Difference between revisions of "Meereen"

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| seat = [[Great Masters]]
 
| seat = [[Great Masters]]
 
| seat_type =  
 
| seat_type =  
| religion = Gods of Ghis
+
| religion = gods of Ghis
 
| population =  
 
| population =  
| founder = Survivors of [[Old Ghis]]
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| founder = survivors of [[Old Ghis]]
| founded = Thousands of years ago
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| founded = thousands of years ago
 
| named_for =
 
| named_for =
 
| places = [[Great Pyramid]], [[Temple of the Graces]], [[Daznak's Pit]], [[Purple Lotus]]
 
| places = [[Great Pyramid]], [[Temple of the Graces]], [[Daznak's Pit]], [[Purple Lotus]]
 
| organizations = [[Great Masters]], [[Graces]], [[shavepates]], [[Sons of the Harpy]]
 
| organizations = [[Great Masters]], [[Graces]], [[shavepates]], [[Sons of the Harpy]]
 
}}
 
}}
{{Location map|Slavers Bay |long=125 |lat=65 |label=Meereen | caption = [[Slaver's Bay]] and the location of Meereen}}
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{{Location map|Slavers Bay |long=129 |lat=57 |label=Meereen | caption = [[Slaver's Bay]] and the location of Meereen (red){{ref|ASOS|57}}}}
 
'''Meereen''' is the northernmost and the largest of the three great [[Slaver Cities]] of [[Slaver's Bay]]. It is ruled by the [[Great Masters]], the heads of Meereen's slaving families, and its wealthiest of citizens live in stepped pyramids.{{Ref|aDwD|2}}
 
'''Meereen''' is the northernmost and the largest of the three great [[Slaver Cities]] of [[Slaver's Bay]]. It is ruled by the [[Great Masters]], the heads of Meereen's slaving families, and its wealthiest of citizens live in stepped pyramids.{{Ref|aDwD|2}}
  

Revision as of 12:29, 12 September 2017

Meereen
Ghiscari city
Meereen city.png
Daenerys Targaryen in Meereen, by lvlorf3us
Location Slaver's Bay, Essos
Government Great Masters
Religion gods of Ghis
Founded thousands of years ago
Notable places Great Pyramid, Temple of the Graces, Daznak's Pit, Purple Lotus
Organizations Great Masters, Graces, shavepates, Sons of the Harpy
Meereen is located in Slaver's Bay
Meereen
Slaver's Bay and the location of Meereen (red)[1]

Meereen is the northernmost and the largest of the three great Slaver Cities of Slaver's Bay. It is ruled by the Great Masters, the heads of Meereen's slaving families, and its wealthiest of citizens live in stepped pyramids.[2]

Meereen lies on the northeast coast of Slaver's Bay at the mouth of the Skahazadhan, where it flows from its origins in Lhazar through a range of sandstone mountains separating Meereen and the rest of Slaver's Bay from the red waste. [3] The Dothraki sea lies to the north, beyond the river. To reach Lhazar from Meereen one must pass through the Khyzai Pass.[2]

Layout

See also: Images of Meereen

Meereen is as large as Astapor and Yunkai combined. Like them it is made of brick, except here the bricks are of many colors.[1] It has wide brick streets and narrow alleys, and the fighting pits are also made of red brick.[4]

Meereen's multi-colored walls are higher and better maintained than those of Yunkai, studded with bastions and anchored by great defensive towers at every angle. The north wall of the city runs along the river bank of the Skahazadhan, the river that flows through the city. Its west wall runs along the shore of Slaver's Bay. Bronze harpy heads with open mouths top its gates, from which the Meereenese can pour boiling oil to deter attackers. Meereen draws its water from deep wells instead of the Skahazadhan, into which the brick sewers of the city empty out.[1].

The monstrous Great Pyramid, located at Meereen's central plaza,[5] is huge, eight hundred feet tall and topped with a towering bronze harpy. There are a score of lesser pyramids in the city, but none stand even half as high.[1]

The Temple of the Graces, west of the Great Pyramid, is a huge structure topped with golden domes. It houses the priestesses of Meereen, called the Graces. They are divided into groups, each with a specific color and specialty.[2]

The fighting pits of Meereen are huge circular arenas. The largest and most extravagant is the multi-colored Daznak's Pit. Other structures include granaries, hovels, palaces, brothels, baths, gardens, and fountains.[4] Mazdhan's Maze is another location in Meereen.[6] Oznak zo Pahl's father commands the city guard, and Oznak's uncle is the wealthiest man in the city.[1]

The wealthy grow figs, dates, and olives in pyramid terraces.[1] There are also olive groves along the shores of nearby Slaver's Bay, and cedars once grew in the region.[7]

Slavery

Meereen emblem

Meereen is renowned for trading in slaves who are used in every aspect of life, including as guards, cleaners, pit fighters, and pleasure givers. Healthy young girls and boys under ten are especially sought after as slaves to be used in brothels.[8] Slavers in Meereen only cut off testicles when making eunuchs, as opposed to Astapor, where they cut off both penis and testicles.[9]

Meereen is ruled by the Great Masters, slaving families who reside in the city's pyramids. The greater and more powerful families have larger pyramids.

