Ghoyan Drohe is a ruined city that lies on the banks of the Little Rhoyne in the Velvet Hills of Essos. It sits to the north of the Flatlands and to the east of Pentos. Ghoyan Drohe been a Rhoynar city until the dragons of Valyria reduced it to smouldering desolation in the Rhoynish Wars.

Ibben (sometimes called Ib after its largest island) is an island nation in the Shivering Sea, which is the polar sea north of the eastern continent, Essos. The chief city of Ibben is the Port of Ibben, situated on the southern coast of its largest island, Ib.

The largest island of Ibben is Ib, a forested and mountainous island containing the cities Port of Ibben and Ib Nor. South of Ib are scattered islands in the Bay of Whales. Southeast of Ib is a moderately-sized mountainous island called Far Ib, containing the city Ib Sar. South of the Ibbenese islands on the mainland of Essos is the city of New Ibbish, situated on a forested peninsula north of the Kingdoms of the Ifeqevron. Southeast of New Ibbish are the ruins of Ibbish, now known by its Dothraki name, Vaes Aresak.

Most Ibbenese live on their large island and several smaller ones, with a few colonies on the Essos mainland. They are whalers who live off the large population of whales in the Shivering Sea. They pilot fat-bellied whaling ships, hulls black with tar, and sometimes reach as far as King's Landing for trade. The Ibbenese are usually described as hairy and squat, with rasping voices who chew blubber. They are fond of axes and carry shaggy brown shields into battle.

New Ibbish is a colonial Ibbenese city on the mainland of Essos, on a forested peninsula north of the Kingdoms of the Ifeqevron. The Bay of Whales is to the north of New Ibbish, while to the southeast are the ruins of Ibbish, now known by its Dothraki name, Vaes Aresak.

The Black Cliffs are a series of cliffs that are situated on the northwest coast of Slaver's Bay, south of the Painted Mountains. They lie between Tolos and the ruined city of Bhorash, south of the Demon Road.

Bonetown is a rumored town in far eastern Essos. Bonetown is situated just north of the Dry Deep, southwest of the Cannibal Sands, and east of the Land of the Shrykes. The city of K'Dath is to the may be named after its trade in strange, aged bones found in the nearby Dry Deep.

The Bridge of Dream is a large ruined bridge in southern Chroyane, along the river Rhoyne. Rising from the water it is forty feet high. It is often inhabited by stone men. Like the rest of the Sorrows the bridge is cloaked in fog. The bridge has many pale stone arches, which have mostly collapsed due to the weight of the grey moss that drapes them, and the thick black vines that grow upward from the water. Around its piers, the water ripples white. The broad wooden span of the bridge has rotted through. There is a ragged row of beacon lamps along the bridge, some of which are still aglow.

Carcosa is a legendary city in far eastern Essos. It is located on the southeastern shore of the Hidden Sea within the Mountains of the Morn; the City of the Winged Men is situated on the northwestern shore. The strange city is ruled by a sorceror lord claiming to be the 69th yellow emperor of Yi Ti.

The Hidden Sea is a legendary sea nestled in the southeastern stretches of the Mountains of the Morn in far eastern Essos. The City of the Winged Men is located along the northwestern shore of the Hidden Sea, while Carcosa is situated at the southeastern corner. Southwest of the Hidden Sea are the Shadow Lands.

The City of the Winged Men is a legendary city in far eastern Essos. It is located on the northwestern shore of the Hidden Sea within the Mountains of the Morn. Carcosa is situated on the southeastern shore.

The Cities of the Bloodless Men are legendary cities located in far eastern Essos. The Cities of the Bloodless Men lie in the plains of far eastern Essos, southeast of the Dry Deep and northeast of the Mountains of the Morn. Farther to the south is the Hidden Sea. Travelers claim the cities are inhabited by people as pale as the dead. Others claim the inhabitants are corpses who have been drained of blood and returned to life through dark rites.

Chroyane is a ruined city of Rhoynish origin that sits in the southern Sorrows at the confluence of the Lhorulu and the Rhoyne, south of the Golden Fields in Essos. Chroyane, nicknamed the festival city, was once the richest and most splendid of the cities along the Rhoyne. Its streets were said to be made of water and its houses of gold. It contained the colossal Palace of Love, a magnificent island fastness. At some point, however, Chroyane fell into ruins, probably during the war of the Rhoynar and the Valyrian Freehold prior to the Rhoynish invasion of Dorne.

