave soldiers protect the waterway.
The main square in Selhorys contains an ornate but headless statue of Triarch Horonno and a stone red temple of R'hllor. Pleasure houses and inns front the square, including a large stone inn with an immense turtle hanging above its door.
Dockside Brothel in Selhorys - by Yoann Boissonnet ©
During the Second Spice War, Garin the Great achieved his first victory over the Valyrian Freehold at Selhorys.
The town has been under the authority of Volantis since the Century of Blood, the years of expansion under the tigers.
A Yunkish envoy comes to Selhorys with chests of gold and gems and two hundred slaves, seeking support for their war against Meereen.
The *Shy Maid* stops at Selhorys, and Haldon Halfmaester and Tyrion Lannister listen to a red priest calling for Volantis to support Daenerys Targaryen. Tyrion plays *cyvasse* with Qavo Nogarys, a customs officer, within the stone inn. After fornicating with the sunset girl at a modest brothel, Tyrion is kidnapped by Ser Jorah Mormont
Shops and stalls and storehouses huddled beneath a sandstone wall. The towers and domes of the city were visible beyond it, reddened by the light of the setting sun. No, not a city. Selhorys was still accounted a mere town, and was ruled from Old Volantis. This was not Westeros.
—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
Selkies are a mythical species in legends of the Known World. Selkies from real-life folklore are able to change between seal and human form.
Owen Oakenshield is said to have conquered the Shield Islands for the First Men by driving merlings and selkies into the Sunset Sea.
Some stories claim the mazemakers of ancient Lorath were destroyed by maritime foes, such as merlings, walrus-men, or selkies.
The Titan of Braavos, as depicted by Paulo Puggioni in *The World of Ice and Fire*
Sellagoro's Shield is one of the outlying islands which protect the lagoon of Braavos.
The stony ridges and steep slopes of Sellagoro's Shield are covered with soldier pines and black spruce.
Selwyn Tarth, or Selywn of Tarth,
Selwyn is said to be a good man.
Selwyn is remembered by Brienne as having a new woman every year. He kept a singer every year of Brienne's childhood, allowing her to memorize all the songs.
Selwyn tried to wed Brienne to a Caron,
Selwyn hosted Renly Baratheon at Evenfall Hall when the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands came of age.
When Ser Davos Seaworth is sent to ask after the allegiance of the stormlords, Lord Selwyn only agrees to a midnight meeting in a grove. The Evenstar informs Davos of his refusal to join Stannis Baratheon.
Selwyn's daughter, Brienne of Tarth, supports Stannis's brother, Renly Baratheon.
Brienne is captured by the Brave Companions and brought to Harrenhal, where Qyburn sends a raven to Tarth demanding a ransom. Lord Selwyn responds by offering three hundred dragons for Brienne's safe return. Vargo Hoat rejects the offer, however, believing Selwyn is trying to cheat him by withholding sapphires.
Lord Randyll Tarly ridicules Brienne and advises her to return to her father at Tarth.
Jaime: Do you have any siblings, my lady?
Brienne: No. I was my father's only s—child.
Jaime: Son, you meant to say. Does he think of you as a son? You make a queer sort of daughter, to be sure.
- Jaime Lannister and Brienne Tarth
As for you, my lady, it is said that your father is a good man. If so, I pity him. Some men are blessed with sons, some with daughters. No man deserves to be cursed with such as you.
- Randyll Tarly to Brienne Tarth
Selyse Florent Baratheon by Paul Phillips©
Selyse Florent, also known as Selyse Baratheon,* she is portrayed by Sarah MacKeever and Tara Fitzgerald.
See also: Images of Selyse Florent
Selyse is not a particularly attractive woman. She is as tall as her husband, thin, and has the Florent trait of too-large ears. Selyse has pale eyes, a sharp nose, and suffers from hair growth on her upper lip. Her mouth is stern and her voice a whip.
Selyse is married to Lord Stannis of House Baratheon of Dragonstone. It is a loveless marriage, and the two have little patience for each other. They have one daughter, Shireen, a sad little girl bearing a disfigurement from greyscale.
Selyse wears jewels
Selyse married Stannis in either 286 AC or 287 AC.
Stannis is not fond of his wife..
Some years before the start of *A Song of Ice and Fire*, Lord Varys informed Robert's small council that Selyse had taken up with a red priest.
When Melisandre attached herself to Stannis, Selyse became her most fervent supporter and immediately took to worshiping R'hllor, the Lord of Light. Selyse's uncle, Ser Axell Florent, soon converts as well.
In order to discredit Stannis, the small council of King Joffrey I Baratheon spreads rumors that the father of Selyse's daughter, Shireen, is not Stannis, but instead the fool Patchface.