History

Meereen under siege - by Ignacio Lazcano © Fantasy Flight Games

Meereen was a colony of the Old Empire of Ghis. Although Meereen survived the destruction of Old Ghis at the hands of the Valyrian Freehold, the city was conquered by the Valyrians, who learned slavery from the conquered Ghiscari and used slaves to expand their empire.[10]

Copper is plentiful in the Ghiscari hills, but the metal is not as valuable as it had been when bronze ruled the world. Cedars once grew tall along the coast but grow no more; they were felled by the axes of the Old Empire or consumed by dragonfire when Ghis made war against Valyria. Once the trees had gone, the soil baked beneath the hot sun and blew away in thick red clouds. According to Galazza Galare it was these calamities that transformed her people into slavers. Without slaves Meereen has little to offer.[7]

The old Ghiscari language is largely forgotten now,[9] and the modern Ghiscari speak dialects of High Valyrian.[11][12] After the Doom of Valyria and the fall of the Freehold, the Ghiscari of Slaver's Bay took control of the slave trade.[13]

Recent Events

Daenerys Targaryen, Queen of Meereen - by denkata5698 ©

A Game of Thrones

Ser Jorah Mormont advises Khal Drogo to drive his slaves to Meereen since it has suffered from a plague recently.[8]

A Clash of Kings

Khal Pono's khalasar rides to the Slaver Cities to sell thousands of slaves.[14] In Qarth Daenerys Targaryen meets Strong Belwas, a veteran of the fighting pits of Meereen.[15]

A Storm of Swords

The Great Masters scorch the earth around Meereen when they hear Daenerys's army is marching on the city after the battle near Yunkai,[1] and the Meereenese fleet sails for the Yellow City.[7] The masters also nail slave children on posts along the coastal road. Belwas kills Oznak zo Pahl, the champion of Meereen, in single combat, and the city is soon besieged by the forces of Daenerys.[1]

Daenerys ends the siege of Meereen by sending men through the sewers and battering down the eastern gate, and the city is sacked by her army.[4] Cleon of Astapor sends Ghael as an envoy, offering an alliance between Astapor and Meereen. Since Astapor has not fared well since its earlier capture, Daenerys decides to remain and learn to rule in Meereen instead of spreading her rule elsewhere.[4]

A Dance with Dragons

Young Griff learns the Meereenese dialect of High Valyrian from Haldon Halfmaester.[12]

Daenerys, Queen of Meereen, resides in the Great Pyramid after conquered the city, in large chambers at the apex of the pyramid.[2] She abolishes slavery within the city, but the practice is continued in the hills where slaves still work on the estates of the wealthy. Although Daenerys orders the executions by nail of some Great Masters, other former slavers hire freed slavers at meager wages.[2] Children from Meereen's ruling families serve the queen as her cupbearers.[6]

Merchant ships from Westeros and the Free Cities are now few and far between, since the slave commerce and fighting pits are closed under Daenerys's rule.[16]

While several Great Masters accept the rule of Daenerys, an organization known as the Sons of the Harpy wage a shadow war against her, slaying small groups of freedmen, shavepates, and Unsullied in the dead of night. Some suspect their mysterious leader, the Harpy, is Hizdahr zo Loraq, while others believe the Sons of the Harpy have no leader.[2] Instead of having Unsullied patrol the city, the new guard is to be composed of Meeerenese shavepates and freedmen.[6]

Lhazar allies with Meereen, but Yunkai gathers a coalition of slaving cities against Daenerys.[7] The Dothraki serving Daenerys free the slaves in the hills near Meereen.[17] After the siege of Astapor, the Yunkish host marches on Meereen[18] and the city is blockaded by sea.[19][17] Astapori refugees outside of Meereen's walls suffer from the bloody flux.[20]

Quentyn Martell arrives in Meereen as part of his father Doran's marriage plot, but Daenerys rejects his offer. The queen instead weds Hizdahr in an attempt to bring peace to Meereen,[21] and a truce is made between Meereen and Yunkai.[22] Daenerys flees from Daznak's Pit on Drogon's back when the fighting pits are reopened, however, and the Yunkish leader Yurkhaz zo Yunzak is killed in the chaos.[23]