According to legend, men of Volantis and Valyria hung Prince Garin in a golden cage after defeating the Rhoynar. Garin allegedly called upon Mother Rhoyne to destroy the invaders with a curse; that night the river's waters rose to destroy the Volantenes and Valyrians. The spirits of the drowned lords of fire are said to remain beneath the water, however, and their cold breath rises to become now rule the Sorrows and people infected with greyscale roam the ruins. They are called stone men, and the mists are said to be ruled by the enigmatic Shrouded Lord. Sunken architecture and statues pose threats to passing boats. Many travelers become lost in the thick fog, eventually succumbing to madness, hunger, greyscale, or stone men. Two places of note within Chroyane are the ruins of the Palace of Love, now called the Palace of Sorrow, and the Bridge of Dream, where stone men tend to roam.

Dagger Lake is a large lake that is formed by the confluence of the rivers Rhoyne and Qhoyne in western Essos. At Dagger Lake the Qhoyne comes rushing in, full of gold and amber from the Axe and pine-cones from the Forest of Qohor. Northeast of Dagger lake are the ruins of Ar Noy, while along its western banks are the Golden Lake is full of islands where pirates lurk in hidden caves and secret strongholds, such as Urho the Unwashed and Korra the Cruel on Hag's Teeth.

The Golden Fields is an area on the eastern continent bordered to the east by the river Lhorulu and to the east by Dagger Lake and the Rhoyne.

The Darkwash or Darkwater is a river in Essos whose headwaters lie in the Hills of Norvos south of the Axe. It flows into the Qhoyne. East of the Darkwash is the Forest of Qohor. Gold and amber from the Axe flow into Dagger Lake by way of the Qhoyne and its tributary, the Darkwash.

Daznak's Pit, or the Great Pit of Daznak, is the biggest and most extravagant of the fighting pits in Meereen. The pit's entrance is the gates of fate, where two bronze statues of warriors, one on either side, form an archway into the fighting pit. One of the warriors wields an axe, the other a sword, and they are locked in mortal combat. On the bricks near the entrance the names of all the gladiators who have died in the arena are engraved. The pit is made of multicolored bricks. The circular arena is made up of descending tiers of benches, each in a different color. The colors are:

The bottom tiers, the red and orange, are for the highest ranking of Meereen. The black and purple benches, the highest from the arena, are for the lowest of Meereen, usually slaves or the poorer Meereenese citizens.

The Dry Deep is an "L"-shaped canyon in far eastern Essos, south of the Cannibal Sands and the Grey Waste. The Dry Deep broadly runs east to west, with the Land of the Shrykes and K'Dath to the northwest. Just north of the Dry Deep is Bonetown, where strange, aged bones from the valley are traded. At its western end, the canyon narrowly runs south along the eastern side of the Mountains of the Morn. Southeast of the Dry Deep are the Cities of the Bloodless Men. It is said the valley is entirely devoid of water and life.

The Dry Deep is a deep canyon in eastern Essos that lies south of the city of Bonetown, southwest of the eastern Cannibal Sands, northwest of the Cities of the Bloodless Men, and southwest of the Land of the Shrykes. The canyon borders the Mountains of the Morn.

The Mother of Mountains is a mountain that lies within sight of Vaes Dothrak. It is a holy place for the Dothraki people and only men can set foot on it.

The Painted Mountains are a mountain range separating the Dothraki Sea from Slaver's Bay and the Sea of Sighs in western Essos. The Demon Road runs through the southern stretch of the mountains. West of the Painted Mountains are the Rhoyne and its tributaries.

The Rhoyne is one of the main rivers of the eastern continent, Essos. The Rhoyne originates from the conjunction of two of its tributaries, the Upper Rhoyne and the Little Rhoyne, southeast of the ruins of Ghoyan Drohe in northwestern Essos. Its course runs southeast and meets the Noyne just north of Ny Sar. The Rhoyne continues southeast to Dagger Lake, where it is joined by the Qhoyne. After Dagger Lake, the Rhoyne runs south, with the Golden Fields along its western bank. The Rhoyne continues south, with the Lhorulu flowing into it at the Sorrows and the Selhoru connecting at Selhorys.

It is said the southern Rhoyne becomes so wide that someone in its centre cannot see its shores. The Volaena reaches the Rhoyne just north of Volantis. A giant delta forms at its mouth, upon which Volantis sits along the Summer Sea. The Long Bridge crosses the Rhoyne in Volantis.

The Saffron Straits is the eastern exit of the Jade Sea, dividing Essos and Ulthos. The city of Asshai is at its northwestern entrance. North of the straits are the Shadow Lands, while Ulthos is to the south. The island of Ulos is to the east.

The Poison Sea is a large inland saltwater sea at the northeastern edges of the red waste. The ruined city of Adakhakileki lies at the northern tip of the sea. Northeast of the sea is Vaes Jini and the Stone Road. The entire eastern side of the Poison Sea abuts mountains which form part of the Bone Mountains. Many leagues south of the Poison Sea lies Qarth.