When Stannis sails for Storm's End, he leaves Selyse and her uncle, Ser Axell Florent, on Dragonstone.
After the Battle of the Blackwater and the subsequent flight by Stannis's forces to Dragonstone, Stannis remains enclosed in the Stone Drum, unwilling to speak with anyone. Selyse, with the help of her uncle, Lord Alester Florent, now the Hand of the King, holds court during Stannis's self-imposed silence.
Selyse tries to help Melisandre persuade Stannis to sacrifice Robert I Baratheon's bastard, Edric Storm. The sacrifice of Edric would supposedly wake the stone dragon statue on Dragonstone. Davos Seaworth, Stannis's new Hand, prevents this and has the boy shipped off to the Free Cities.
Davos advises that the real enemy is in the north, based on a letter from Maester Aemon of the Night's Watch. Stannis agrees and travels with Selyse and most of his remaining army to the Wall. Selyse and Shireen remain at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea while Stannis travels west to save Castle Black from the invading wildlings.
Selyse remains at Eastwatch while Stannis is at Castle Black.
Selyse is unhappy with her accommodations at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and her treatment by its commander, Cotter Pyke. She demands that she be allowed to move into the Nightfort that was to be given to Stannis when repaired. When it is found that the Nightfort is habitable she leaves Eastwatch for Castle Black with her daughter, Shireen; the fool, Patchface; her serving girls and lady companions; and a retinue of knights, sworn swords, and men-at-arms fifty strong. She is given the royal chamber in the King's Tower of Castle Black., thinks the flame-like crown she wears is the only warmth Selyse has.
Selyse arranges the wedding of Gerrick Kingsblood's three daughters to her Hand of the Queen, Ser Axell Florent, and her knights, Ser Brus Buckler and Ser Malegorn of Redpool. She claims that Gerrick is the true King of the Wildlings, descended in an unbroken male line from Raymun Redbeard, a great King-Beyond-the-Wall. However, Tormund states Gerrick is descended from Raymun Redbeard's younger brother, not the king, and the kingship among the free folk is not hereditary. Selyse also wants Val to marry Ser Patrek of King's Mountain, but is rebuffed.
Selyse: No man may withstand him!
Stannis: Be quiet, woman. You are not at a nightfire now.
– Selyse and Stannis Baratheon, regarding R'hllor
Selyse: Robert and Delena defiled our bed and laid a curse upon our union. This boy is the foul fruit of their fornications. Lift his shadow from my womb and I will bear you many trueborn sons, I know it. He is only one boy, born of your brother's lust and my cousin's shame.
Stannis: He is mine own blood. Stop clutching me, woman.
– Selyse and Stannis Baratheon, regarding Edric Storm
A queen should be mistress beneath her own roof.
- Selyse to Jon Snow
Let them die.
– Selyse to Jon Snow, regarding the wildlings stuck at Hardhome
The red woman had won her, heart and soul, turning her from the gods of the Seven Kingdoms, both old and new, to worship the one they called the Lord of Light.
- thoughts of Cressen
You'd have to be a fool to want to bed Selyse Florent.
– Petyr Baelish to Pycelle
There must have been a blizzard the day she and Stannis wed. Huddled beneath her ermine mantle and surrounded by her ladies, serving girls, and knights, the southron queen seemed a frail, pale, shrunken thing. A strained smile was frozen into place on her thin lips, but her eyes brimmed with reverence. She hates the cold but loves the flames. He had only to look at her to see that. A word from Melisandre, and she would walk into the fire willingly, embrace it like a lover.
- thoughts of Jon Snow
You lied about her beard. That one has more hair on her chin than I have between my legs.
This queen never fails to disappoint.
- thoughts of Jon Snow
Afraid of being carried off, is she? I hope you never said how big me member is, Jon Snow, that'd frighten any woman. I always wanted me one with a mustache.
Semosh and Selloso are brother gods worshipped in Braavos. They are said to dream in twin temples which face each other across the Black Canal, which is crossed by a carved stone bridge.
Senaera, dubbed Senaera She-Snake, is pit-fighter in Meereen.
She's spotted by Barristan Selmy along with a hundred pit fighters about the Spire of Skulls when preparations are made to attack the Yunkish and their allies.
Senelle is a maid in service to Queen Cersei Lannister.
Senelle is present when the news of Tywin Lannister's death is brought to Cersei Lannister.
Taena Merryweather informs Cersei that Senelle is spying for Margaery Tyrell, When he later requests more subjects, Cersei points out that she'd given him Senelle, to which he responds:
Alas. The poor girl is quite … exhausted.