Quentyn is mortally burned by dragonfire while trying to tame Rhaegal and Viserion,[5] and the dragons escape from the Great Pyramid.[24] Ser Barristan Selmy, the Queen's Hand, deposes King Hizdahr, and the ruling council of Meereen assumes command of the overseeing of Meereenese affairs.[5] Headed by Barristan, they meet to discuss how to best deal with the Yunkish army.[25]

Victarion Greyjoy leads the Iron Fleet toward Meereen on a mission to bring back Daenerys for his brother Euron, King of the Isles and the North.[26] Tyrion Lannister joins the Second Sons, who are part of the Yunkish coalition.[27] The Yunkishmen resume the second siege of Meereen, using trebuchets to launch corpses into the city.[25]

The Winds of Winter

Content.png
Warning
This information has thus far been released in a sample chapter for The Winds of Winter, and might therefore not be in finalized form. Keep in mind that the content as described below is still subject to change.

Barristan rallies Meereen's defenses against the Yunkish host.[28] The Meereenese attack the six sisters which bombard the city, and the Windblown turn their cloaks. The Second Sons decide to join Daenerys's force as well, while Victarion's ironborn attack the Yunkish ships in Slaver's Bay.[29]

Quotes

Meereen in Game of Thrones © HBO

The Great Masters, what a ripe lot o' maggots. The women weren't so bad, though it was worth your life to look at the wrong one the wrong way.[1]

- Ben Plumm, to Daenerys Targaryen


You stopped at Astapor to buy an army, not to start a war. Save your spears and swords for the Seven Kingdoms, my queen. Leave Meereen to the Meereenese and march west for Pentos.[30]

Jorah Mormont, to Daenerys Targaryen


Meereen had been rich beyond imagining.[4]

- thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen


A child departed Qarth, as lost as she was lovely. I feared she was sailing to her doom, yet now I find her here enthroned, mistress of an ancient city, surrounded by a mighty host that she raised up out of dreams.[7]

Xaro Xhoan Daxos, to Daenerys Targaryen


Daenerys: Meereen is a free city of free men.
Xaro: A poor city that once was rich. A hungry city that once was fat. A bloody city that once was peaceful.[7]

- Daenerys Targaryen and Xaro Xhoan Daxos


You will not make Meereen rich and fat and peaceful. You will only bring it to destruction, as you did Astapor.[7]

Xaro Xhoan Daxos, to Daenerys Targaryen


Before you came Meereen was dying. Our rulers were old men with withered cocks and crones whose puckered cunts were dry as dust. They sat atop their pyramids sipping apricot wine and talking of the glories of the Old Empire whilst the centuries slipped by and the very bricks of the city crumbled all around them. Custom and caution had an iron grip upon us till you awakened us with fire and blood. A new time has come, and new things are possible.[31]

- Hizdahr zo Loraq, to Daenerys Targaryen


Meereen was not her home, and never would be. It was a city of strange men with strange gods and stranger hair, of slavers wrapped in fringed tokars, where grace was earned through whoring, butchery was art, and dog was a delicacy. Meereen would always be the Harpy's city, and Daenerys could not be a harpy.[32]

- thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen

Chapters that take place at Meereen

References and Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 2, Daenerys I.
  3. A Dance with Dragons, Map of Valyria
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 71, Daenerys VI.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 68, The Dragontamer.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 16, Daenerys III.
  8. 8.0 8.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 61, Daenerys VII.
  9. 9.0 9.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 23, Daenerys II.
  10. The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: Valyria's Children.
  11. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 42, Daenerys IV.
  12. 12.0 12.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 14, Tyrion IV.
  13. The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: The Rise of Valyria.
  14. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 12, Daenerys I.
  15. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 63, Daenerys V.
  16. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 6, The Merchant's Man, p 84.
  17. 17.0 17.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 30, Daenerys V.
  18. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 25, The Windblown.
  19. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 24, The Lost Lord.
  20. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 36, Daenerys VI.
  21. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 43, Daenerys VII.
  22. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 60, The Spurned Suitor.
  23. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 52, Daenerys IX.
  24. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 67, The Kingbreaker.
  25. 25.0 25.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand.
  26. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 63, Victarion I.
  27. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 66, Tyrion XII.
  28. Barristan I (The Winds of Winter)
  29. Tyrion II (The Winds of Winter)
  30. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V, p 545.
  31. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 23, Daenerys IV.
  32. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 71, Daenerys X.