The Womb of the World is a large lake that lies near Vaes Dothrak. It is a holy place to the Dothraki people. The lake is surrounded by reed, and is reported to have no bottom. A river runs from the lake north through the Kingdoms of the Ifeqevron to the Shivering Sea.

Nefer is a city in Essos located in N'Ghai at the mouth of a river and the Shivering Sea. North of Nefer are the Thousand Islands. It is the last remaining city and capital of N'Ghai.

The Thousand Islands are an extensive archipelago in the eastern Shivering Sea off the northern coast of Essos. To the southwest are the Plains of the Jogos Nhai, to the south is Nefer and N'Ghai, and to the southeast is Mossovy. According to Ibbenese chartmakers, the islands are actually fewer than three hundred. The fish in the waters of the Thousand Islands are described as oddly misshapen, with a bitter and unpleasant taste.

These isles are sea-girt scatter of bleak and windswept rocks. Some believe they are the remnants of a drowned kingdom whose buildings were submerged by the rising sea thousands of years ago. Few mariners land on the islands, due to their inhabitants.

The folk that dwell on the Thousand Islands are reportedly inimical to strangers. They are hairless and have green-tinged skin. Females file their teeth into sharp points and males slice the foreskins of their members. They speak an unknown tongue and are said to sacrifice sailors to squamous, fish-headed gods. Despite being islanders, these people fear the sea so much they refuse to set foot in the water even when threatened by death.

The Little Rhoyne is a river on the eastern continent. Its headwaters lie in the Velvet Hills and it is one of the tributaries of the river Rhoyne. Ghoyan Drohe lies along its banks.

The Shivering Sea is a frigid sea north of Essos. It is bounded to the west by Westeros, to the south by Essos, to the north by a vast frozen wilderness called the White Waste, and to the east by lands and seas unknown.

The waters of the Shivering Sea teem with life. Hundreds of varieties of fish swim through its depths, including salmon, wolf fish, sand lances, grey skates, lampreys and other eels, whitefish, char, shark, herring, mackerel, and cod. Crabs and lobsters are found everywhere along its shores. Seals, narwhals, walruses, and sea lions have their rookeries and breeding grounds on and around the countless rocky islands and sea stacks. The sea is also home to many whales, including grey whales, white whales, humpbacks, spotted whales, and leviathans. The westernmost reaches of the Shivering Sea, from Skagos and the Grey Cliffs to the delta of the Sarne, are the richest fishing grounds in the known world.

The narrow sea is the sea between the continent of Westeros and the eastern continent of Essos. The sea is relatively narrow and easy to cross, but large enough to make large-scale invasions and military incursions between the Seven Kingdoms and the Free Cities difficult.

The narrow sea can be rough in autumn, and autumn storms are common. In winter, the storms are worse but less frequent. It is suggested that a journey from the Shield Islands to the far side of the narrow sea is so hazardous in autumn that two-thirds of a fleet might be lost in the attempt. Thus trading galleys are sometimes better off crossing in the safety of the Stepstones.

The narrow sea connects the Shivering Sea in the north, the Sea of Dorne in the west, the Sea of Myrth in the east and the Summer Sea in the south, which it is separated from by the island chain known as the Stepstones. The Bay of Crabs, Blackwater Bay and Shipbreaker Bay are all inlets of this sea.

The Summer Sea is a body of water located south of Dorne. It stretches eastward from Westeros around the southern coast of Essos and the northern coast of Sothoryos.

West of the Summer Sea is the Sunset Sea. Just east of Dorne, the Summer Sea is separated from the narrow sea to the north by the island chain known as the Stepstones. South of Westeros and the Stepstones are the Summer Islands. East of the Summer Islands are Naath, Sothoryos, and the Basilisk Isles. North of those locations are the Valyrian peninsula, the Gulf of Grief, and Slaver's Bay. The eastern Summer Sea meets the Jade Sea at the Jade Gates in the north and the Cinnamon Straits in the south.

The Jade Sea is a large body of water located in the far east of the explored world, beyond the Jade Gates, which separate it from the Summer sea.

The Jade Sea is located east of the Summer Sea and south of Essos. It is divided from the Summer Sea by the large island Great Moraq, the Cinnamon Straits, and the Jade Gates with the isle of Qal. Also near the Jade Gates are the southern reaches of the Bone Mountains.

Yi Ti is located in a forested stretch along the northern Jade Sea, while the Shadow Lands are to the east. The eastern Jade Sea transitions into the Saffron Straits, which separate the Shadow Lands in eastern Essos from Ulthos. It is unknown how much of the Jade Sea borders Sothoryos to the southwest.

Aside from Great Moraq and Qal, other islands in the Jade Sea include the Isle of Whips in the northwest, the Isle of Elephants in the southwest, Marahai in the center, Leng in the northeast, and the Manticore Isles in the southeast.