Do not presume to smile at me, you treacherous little bitch. You will be begging me for mercy before I’m done with you.
– Cersei Lannister's thoughts
Seneschal is a position within the Order of the maesters, charged with the governance of the Citadel, the headquarters of the order, located in Oldtown. The post of Seneschal lasts a year and is chosen by lot among the Archmaesters, the topmost members of the order. Most Archmaesters consider it a thankless task that takes them away from their true calling.
Petitioners seeking audience with the Seneschal are greeted by an acolyte that acts as gatekeeper at the Seneschal's Court.
The current Seneschal is Archmaester Theobald, chosen after the senile Archmaester Walgrave drew the first lot. His predecessor was Archmaester Norren.
See also: Seventy-nine sentinels
The sentinel is a tall coniferous evergreen tree. It has grey-green needles, and produces a sweet, sticky sap from its trunk.
Three green sentinel trees are used on the coat-of-arms of House Tallhart.
Sentinel Stand
The North and the location of Sentinel Stand
Sentinel Stand is an abandoned castle along the Wall belonging to the Night's Watch. It lies west of the Shadow Tower and east of Greyguard.
Lord Commander Jon Snow has Sentinel Stand re-garrisoned with a small company of men from the Night's Watch.
A sept is a building where followers of the Faith of the Seven worship..
See also: List of septs
A sept is a single building with seven walls. Some septs are small and humble while others are large and magnificent, such as the Great Sept of Baelor. Some septs have crystal
Every sept houses representational art portraying each of the seven aspects of the Faith. In rural septs, they may merely be carved masks or simple charcoal drawings on a wall, while in wealthy septs they may be statues inlaid with precious metals and stones.
Worshipers light candles before the altars of the symbolizing each of the seven aspects. Crystals spread seven-colored rainbows onto altars.
Ceremonies are lead by the highest ranking male member of the clergy, and hymns are often sung. In the naming of a child, seven oils are used to anoint the infant. Weddings are conducted standing between the altars of the Father and the Mother.
Rites of worship held in wealthy areas and during special occasions can feature embellishments such as choirs of seventy-seven septas.
Knights traditionally stand vigil and are consecrated with seven oils in septs.
In the aftermath of the Andal invasion, kings such as Merle I Gardener,
Aegon the Conqueror is said to have prayed at the sept of Dragonstone before beginning the Conquest.
The Starry Sept in Oldtown was the seat of the High Septon for a thousand years.
Lord Eddard Stark constructed a small sept at Winterfell for his southron wife, Catelyn Tully.
King Joffrey I Baratheon orders the execution of Lord Eddard Stark outside the Great Sept of Baelor.
Some of the Night's Watch pray in Castle Black's sept before embarking on the great ranging.
The queen's men destroy the sept at Dragonstone, and Stannis Baratheon allows Melisandre to burn its statues.
Many septs in the riverlands are destroyed during the War of the Five Kings.
The royal sept at the Red Keep and Baelor's Sept are crowded during the Battle of the Blackwater.
Catelyn's sept is burned during the sack of Winterfell.
Arya Stark visits Stoney Sept with the brotherhood without banners.
Joffrey weds Margaery Tyrell in the Great Sept of Baelor.
The town's sept is destroyed during the raid on Saltpans.
Obara Sand claims the septs of Dorne are full in the aftermath of Prince [[Oberyn Martell]'s death.
Loyalists slain in the battle at Duskendale are buried in the septs of Duskendale, while northern rebels are buried in a mass grave by Blackwater Bay.
Disinterested in his marriage to Amerei Frey or being the lord of Darry, Ser Lancel Lannister sleeps in the castle's sept.
With Joffrey having died at his wedding feast, King Tommen I Baratheon marries Margaery in the Red Keep's royal sept.
The bones of Ser Wendel Manderly are interred in the Sept of the Snows.
Worship was a septon with a censer, the smell of incense, a seven-sided crystal alive with light, voices raised in song. The Tullys kept a godswood, as all the great houses did, but it was only a place to walk or read or lie in the sun. Worship was for the sept.
- thoughts of Catelyn Stark
When the first shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds to the east, morning bells began to peal from the Sailor's Sept down by the harbor. The Lord's Sept joined in a moment later, then the Seven Shrines from their gardens across the Honeywine, and finally the Starry Sept that had been the seat of the High Septon for a thousand years before Aegon landed at King's Landing. They made a mighty music.
- thoughts of Pate
It is customary to take a finger from a thief, but a man who steals from a sept is stealing from the gods.
