Black Walls

Before the Black Walls, by Dennis Chan © Fantasy Flight Games

The Black Walls, also called the Black Wall, protect the oldest part of Volantis. The part of the city within the walls is considered the heart of Volantis, and only scions of the Old Blood able to trace their ancestry to Valyria are allowed to dwell there.

Layout

The Black Walls consist of a great oval of fused black dragonstone built two hundred feet high in the eastern half of Volantis. The wall is so thick that six four-horse chariots can race around its top abreast, which is done annually to celebrate the founding of the city. Armored guardsmen are stationed on the Wall's parapets.

Within the Black Walls are a large labyrinth of palaces, courtyards, towers, temples, cloisters, and cellars. The Old Blood in their ancient palaces are attended to by armies of slaves.

No outlander, freedman, slave, or foreigner is allowed inside the Black Wall unless they are invited by the Old Blood. Women of good birth who dwell behind the Black Walls are allowed to vote.

Many inside the Black Walls keep the old gods of Valyria, but R'hllor is favored outside the Black Walls, both by slaves and freedmen. The Temple of the Lord of Light is found in a plaza outside of the Black Walls, near the river road of the Rhoyne.

History

When Volantis was no more than a military outpost of the Valyrian Freehold, the Black Walls were raised by the Valyrians to protect the new settlement's garrison of soldiers. Volantis began to expand as taverns, brothels, and stables were raised outside of the walls and merchant ships came to the natural harbor at the mouth of the Rhoyne.

After Garin the Great's victories at Selhorys, Valysar, and Volon Therys, the Volantenes retreated to their Black Walls and appealed to the Freehold for assistance against the Rhoynar.

For two generations during the Century of Blood which followed the Doom of Valyria, Lys, Myr, and Volantis were Free Cities ruled from within the Black Wall by Volantene triarchs. That endeavor ended when the tigers tried to conquer Tyrosh and were defeated by a coalition, however.

Thirty-three years ago the widow of the waterfront was compelled to sell the manse of her late husband, Vogarro, as no freedman may dwell within the Black Wall.

Recent Events

A Dance with Dragons

Prince Quentyn Martell espies the Black Wall across the wide blue expanse of the Rhoyne while he is heading toward the western end of the Long Bridge.

Writing his dragonlore on the Shy Maid, Tyrion Lannister wishes for Galendro's The Fires of the Freehold and hopes that Volantis has a copy in a library. He thinks he may find a copy if he can find a way inside the Black Walls to the city's heart.

While playing cyvasse with Tyrion in Selhorys, Qavo Nogarys reveals that Daenerys Targaryen's smashing of the slave trade in Slaver's Bay has deeply affected those that dwell behind the Black Walls and beyond.

During his sermon Benerro points at the Black Wall behind the Temple of the Lord of Light, gesturing up at its parapets, where a handful of armored guardsmen stand gazing down.

While chained to a wall in a room in the Merchant's House, Tyrion sees that one of the two windows looks towards the Long Bridge and the black-walled heart of Old Volantis across the river. The widow of the waterfront tells Tyrion that the Old Blood will have their dogs and children voting before any freedman.

Quotes

Two hundred feet tall, and so thick that six four-horse chariots can race along their battlements side by side (as they do each year to celebrate the founding of the city), these seamless walls of fused black dragonstone, harder than steel or diamond, stand in mute testimony to Volantis's origins as a military outpost.

—writings of Yandel

Outlanders, foreigners, and freedmen were not allowed inside the Black Wall save at the invitation of those who dwelt within, scions of the Old Blood who could trace their ancestry back to Valyria itself.

—thoughts of Quentyn Martell

Behind the Black Wall, lords of ancient blood sleep poorly, listening as their kitchen slaves sharpen their long knives. Slaves grow our food, clean our streets, teach our young. They guard our walls, row our galleys, fight our battles. And now they look east, they see this young queen shinning from afar, this breaker of chains. The Old Blood cannot suffer that. Poor men hate her too. Even the vilest beggar stands higher than a slave. This dragon queen would rob him of that consolation.

—Qavo Nogarys to Tyrion Lannister