There are several cities along the Jade Sea, such as Port Moraq on Great Moraq and Zabhad on the Isle of Elephants. The island of Leng contains Leng Ma, Leng Yi, and Turrani. Mainland Essos includes Asabhad, Yin and Jinqi in Yi Ti, and Asshai at the tip of the Shadow Lands' peninsula.

Aside from merchant traders, few from Westeros visit the area and they know little about it save that Asshai and the cities of Yi Ti lie upon its far shores. The Jade Sea is considered an exotic name evoking fable, myth and adventure to those in Westeros. Past Yi Ti, on its eastern shores somewhere, is supposed to be a legendary dreaming city of poets.

It takes roughly two years to travel from Pentos to the Jade Sea and back in the best conditions. There is a traders' route that carries sea-traders around the Jade Sea. Because of the prevailing winds' direction, the route moves in a clockwise direction, beginning at the Jade Gates. From Qarth it proceeds east to Yi Ti, including Asabhad and Yin, then Leng, and possibly Asshai. Zabhad and Port Moraq are visited on the southern return leg of the route. The western shore of Great Moraq south of Qarth is also involved in the Jade Sea's trade.

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.

The Smiling Sea is a body of water in the Summer Isles. It separates the islands of Walano, to the north, from Omboru, to the south and east. In its center is the Isle of Birds, that is south of Tall Trees Town. The island of Koj separates it from the Summer Sea on the west.

The Summer Islands or Summer Isles are a large archipelago located to the south of Westeros and Essos, and west of Sothoryos. The islands separate the Sunset Sea to the west from the Summer Sea to the east. The northern-most islands of the group have been mapped, but it is not known how far south the island chain extends. The mapped portion of the chain includes three large islands and numerous smaller ones.

The Summer Isles have a long history dating back thousands of years. Much of this was recorded in carvings made by priestesses on the famous Talking Trees of Tall Trees Town. Even more is recorded in oral tradition, because the Summer Islanders rely heavily upon histories recorded in highly complicated formal verse and memorized by rote.

For much of their recorded history, the Summer Islanders lived in isolation from the rest of mankind, and they were apparently unaware that other lands and peoples even existed. Maps included in the ancient histories carved into the Talking Trees depict only the Summer Islands themselves, surrounded by a world-encompassing ocean.

The first recorded contact between the Summer Isles and the outside world occurred when the Ghiscari Empire was at its height (between eight and five thousand years ago). A Ghiscari merchant ship was blown off course by a storm and landed on Walano, but the crew and ship fled when they saw the inhabitants. Although this was no real meeting, the contact had a profound impact upon the Summer Islanders, introducing to them the idea that there were other lands and peoples beyond their home waters. Their curiosity and avarice were piqued, so the princes of the isles began building larger and sturdier ships capable of making long sea voyages. The greatest of these was Malthar Xaq, prince of the smaller island Koj, who is remembered as Malthar the Windrider and Malthar the Mapmaker. Even in the present day, Koj still possesses the greatest shipyards in all of the islands, with three quarters of all of their swan ships produced there.

A great new era of exploration and trade began. The Summer Islanders first encountered the peaceful inhabitants of Naath to their east, then the Basilisk Isles, and the northern coasts of Sothoryos, as well as the southern coasts of Essos and Westeros. Depending on the exact date this occurred, merchant ships from the Summer Islands may have reached Oldtown in the Reach generations before the Andals did. Maester Jellicoe speculated that Oldtown may have first risen in the Dawn Age as a trading post where ships from Valyria, Old Ghis, and the Summer Isles would put in to replenish their supplies and trade with the local First Men and elder races.

According to their own records, the Summer Islanders established trade colonies and cities on the western coasts of Sothoryos, but they were later overwhelmed and destroyed by the same forces that brought down later Valyrian and Ghiscari settlements there, particularly plagues, dangerous wildlife, and attacks by the savage Brindled Men of the interior. If these accounts are true, it was so long ago that no visible ruins of these settlements remain, their sites perhaps reclaimed by the jungles.

Within less than half a century of their first contact, the Summer Islands had established a thriving trade network with the Valyrian Freehold. The Summer Islands are poor in metals (such as iron or tin), but rich in gemstones, spices, hardwoods, and tropical animals, all of which the Valyrians were eager to pay for with gold and other metals. The Valyrians never made any attempt to conquer the Summer Islands, probably because they were far away and the Valyrians were more concerned with their closer enemies. At the time Valyria was still an upstart power fighting the Ghiscari Empire to their east, and later they were focused on conflict with the Rhoynar to their west.