- Randyll Tarly to a criminal
The Sept-Beyond-the-Sea is a sept located in Braavos. It is only visited by Westerosi sailors following the Faith of the Seven,
Maegor I Targaryen, on the back of Balerion, destroys the Sept of Remembrance, as depicted by Jordi Gonzalez Escamilla in *The World of Ice and Fire*.
The Sept of Remembrance was a sept on the Hill of Rhaenys in King's Landing.
It received its name for being constructed in memory of Aegon I's sister-wife Rhaenys Targaryen, after she died fighting in Dorne, which is why it was located atop Rhaenys's Hill.
Construction of the Sept of Remembrance began during the reign of Aegon I Targaryen.[*citation needed*] It became the base of operation for the Warrior's Sons during the Faith Militant uprising.
On the thirtieth day since the trial of seven between Ser Damon Morrigen and King Maegor I Targaryen, hundreds of Warrior's Sons gathered for their morning prayers. Maegor mounted his dragon, Balerion, and unleashed dragonfire upon the Sept of Remembrance without warning. As the sept burned, some tried to flee, but were cut down by the archers and spearmen that Maegor had ready. It is said that the screams of the burning and dying men were heard throughout King's Landing. The burning was so immense that scholars claim there was a pall over the capital for seven days.
Afterwards, Maegor had the ruins of the Sept cleared, and ordered the construction of a large domed stable, the Dragonpit, where Targaryens could house their dragons.
The Sept of the Snows or Snowy Sept is a large sept in White Harbor with a domed roof surmounted by tall statues of the Seven.
The bones of Ser Wendel Manderly, a victim of the Red Wedding, rest in the Snowy Sept after being brought to White Harbor by Frey envoys.
A septry is a monastic community of the Faith of the Seven, similar to a monastery. Brothers live in penitence, quiet contemplation, and prayer at septries, often taking a vow of silence. The leader of the community bears the title of Elder Brother, and he is assisted by proctors..
Forty-four brothers live at a prosperous septry in the riverlands. They tend to a dozen milk cows and a bull, a hundred beehives, a vineyard, an apple arbor, a mill, and a brewhouse. The septry has wooden walls and a heavy slate roof.
The septry at the Quiet Isle contains terraced fields, an apple grove, a stable, a windmill, cloisters, a common hall, and a wooden sept. Modest cottages are set aside for female visitors. Sheep graze on the island.
The ancient septry at Peasedale contains fragments of *Annals of the Rivers*.
Prior to the reconciliation of the Faith through the efforts of Septon Barth, greedy septries and septons took advantage of lords and neighbors during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen.
The journey of King Baelor I Targaryen to Dorne is remembered in songs popularized by septries and motherhouses.
Septon Meribald often stays at septries during his travels.
The battle at the burning septry in the riverlands involves the brotherhood without banners and the Brave Companions.
During the War of the Five Kings, northmen burn a holy house near Maidenpool. Sellswords later kill its brothers, aside from a pious dwarf who hides.
Ser Pounce is a pet kitten of King Tommen I.
Margaery Tyrell gives Tommen three black kittens.
When King Tommen dines with his mother and Ser Kevan Lannister, he brings his kittens. At the dinner he claims Ser Pounce hissed at the bad cat that was at his window and scared him away. After dinner the king and his kittens are escorted to the royal bedchamber by Ser Boros Blount.
Lady Serala of Myr, known as the Lace Serpent, was the wife of Lord Denys Darklyn, the last Darklyn lord of Duskendale.
The smallfolk blame Serala for the fall of House Darklyn, claiming she put the seed of rebellion in her husband's ear with Myrish poison, leading to the Defiance of Duskendale. Her actual role in the matter is not truly known, but from that belief held by the populace came her name, the Lace Serpent.
During the Defiance, her husband, Lord Denys Darklyn, made the mistake of holding captive King Aerys II Targaryen. Following his liberation and the end of the Defiance, Aerys went on a killing rampage. Serala's husband and all of his house were beheaded, while she was burned alive, though her tongue was torn out first, along with her female parts, with which it was said she enslaved her lordly husband. Half of Duskendale stated that Aerys was still too kind to her, believing the Defiance would have never happened had Lord Denys married a Stokeworth or a Staunton instead.
Lady Serena Stark was the eldest daughter of Rickon Stark, heir to Lord Cregan Stark, and Jeyne Manderly. She was married twice, once to Jon Umber, but no issue; and once to her half-uncle Edric Stark, with whom she had four children: twin sons Cregard and Torrhen and daughters Aregelle and Arrana Stark.
Lady Serenei of Lys, also called Sweet Serenei, was the ninth and last mistress of Aegon IV Targaryen. There was one child of their union, Shiera Seastar, the last of the king's Great Bastards.
Serenei was considered by many to be the most lovely of Aegon's mistresses.
