Difference between revisions of "Astapor"

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Revision as of 15:00, 27 August 2014

Astapor. © Fantasy Flight Games
Astapor is located in Slaver's Bay
Astapor
The Slaver's Bay and the location of Astapor

Astapor is a city on Slaver's Bay renowned for the special slaves that it produces, called the Unsullied. Their emblem is a harpy: a woman's torso, wings of a bat instead of arms, legs of an eagle and a scorpion's tail. In its talons hangs a chain with open manacles at either end.[1] An old crumbling statue portraying it, is located atop the harbour gate. It lies near the mouth of the Worm River, south of Yunkai and north of Old Ghis.[2]

Astapor is an old city, but not as populous as Qarth or Pentos or Lys. In Astapor, the city takes a tenth of the price whenever a slave changes hands.

History

Astapor was a Ghiscari colony that survived the destruction of Ghis at the hands of Valyria. It was conquered by the Valyrians, who made it a center for slave trade. The Ghiscari tongue is largely forgotten now.[1] An old saying describes Astapor:

Bricks and blood built Astapor, and bricks and blood her people.[1]

The City

See also: Images of Astapor

The bay shore is dominated by great stepped brick pyramids. The largest is four hundred feet high. Prince Quentyn Martell observes that the pyramids are larger than any castle he had ever seen.[3] All manner of trees, vines and flowers grow on the pyramid terraces. At dusk the Good Masters light silk lanterns and the pyramids glow with coloured lights. Pleasure barges sail up and down the Worm River. Within the city are fighting pits, dug deep and surrounded by descending rings of seats. The streets, stepped pyramids, the ancient walls are all made of the same red brick, old and crumbling, There is red dust everywhere, dancing down the gutters at each gust of wind. Astapor's streets are largely deserted in the heat of the day. Elephants are a common sight in the city, lumbering about with latticework litters on their backs.[1]

  • The Plaza of Pride is an open market where the slavers take their customers to view their purchases. In the centre of the plaza stands a red brick fountain with the a hammered bronze version of the Astapori harpy standing in its centre.[1]
  • The Plaza of Punishment, located inside the main gate of Astapor, is where new slaves are brought into the city. There they go past rebellious slaves who have been punished or executed.[4]
  • The fighting pits are where all manner of entertainments are held. These include putting girls up against bulls and small boys rolled in honey and other foods against a bear so that viewers may wager on which child the bear will eat first. The pits are named after their owners. Two identified pits in Astapor are Douquor's Pit and Jothiel's Pit. [1]

Customs

Astapori women veil their faces to keep the brick dust from their eyes, as it stings worse than sand [1]. They wear gowns of sheer linen, often decorated with flakes of lapiz lazuli, and wear ivory combs in their hair. Free Astapori of high station wear tokars as a mark of high station. Their hairs teased, oiled, and twisted into fantastic shapes, and they have copper disks sewn to their cloaks of yellow silk, denoting their status. Their tunics are embroidered linen and below the waist they wear sandals and pleated linen skirts.[4]

Sons of the harpy, wealthy young men with old names and fat purses, play mock wars in the fighting pits. They pretend that the Ghiscari empire is still alive by dressing up as scourges of Old Ghis. Astapori slavers ride on white asses. Astapor has over a hundred slavers, but only the greatest are those who sell Unsullied. The Unsullied are the last protection for Astapor. The city is poorly defended and even a modest khalasar could take it, but none have ever tried because of the Unsullied.

Recent Events

A Storm of Swords

Daenerys Targaryen lands near Astapor and purchases all the Unsullied within its walls. After the Unsullied have been transferred to her ownership, Daenerys sacks the city, releasing all the slaves and killing the majority of the senior Good Masters.

Upon Daenerys's departure from the city, she leaves a council of three men, a healer, a scholar and a priest to rule. They are deposed by Cleon, a former butcher, who leads the people to believe that the three intend to return the Good Masters to their positions of power. Naming himself king after he has the council executed, he has all the highborn boys seized to begin training new Unsullied. Each pyramid within Astapor is now an armed camp and the dead lie in the streets and the markets of devoid of food and slaves to purchase.[5]

A Dance with Dragons

Lord Ghael brings news to Queen Daenerys in Meereen that the Yunkai'i have attacked Astapor.[6] He requests the queen aid them with her Unsullied warriors, but she refuses and tells him that the freed city must defend itself.[6] Yunkai besieges Astapor and Cleon is killed by a rival who called himself Cleon the Second. Cleon the Second in turn is killed and a civil war erupts between Cleon the Second's murderer, King Cutthroat, and his concubine, Queen Whore.[7]

In an attempt to break the siege, Astapor's new and inferior Unsullied march against the forces of Yunkai and its allies and sellswords but are defeated.[8] The bloody flux breaks out in the city and when people open the gates to escape, the Yunkai'i and their armies are able to get in. Queen Whore dies fighting and King Cutthroat is ripped apart by dogs. To prevent the dead and dying and the flux they carry from escaping, the Yunkai'i have sealed Astapor's gates [9]

Quentyn Martell reflects to himself that the sights he saw riding down the red brick streets of Astapor would haunt him forever and that the Red City is the closest thing to hell he ever hoped to know.

Quotes

Astapor is most beautiful at dusk, Your Grace. The Good Masters light silk lanterns on every terrace, so all the pyramids glow with colored lights. Pleasure barges ply the Worm, playing soft music and calling at the little islands for food and wine and other delights.[1]

Missandei, to Daenerys Targaryen


It is Astapor I’d set my sails for. In Astapor, you can buy Unsullied.[10]

Jorah Mormont, to Daenerys Targaryen


Bricks and blood built Astapor, and bricks and blood her people.[1]

– "Arstan Whitebeard", recalling a rhyme he learned as a boy


From here it looks almost beautiful, but it is dark below, in the streets and plazas and fighting pits. And it is darkest of all in the barracks , where some little boy is feeding scraps to the puppy they gave him when they took away his manhood.[1]

Daenerys Targaryen's thoughts


Even a modest khalasar could crack this Astapor like a nut and spill out the rotted meat inside.[1]

Daenerys Targaryen

Chapters which take place at Astapor

References and Notes