It did not take long after establishing trade with the Valyrians for some princes of the Summer Islands to learn that the dragonlords would also offer them handsome payments of gold for slaves. Princes began to sell captured foes and defeated rivals to passing slavers. The Summer Islanders are an attractive, strong, and intelligent people, so they soon became a favored target for slavers from Valyria, Old Ghis, and the Basilisk Isles. Although no major attempt was made to conquer the isles or attack them in force, rapid coastal raids would carry off entire villages into bondage. Far more were sold into slavery by the princes of the isles themselves, fueling a round of internal wars in which each prince tried to capture more of their enemies to sell into slavery. For this reason, the histories carved into the Talking Trees refer to this time period as the "Years of Shame", and it lasted for the better part of two centuries.

The Years of Shame were finally put an end to by a warrior-woman named Xanda Qo, Princess of Sweet Lotus Vale on the western side of Jhala, who had herself been enslaved for a time. She united all of the islands under her rule, and then set out to stop the slavers once and for all. Because iron was scarce on the islands for making swords, spears, or armor, Xanda Qo armed her sailors with tall bows made of goldenheart, capable of firing yard-long shafts of hardwood so forcefully that they would penetrate even steel plate armor. Xanda Qo also had new large and sturdy ships designed, known as "swan ships" for the long necks of their prows, to provide high platforms for archers to fire upon approaching slaver ships. Led by Xando's daughter and eventual successor, Chatana Qo, these Slavers' Wars lasted a generation, but ultimately the Summer Islanders prevailed. Slavery has been strictly outlawed in the Summer Islands ever since.

By the end of the wars, less than three centuries had passed since the Summer Islands had their first contact with the outside world. Given that the Ghiscari Empire was at its height when first contact occurred, and Old Ghis was destroyed by the Valyrians five thousand years ago, Xanda and Chatana Qo must have lived at least that long ago.

Princess Chatana Qo, known as the Arrow of Jhahar, wed unwisely and did not reign as well as she had fought. The unity that the islands had known under Chatana and her mother did not survive her death.

Throughout their history to the present day, the Summer Islands have only been united under a single ruler about half a dozen times, and never for long. Instead, each of the smaller islands has its own ruler, styled as a Prince or Princess (not a "King"). The three main islands (Walano, Omburu, and Jhala) are large enough to support several rival Princes.

Despite being ruled by several rival independent princes and princesses, the Summer Islands are by and large a peaceful place. War is not unknown there, but those that they do have are highly ritualized, taking place on days and times chosen by their priests. These battles more closely resemble tournament melees in Westeros, or a larger-scale version of a Trial of seven. Two opposing teams of warriors (both male and female) meet at the battlefield chosen and consecrated in advance by their priests. It is forbidden to use their mighty goldenheart bows, only spears and slings. Such "wars" rarely last longer than a single day. The losers who survive are not executed but must leave the islands in exile, while the winners gain what was in dispute (i.e. the loser's lands). In this way, only the warriors themselves are harmed, without crops and homes being burned, women raped, or innocent commoners slaughtered by invading armies. As a result, while there have been political shifts and court intrigues in the Summer Islands which could fill several history books, there have been none that truly devastated the islands or drastically re-shaped their society.

The Summer Islands have had a long and rich history for the past five thousand years, and for millennia before that. However, while they will vigorously defend their own waters they are not a war-like people, so their rulers have never set out on external conquests or taken great part in foreign wars. For this reason the islands do not prominently enter into the wider histories of wars in Westeros and Essos. The islanders are not isolationists, however, they simply prefer trade and exploration to conquest. Swan ships from the Summer Islands can be found in such far away ports as Oldtown, King's Landing, Braavos, and distant Qarth. Summer Islander crews are actually a common sight in the ports of Oldtown and King's Landing. Merchant ships from the rest of the world also visit the Summer Islands. Even Ibbenese whaling ships from the far north of the Shivering Sea are known to put in at ports as far south as Volantis, or in the Summer Isles.

Numerous individual Summer Islanders have also set out for the wider world to seek their fortunes as mercenary bowmen and sellsails, some becoming pirates in the Basilisk Isles. Others have risen high among the sellsword companies in the Disputed Lands, as professional pit-fighters in Slaver's Bay, and as guardsmen in the retinues of merchant-princes in the Free Cities. One such sellsword captain was Xhobar Qhoqua, an exiled prince from the Summer Isles who was one of the infamous Band of Nine during the War of the Ninepenny Kings.