Lady Serenei was the last daughter from an ancient but impoverished Valyrian noble family of Lys. She was brought to King's Landing by Lord Jon Hightower, the new Hand of the King. Rumors spread that Serenei was much older than the king, practicing dark arts to retain her youth and beauty.
Serjeant is a rank of command used in many armed forces, such as the Gold Cloaks, and other organizations. Great Houses also have serjeants.
The free companies, such as the Golden Company, have the rank of serjeant, which indicates a high-ranking officer.
Day or night, the benches below the salt were never less than half-full with men drinking, dicing, talking, or sleeping in their clothes in quiet corners. Their serjeants would kick them awake when it came their turn to shrug back into their cloaks and walk the walls.
- Theon Greyjoy's thoughts
Sour and saturnine, with a maimed hand Hungerford had been a company paymaster for a time, until the Tattered Prince had caught him stealing from the coffers and removed three of his fingers. Now he was just a serjeant.
- Quentyn Martell's thoughts
They were hard men, brusque and brutal and not well spoken, with scars and weathered faces that spoke of long service in the free companies. “Serjeants,” Ser Daemon whispered when he saw them. “I have known their sort before.”
Serra was the second wife of Illyrio Mopatis.
She had big blue eyes, and pale golden hair streaked with silver.
Illyrio found Serra in a Lysene pillow house, and enjoyed her so much, he brought her home as one of his bedwarmers. He grew to care for her and eventually married her, upsetting the cousin of his first wife, the Prince of Pentos, who closed the palace to him forever. Still, this bothered Illyrio not at all, for he was happy with Serra.
However, the Braavosi trading galley, *Treasure*, stopped over in Pentos and brought the grey plague with it. Even though they killed every crew member who tried to leave the ship, the rats aboard came ashore and brought the plague with them.
Of the two thousand who died from the plague, Serra was among them. After her death, Illyrio kept her stone hands in his bedchamber, and also kept a silver locket with a painting of her inside.
As they travel through Andalos, Illyrio tells Tyrion Lannister of his second wife and of her death from grey plague. He shows him the locket with Serra's picture.
Illyrio tells Rolly Duckfield that he is sorry he cannot attend Young Griff's wedding, but he swears by Serra's hands that he will rejoin them in Westeros.
Serra Frey is twin sister of Sarra Frey and daughter of Ser Raymund Frey and Beony Beesbury. She is pimply.
Serra was one of the Frey women presented to Robb Stark when he came to the Twins for Lord Edmure Tully's wedding.
Serwyn of the Mirror Shield is a legendary figure from the Age of Heroes,
According to songs, Serwyn once saved Princess Daeryssa from giants.
Despite the legends that have him as a member of the Kingsguard, an institution created in 10 AC during the reign of Aegon I Targaryen,.
Seven Drunken Oarsmen is a mummers play.
The mummers of the Ship intend to put on a performance of the Seven Drunken Oarsmen as an answer to the Blue Lantern's performance of *The Lord of the Woeful Countenance*.
The Seven Kingdoms, as they stood after unification by Aegon and before Robert's Rebellion. From top-left to bottom-right: the north, the Iron Islands, the riverlands, the Vale, the westerlands, the crownlands, the Reach, the stormlands, and Dorne.
The Seven Kingdoms is a realm located on the continent of Westeros, ruled by the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, the king who sits on the Iron Throne in the capital city, King's Landing. The name derives from the situation three centuries ago when Aegon the Conqueror set to unite the lands of Westeros, which then contained seven independent realms. The new realm created from Aegon's Conquest contains nine distinct regions or provinces.
Aside from House Targaryen's island "kingdom" of Dragonstone, the continent of Westeros was ruled by seven monarchs at the time of Aegon's Landing:
Torrhen Stark, King in the North.
Ronnel Arryn, King of Mountain and Vale.
Harren Hoare, King of the Isles and the Rivers.
Loren I Lannister, King of the Rock.
Mern IX Gardener, King of the Reach.
Argilac Durrandon, the Storm King.
Meria Martell, Princess of Dorne.
Aegon and his sisters conquered only six of the seven kingdoms, consolidating them under the rule of House Targaryen and the Iron Throne. Among the titles that Aegon received when crowned king in the Starry Sept in Oldtown, however, was "Lord of the Seven Kingdoms" - laying claim to Dorne, the seventh kingdom, though in truth the Iron Throne would not add Dorne to its domains for another two centuries, when it joined through peaceful marriage-alliance.