About one thousand years ago, at the end of the last of the Rhoynish Wars, Princess Nymeria led the surviving Rhonyar in a voyage across the ocean to escape from the Valyrians. They did not immediately arrive in Dorne, in the southeast of Westeros. After briefly stopping in the Basilisk Isles and attempting to settle in Sothoryos for almost a year, Nymeria and her followers fled once again due to the harsh local conditions. They wandered for another year and visited Naath, but later left due to the local butterfly disease. At this point Nymeria and the remaining Rhoynar refugees tried to settle in the Summer Islands. The princes of the isles refused to allow them to settle on any of the main three islands, for fear of provoking the wrath of the dragonlords. Instead, Nymeria and her followers settled on the small desolate island Abulu, located northeast of Walano. Because most of Nymeria's refugees were female, Abulu became known as the Isle of Women, a name it still bears. The island was already small, and its thin and stony soil could not possibly yield enough to feed them all, so many starved. Nymeria and her followers stayed on Abulu for two years, but hunger, disease, and slaver raids continued to take their toll. Ultimately she chose to set out once again with her people to find a new home, and sailing north they landed in Dorne. Several thousand of her followers chose to stay, however, and their descendants have lived on the Isle of Women up to the present day.

Summer Islander merchant ships have been visiting King's Landing since its first years of existence, early in the reign of Aegon I Targaryen, when it was just a boomtown of mud and wood clustered around Aegon's High Hill. While pirates have come to fear the very sight of swan-ships from the Summer Isles, in 19 AC a large pirate-fleet managed to sack Tall Trees Town, carrying off thousands into slavery, and a fortune in wealth. When word of this daring and unexpected pirate attack reached King Aegon, it made him reconsider his decision not to build walls around his capital city. At first he had thought that none would dare to attack a city defended by dragons, but the sack of even a well-defended port such as Tall Trees Town made him realize that the worst attacks are often brazen and unanticipated, so it would be wiser to build strong defensive walls around King's Landing. Tall Trees Town later recovered and rebuilt from the damage.

The three largest islands by far are (from north to south) Walano, Omboru, and Jhala. The Smiling Sea divides Walano and Omboru, and the Indigo Straits divide Omboru from Jhala.

There are about fifty islands in the chain, some so small that a man can walk across them in a single day. Nine out of every ten persons live on the three main islands. Walano and Omboru are each less than half as large as Jhala, though either of the two is still larger than all of the Stepstones combined. While Jhala is the largest island, Walano is the most populous. Walano contains the cities of Lotus Port, Last Lament, and Tall Trees Town. The cultural or religious heart of the islands seems to be Tall Trees Town, where priestesses carve histories and laws into the Talking Trees. Jhala contains the settled valleys of Red Flower Vale and Sweet Lotus Vale - the latter of which contains the port city of Ebonhead.

About half a dozen of the smaller islands are large enough to support sizable populations and prominently appear on maps. The largest and most important of these is Koj, located between the western tips of Walano and Omboru. Koj has been the main center of shipbuilding in the islands since the time of Malthar the Mapmaker thousands of years ago, and today three-quarters of all swan ships in the islands are built there - making it disproportionately powerful and important relative to its size, though it is not quite considered the fourth "main island" of the chain. The other moderately sized islands include the Isle of Birds (east of Koj, between Walano and Omboru), Moluu (a large island west of Jhala), the Isle of Love (north of Moluu and West of Omboru), the Singing Stones and the Three Exiles (west of Omboru and northwest of the Isle of Love), and (south of Jhala in Parrot Bay) Xon, Doquu, and a cluster of islands called the Bones.

The west coast of Sothoryos is only known to men from Westeros and Essos for about a few days' sail south of Basilisk Point. Some suspect that the Summer Islanders, who live comparably nearby, have actually explored and mapped these shorelines much further south than is known to the rest of the world. The Summer Islanders, however, jealously guard their charts and do not share any of this knowledge. While the northern coasts of Sothoryos are jungles filled with plagues, massive dangerous animals, and savage tribes, it is possible that unknown portions in the further south are actually home to peaceful civilizations - but the Summer Islanders do not want to alert the slavers from Essos to the existence of new targets to attack. Others speculate that the vague rumors about the unexplored regions of Sothoryos - that they contain fierce lizard-men, eyeless cave-dwellers, giant vampire-bats (which can drain a man of all blood in minutes), and gargantuan apes who dwarf the largest of giants - are just stories that the Summer Islanders spread to scare away any slavers from attacking the actually normal human societies of the region. There are said to be "certain indications" that the great explorers and cartographers of Koj know much more about the western coasts of Sothoryos than they have shared with outsiders, and have mapped them to the very bottom of the continent.

The Summer Islands are rich in gemstones, spices, hardwoods, and exotic animals. Gemstones found in the islands include emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, as well as pearls from the coasts. Spices from the islands include nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper. Valuable hardwoods produced in the islands include bloodwood, ebony, mahogany, purpleheart, blue mahoe, burl, tigerwood, goldenheart, and pink ivory, among others. Goldenheart is famed for making the best bows in the world (except for Dragonbone, which is exceedingly rare), though since Xanda Qo's time the export of goldenheart out of the islands has been outlawed, instead reserved for arming their own crews to defend themselves. Goldenheart only grows on Jhala and Omboru. The islands also produce exotic fruits and palm wine.

Exotic animals are also exported from the Summer Islands, purchased by wealthy foreign collectors for their menageries. The islands are home to a myriad of beautiful tropical birds, including parrots. The islanders also export the birds' feathers. Spotted panthers that grow larger than lions are also sold (as cubs), as well as monkeys. During the time of the Valyrian Freehold, a fashion developed among the dragonlords for monkeys, apes, panther cubs, and parrots from the isles.

The Summer Islands lack iron, tin, and other metals, so they obtain them through trade, in exchange for the other resources which they have in abundance. The Summer Islands have a large merchant fleet to support this trade, traveling to major ports such as Oldtown, King's Landing, Braavos, and even Qarth.

The natives of the islands are an ebony-skinned people who speak their own language and often wear capes of brightly colored feathers. The act of lovemaking is considered an important and even holy skill. Prostitution is a respectable profession, practiced even by the high-born islanders. Summer Islanders respect their elderly, and mourning customs include celebrating the dead with wine and lovemaking.

The Summer Islands are known for their swan ships. Archery is another important cultural skill, and their special bows have a longer range than most others, giving their merchant boats added defense against pirates. According to semi-canon sources, the Summer Islanders are regarded as the best archers in the known world.

The best bows are made of the golden wood from the Summer Isles. The golden wood that the Islanders are famous for comes from the goldenheart tree which are only found on the Summer Islands. They also make a sweet amber wine. Their diet consists primarily of fruits and fish.

The Isle of Cedars is a large island that sits astride both Slaver's Bay and the Gulf of Grief. The isle has three ruined cities located upon it, including Ghozai and Velos. The two named cities were destroyed by what appears to be a tsunami triggered by the Doom.

It appears not to be populated by people due to the fact its animals have no fear of man. There is pale sand on the southern shore. There are no cedars on the island, as they were drowned by the Doom 400 years ago. It was once called the Isle of a Hundred Battles. The water is a shimmering turquoise close to shore, and farther out a blue so deep that it is almost black. The forests are very green and still, full of twisted trees and queer bright flowers. The isle contains pigs, including large, black boars and squealing piglets in the brush. There are also monkeys on the isle.

The Isle of Tears is the largest of the Basilisk Isles, which are located off the northwestern coast of Sothoryos. To the west of the isle is Basilisk Point, to the north is the island of Talon, and to the northeast is the Isle of Toads. Steep-sided valleys and black bogs hide amongst the rugged flint hills and twisted, windswept rocks of this southern island.

The ruins of an ancient city can be found on its southern coasts. Founded by the Old Empire of Ghis, this city was known as Gorgai for close on two centuries, until the dragonlords of Valyria captured it during the Third Ghiscari War and renamed it Gogossos.

The Valyrian dragonlords sent their worst criminals to the Isle of Tears to live out their lives in hard labor. Gogossos became infamous, as criminals and slaves were tortured there in terrible ways. During the Century of Blood, this dark city waxed rich and powerful. Some even called it the Tenth Free City, and its slave markets were as notorious as those of the old Ghiscari cities on Slaver's Bay. However, seventy-seven years after the Doom of Valyria, a plague known as the Red Death emerged from the slave pens of Gogossos. This plague swept across the Isle of Tears, then the reast of the Basilisk Isles. Nine men of every ten died horrible, bloody deaths.

The Basilisk Isles are a group of islands off the northern coast of Sothoryos. To the south lies Zamettar, to the east Ax Isle and to the southwest, the Isle of Toads.

The mud-and-blood towns of the Basilisk Isles teem with escaped slaves, slavers, skinners, whores, hunters, brindled men, and worse.

Naath is an island of the northwestern coast of the continent of Sothoryos, in the Summer Sea.

The people of the island are called Naathi. They are called the Peaceful People, due to their belief in extreme pacifism. They make music rather than war and kill nothing, not even animals, eating only fruit and never flesh. They are widely sought after by slavers who consider them to make the best slaves.

Naathi have a unique look to them with flat faces, dark skin and golden eyes.

The Naath believe in one god, the Lord of Harmony, who has existed and will exist for all time. He is the source of creation.

Naath is located west of the Basilisk Isles and east of the Summer Isles. Specifically, Naath is located directly east of the southernmost and largest of the Summer Islands, Jhala. It is located due south of Old Valyria. Naath is separated from both Jhala and Old Valyria by large stretches of the Summer Sea.

Before the slaver raids intensified significantly after the Doom of Valyria, the Naathi were actually involved in long-distance trade networks stretching from Essos to Westeros. Given that the island's environment is so well-suited for insect life, Naath used to be a major exporter of silk (from silkworm caterpillars). The Naathi also exported fine handicrafts and delicate spiced wine. The Naathi's shimmering silks could be found in markets throughout the Seven Kingdoms and the Free Cities. The slaver raids became so frequent after the Doom, however, that the Naathi had to abandon their coasts to take refuge in the hills and forests of the interior. As a result the export trade has largely collapsed in the past four hundred years, and Naathi silks are less and less frequently seen in the world's major cities.

During the height of the old Ghiscari Empire, one of their ships briefly landed in the Summer Islands, alerting their inhabitants that lands and peoples existed beyond their own waters. The Summer Islanders quickly built larger and sturdier ships for long sea voyages, and began to explore the world. They first landed on Naath to the east, before proceeding to the Basilisk Isles, Sothoryos, and eventually Valyria.

The Ghiscari Empire seized Naath three times. Later, the Valyrians erected a fort on the island, whose ruined walls of fused dragonstone can still be seen. Later, a company of Volantene adventurers once built a trade town with timber palisades and slave pens. Corsairs from the Basilisk Isles have landed on the island countless times. None of these invaders survived, however, all falling victim to the butterfly-fever, a horrific plague which makes its victims violently spasm and die. The Naathi claim that none of these invaders maintained a permanent presence on the island for more than a single year.

The Naathi themselves are immune to this local disease, which is theorized to be carried by the butterflies of the island. Unfortunately the disease even affects those whom the Naathi would welcome as friends. A thousand years ago, the Rhoynar refugee fleet led by Princess Nymeria stopped at Naath after fleeing from their failed attempt to settle in Sothoryos. The Peaceful People welcomed Nymeria and her followers, but the butterfly-fever began to kill Rhoynar by the score, driving them back to their ships. After their brief stop at Naath the Rhoynar passed farther west to the Summer Islands.

The butterfly-fever was death to outsiders, but the slavers later learned that it only struck those who stayed on the island for more than a few hours. Also, because the butterflies which carry it are active during the day, they would not contract it if they attacked at night. The corsairs from the Basilisk Isles adapted their tactics, and turned to making fast raids that carried off entire villages into bondage, taking care to not stay on the island for long. The corsairs would in turn sell their captives in Valyria and Slaver's Bay.

The slaver attacks were a problem for centuries but they became drastically worse during the Century of Blood, when the number of independent pirates increased dramatically without the Valyrians controlling the seas. Unwilling to break their vows of total pacifism, even to defend their homes and persons, the Naathi were forced to flee from their coasts to the hills and forests. As a result the silk exports which once flowed from Naath have dwindled away.

The Stepstones are a chain of islands between the southern narrow sea and the northwestern Summer Sea. The islands are located east of Dorne in Westeros and west of the Disputed Lands in Essos. Just to the north is Tyrosh. The Stepstones are home to pirate dens, often Lyseni and Myrmen. The islands are also often affected by storms.

According to legend, the Stepstones are a remnant of a land-bridge, known as the Arm of Dorne, which once linked Westeros and Essos. More than ten thousand years ago the First Men used that land-bridge to cross into what is now known as Dorne to begin their invasion of Westeros. The greenseers of the children of the forest are said to have used magic to shatter the land-bridge into an archipelago named the Stepstones, located between the Broken Arm and the Disputed Lands.

Myr and Lys of the Free Cities have constantly engaged in wars over possession of the Stepstones. Several times in its history, the Seven Kingdoms has also fought for control of them, including one conflict in the early second century when Prince Daemon Targaryen and his dragon Caraxes led an army against the Triarchy of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh, and later their ally Dorne. Daemon briefly called himself the King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea. During the War of the Ninepenny Kings a battle was fought here ending the Blackfyre Pretenders' threat.

Ulthos is a landmass in the far east which may or my not be another continent. It lies to the south of Asshai and the Shadow Lands in Essos and to the east of Sothoryos. It is separated from the Shadow Lands by the Saffron Straits. The island of Ulos is located in the straits between Ulthos and Essos. Almost nothing is known about Ulthos, other than its location and that it is covered in dense jungle.

Sothoryos or Sothoros is one of the four known continents in the world. It lies to the southeast of Westeros and is south of Essos across the Summer Sea. East of Sothoryos is the southern Jade Sea.

Sothoryos is a large continent, covered in jungles, plague-ridden, and largely unexplored. The northern coast has been mapped, with the ruined cities of Zamettar, Yeen, Gogossos and Gorosh noted, but little else is known of them. Wyvern Point is in northeastern Sothoryos near Lesser Moraq.

The north coast has many islands along its length, such as the Isle of Tears and Isle of Toads, as well as the Basilisk Isles, presumably named for the creatures inhabiting them. Ax Isle and Naath also lie off the coast of the continent.

Sothoryos men are described as brindle-skinned half-men. The continent is home to a variety of unique animals, among them hairy apes that are found in the jungle.