Main articles: Iron Throne, Warden, and Law and justice
For most of their history the regions of Westeros were independent kingdoms. The number of these kingdoms and their borders have changed many times. Following a successful conquest of all the lands of Westeros south of the Wall but Dorne, and their consolidation under the rule of the Iron Throne, Aegon established his new empire's capital on the spot of his landing, for which it was known as King's Landing.
Due to the vast size of the new kingdom, in each region Aegon raised Great Houses who swore fealty to him. The lords were granted a degree of autonomy and granted authority over their minor lords and small folk.
House Stark chose to submit and was confirmed as overlords over the north.
House Arryn submitted and retained the Vale of Arryn.
House Lannister was allowed to keep their family holdings after they bent the knee, following defeat at the Field of Fire.
House Martell retained its independence for a time.
House Targaryen obtained dominion over most of Westeros, and settled in the Crownlands.
House Tully of Riverrun was awarded over-lordship of the riverlands as Lord Paramount of the Trident, for supporting Aegon against Harren.
House Greyjoy was granted the Iron Islands after the death of King Harren the Black.
House Tyrell was granted over-lordship over the Reach as Lord Paramount of the Mander.
House Baratheon married into the Durrandons and were awarded the stormlands as Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, after the defeat of the Storm King Argilac the Arrogant.
See also: Westeros
Despite its name, the Seven Kingdoms is a realm divided into nine administrative regions or provinces: the crownlands, Dorne, the Iron Islands, the north, the Reach, the riverlands, the stormlands, the Vale of Arryn, and the westerlands. These include former kingdoms such as the north, the Reach, the stormlands, the Vale, and the westerlands. The riverlands had been independent centuries ago, but had fallen to the Storm Kings and more recently to the ironborn, who jointly ruled both realms as Kings of the Isles and the Rivers. The rivermen regained independence after the local lords rebelled against Harren the Black and swore fealty to Aegon during the conquest, with the Iron Islands becoming a separate region. Dorne is a principality instead of a kingdom, while Aegon's island realm of Dragonstone, ancient seat of the Targaryens, was not counted as one of the Seven Kingdoms at the time of the conquest..
The realm's territory includes all but the northernmost lands on the continent of Westeros, where the Wall defines its northern border. The king on the Iron Throne also controls the many islands off the coast of Westeros, such as the Arbor, Bear Island, Claw Isle, Dragonstone, Driftmark, Estermont, the Shields, Skagos, Tarth, and the Three Sisters. The kingdom has occasionally been drawn into conflicts over the Stepstones off its southeastern coast, but it has rarely controlled a significant portion of them.
The population of the Seven Kingdoms numbers in the millions., referring to the major ethnic groups from which most Westerosi descend. The kingdom is sparsely populated in the vast regions of the north and the deserts of Dorne, and mostly densely populated in the fertile lands of the Reach. The kingdoms are speckled with holdfasts, towns, and villages, but only five settlements can be called cities. Listed in decreasing order of size, they are:
King's Landing and Oldtown are both large cities; Lannisport is a medium-sized city, while Gulltown and White Harbor are small cities. All five of them are ports located on the coasts. Although there are many smaller ports and market towns, most of the Seven Kingdoms is primarily rural.
Oldtown is the eldest of all the five cities: its origins are lost in the mists of time in the Dawn Age, extending back to when the First Men first settled in Westeros (if not earlier). Lannisport is the next eldest, founded during the Age of Heroes after the Lannisters displaced the Casterlys - still making it quite ancient. Both Oldtown and Lannisport had grown large enough to be considered "cities" by the time of the Andal invasion 6,000 years ago. Gulltown, the next eldest, did exist at the time of the Andal invasion but had not yet reached the size of a true "city" - instead it was a prosperous port-town. It was only under the following generations of Andal rule that Gulltown prospered and grew into a real city in scale.
See also: Customs
The people of the Seven Kingdoms are a mixture of several ethnic groups which have migrated to the continent over the centuries and intermarried. As such these original ethnicities are more of a blurred trend than firm political units. Today they are mostly identified through their place of residence, where each kingdom retains its unique flavor. The influence of the Andals is strongest in the south, while the northmen still follows many customs of the First Men. Dornishmen are heavily influenced by the mass immigration of the Rhoynar. Small groups, such as the ironmen of the Iron Islands and the Vale mountain clans, maintain different cultures from the rest of the realm.
Its feudal society is based on the model of the old kingdoms on which the Targaryen dynasty was built with each region retaining some sovereign rights and ruled by a high lord that answers only to the King.
See also: Currency
Most transactions in Seven Kingdoms involve currency. The coinage is minted by the master of coin appointed by the King on the Iron Throne. There are golden dragons, silver stags and copper stars. Golden dragons are worth the most and have a dragon stamped on one side and a king's face on the other. would never own a gold dragon, using mostly copper stars for their needs.
Trade within the Seven Kingdoms is quite vigorous, as the products of Dorne are very different from those of the north. However, long distance trade is almost entirely in luxuries, as transport is very expensive, not to mention dangerous. Transport by land is around ten times as expensive as transport by ships, which means that almost all goods travel by river or coastal ship for at least part of their journey. Furs from the north, silks and gems from the south, fine craft work from anywhere these are the items that are gathered at great markets. Grain, meat, and fish are also found there, but they have almost exclusively come from nearby areas.
There is regular trade between the Seven Kingdoms, Essos, and the Summer Isles.
See also: Religion
The people of the Seven Kingdoms follow several different faiths. The Faith of the Seven is the primary religion of the realm, the only regions where it is not practiced are the Iron Islands, where worship of the Drowned God holds sway, and the north, where worship of the old gods of the forest remains strong.
The Faith of the Seven is the primary religion of the Seven Kingdoms, it was brought to Westeros by the Andals, thousand of years before the country formation. The Faith worships the Seven, a single deity with separate aspects: the Mother, the Father, the Warrior, the Smith, the Maiden, the Crone, and the Stranger.
The old gods are worshiped in the north and the lands beyond the Wall. The faith of the children of the forest, who used to inhabit the land thousands of year ago, a faith that worship numerous and nameless gods of the forests, who are always watching through the faces carved into the bark of ancient weirwood trees.
The Drowned God, the indigenous deity of the Iron Islands, is a harsh deity who rewards those who plunder in his name.
R'hllor, the red god, is a deity popular in Essos but little-known in Westeros, although gaining in popularity. The followers of R'hllor claim their deity is the Lord of Light and will stand against the Great Other, the god of darkness and cold, in a war that is to come.
The Seven Kingdoms have a very long history, and I haven't mentioned all of it... nor will I.
Ours by blood right, taken from us by treachery, but ours still, ours forever. You do not steal from the dragon, oh, no. The dragon remembers.
This talk of Seven Kingdoms is a folly. Aegon saw that three hundred years ago when he stood where we are standing. They painted this table at his command. Rivers and bays they painted, hills and mountains, castles and cities and market towns, lakes and swamps and forests ... but no borders. It is all one. One realm, for one king to rule alone.
The Seven Shrines is a sept in Oldtown. It has large gardens and is near the Honeywine.
Seven Skulls is an ironborn longship and part of the Iron Fleet.
Seven Skulls is part of the Iron Fleet contingent dispatched to Slaver's Bay. Seven Skulls and *Thrall's Bane* capture a fishing ketch, whose master tells Victarion Greyjoy that Daenerys Targaryen has flown away on her dragon, beyond the Dothraki Sea.
The Seven Swords is the largest inn in Duskendale. It is a four story structure that towers over the other buildings. Named after the seven members of House Darklyn who served in the Kingsguard, its sign has seven wooden swords painted white. It has a common room. Among some of the fare served at the Seven Swords is bread, hot crab stew, watered wine and a drink of milk and honey mixed with three raw eggs.
As the captain's sister is repainting her oaken shield Brienne of Tarth decides to overnight in the Seven Swords. She is given a room on the second floor. A woman with a liver colored birthmark on her face helps her with her bath. Brienne asks her about the Darklyns, and the woman tells Brienne that the lordly Darklyns are all gone.
After her bath Brienne walks to the Dun Fort to speak to the lord. Since Lord Rykker is in the field, she meets with the castellan Ser Rufus Leek and a maester, who tells her that many have come before her asking if Dontos Hollard and Sansa Stark had come to Duskendale.
Returning to the Seven Swords common room for dinner, Brienne meets a pious dwarf, who tells her that he overheard a man called Nimble Dick in Maidenpool at the Stinking Goose bragging that he had "fooled a fool" seeking passage for three across the narrow Sea. By the time the common room empties most of the talk turns to the recent death of Lord Tywin Lannister and who will rule until Tommen comes of age. When the inkeep spits into the fire at the mention of the oathbreaker Jaime Lannister ruling Brienne gets up and leaves.
The next day, the captain's sister finds Brienne in the inn's common room and delivers the repainted shield. After that Brienne departs the Seven Swords and heads to Maidenpool in search of Nimble Dick.
"Seven Swords for Seven Sons" is a rousing song.
Sevenstreams is a village in the Riverlands. It is under the jurisdiction of House Frey. comes from the village.
The Seventh Son is a ship.
On the first day of their stay in Volantis, Prince Quentyn Martell, Ser Gerris Drinkwater, and Ser Archibald Yronwood seek passage on the Seventh Son to sail to Queen Daenerys Targaryen in Meereen. The owner of the ship accuses them of being pirates, however.
The 79 deserters keep their post.
(art by Roman Papsuev)
The seventy-nine sentinels is an infamous story of the Night's Watch.
According to the story, seventy-nine deserters of the Night's Watch abandoned their posts at the Nightfort, a fortification on the Wall, and went south, becoming outlaws. One was the youngest son of Lord Ryswell. When the deserters reached the lands of House Ryswell, they sought shelter with Lord Ryswell, but instead they were captured and returned to the Wall. As punishment, holes were cut into the Wall and each of the deserters were placed in their own hole with spears and horns. The holes were then sealed up with the men inside.
Later when he was dying, Lord Ryswell had himself carried to the Wall to take the black so he could stand beside the son that he had condemned to certain death.
They left their posts in life, so in death their watch goes on forever.
- Bran Stark to Jojen Reed
Shadd is a guard sworn to House Stark.
Shadd is one of the guardsmen that accompany Lady Catelyn Stark south to meet with Renly Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon.
Shadd is among the guardsmen chosen to escort the bones of Lord Eddard Stark north to Winterfell.
Shade is the new ironborn name for a New Ghis galley. Its original name is unknown.
Two sleek galleys sail from Meereen and Yunkai south toward New Ghis for supplies and legionary reinforcements, but encounter the Iron Fleet in Slaver's Bay. The galleys evade *Woe* and *Forlorn Hope, but are captured by *Iron Wing, *Sparrowhawk, and *Kraken's Kiss. Victarion Greyjoy beheads their captains because they said that Daenerys Targaryen is dead. Victarion kills their crew aside from the enslaved rowers, who are forced to join the Iron Fleet. Victarion renames the ships *Ghost* and Shade, believing they will return to haunt Yunkai.
A glass of shade of the evening © Fantasy Flight Games
Pyat Pree with shade of the evening © Fantasy Flight Games
Shade of the evening
Shade of the evening is deep blue and viscous, flowing like honey.
It is used heavily by the warlocks of Qarth, whose lips have been turned blue by its extended use.
Xaro Xhoan Daxos tells Daenerys Targaryen that the warlocks of Qarth drink shade of the evening until their lips turn blue.
Pyat Pree gives Daenerys shade of the evening to prepare her for her entrance into the House of the Undying.
Euron Greyjoy gives his brother Victarion a cup of shade of the evening, claiming to have taken possession of a cask from a captured galleas out of Qarth which was carrying warlocks. Victarion tries a small amount and promptly spits it out, referring to it as foul.
One flute will serve only to unstop your ears and dissolve the caul from off your eyes, so that you may hear and see the truths that will be laid before you.
– Pyat Pree to Daenerys Targaryen
Dany raised the glass to her lips. The first sip tasted like ink and spoiled meat, foul, but when she swallowed it seemed to come to life within her. She could feel tendrils spreading through her chest, like fingers of fire coiling around her heart, and on her tongue was a taste like honey and anise and cream, like mother's milk and Drogo's seed, like red meat and hot blood and molten gold. It was all the tastes she had ever known, and none of them … and then the glass was empty.
- thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
The Shadow Council is the ruling body of Ibben ever since the last God-King was overthrown in the aftermath of the Doom of Valyria. Its members are chosen by the Thousand, an assembly of Ibbenese wealthy guildsmen, ancient nobles, priests, and priestesses similar to the magisters' councils in the Free Cities.
The Shadow Lands is a mysterious, mountainous area in far eastern Essos.
The city of Asshai is located at the southwestern tip of the Shadow Lands. To the north and northeast, the Shadow Lands meet the Mountains of the Morn. Leng and the Manticore Isles in the Jade Sea are to the west, and the Saffron Straits are to the south.
Ghost grass grows throughout the Shadow Lands.
Ancient tales from Asshai claim that dragons first originated in the Shadow and were first tamed by a people so ancient they had no name.
Some areas of the Shadow Lands are populated, as the maroon emperors of Yi Ti kept their court in Jinqi to better guard the borders of the empire from reavers from the Shadow Lands.
Illyrio Mopatis tells Daenerys Targaryen that the three dragon eggs he gifted her with as a wedding gift come from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai. Illyrio may have procured them from the Shadow Lands himself, but he does not tell Daenerys exactly how he went about obtaining them. Daenerys recalls hearing that the first dragons had come from the east, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai and the islands of the Jade Sea.
After entering Vaes Dothrak Daenerys rides her silver past plundered goods. Some of the statues she sees are so misshapen and terrible that she can scarcely bear to look at them. Ser Jorah Mormont tells her that they have likely come from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai.