The Rise of Valyriarlie, or 'New Valyria'
Jun 13, 2014 7:07:58 GMT -5
Marquarro Malvassar, Alexys Darkfyre, and 1 more like this
Post by The Black Dread on Jun 13, 2014 7:07:58 GMT -5
In the year 85 AL, rumors began trickling into Westeros from the East. Primarily brought by sailors and merchants, tales of disaster and calamity were passed from mouth to mouth, and it was for several years that the truth was definitively known. In the middle months of 84 AL (though the people of Volantis used a different dating system) a shadow appeared in the sky above the great Free City of Volantis. Though the city-folk screamed and fled into their hovels, there was nowhere within the city that they could hide from the Black Dread. Balerion, the dragon used by Aegon the Conqueror to forge the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros into one realm, flew over Volantis and bathed the city in his black fire, hot enough to reduce a suit of armor to a puddle of molten steel and to melt holes in solid granite.
Balerion was bore on his back a new rider, one that nobody had ever seen before. The man, if he could be called that, was grotesquely disfigured, as if he had spent a century sitting in an inferno yet was not wholly consumed by the flames. [Zack's Burned Rider Description]
Every soul in Volantis, at least those between the outer walls of the New City and the Black Walls partitioning the Old City, perished in the flames. Volantis was the most populace of the Free Cities, and far larger than the largest city in Westeros, by half again as much; it is said that nearly a million people had died by the end of the day, and not a single building remained standing. Half-slagged twisted structures of stone existed where some of the larger structures had stood, but in place was everything else was an almost perfectly flat, barren landscape. In the subsequent years, followers would begin to refer to the scorched patch of earth as "the Scar" for the shiny uniformness of it stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding land, much like a wound that had healed improperly.
Inexplicably, or perhaps just for reasons incomprehensible to the average person, the Burned Rider spared the Old City of Volantis, which immediately threw opened its gates to him and the families who traced their Valyrian bloodlines back millennia fell over themselves to swear their allegiance to the specter of death that flew above their city. They called their new master the Burned Rider, for he gave no name and that was the only thing that described him. The dragon, they simply called Tikun Zobri Morghon, or 'Death on Black Wings'. The Burned Rider claimed to be a survivor of Valyria, though if that was true or even possible no man could truly say, but what was clear, was his vision. Only a few saw it, in the beginning, and those foolish to believe he simply wanted to rule Volantis as a King quickly learned the folly of that. In 86 AL, the crossroads city of Mantarys was wiped off the the world by the Burned Rider, for reasons known to nobody but himself. Survivors fled both east and west, carrying word of terrible vengeance.
The nearby city-state of Tolos, a wealthy trade-port at the base of the Black Cliffs, immediately send delegates to Volantis to beg the Burned rider to accept their fealty, offering him gifts of gold, spices, and slaves from the East. The island city-state known as Elyria did the same barely a month later, and by the end of 87 AL the Burned Rider's empire stretched eastward from Volantis to the ruins of Bhorash. It is then that he began to turn his eye northward, to the cites along the Mother Royne. The city-fathers of Volon Therys were foolish enough to resist the Burned Rider at first, though they lowered their own banners and attempted to surrender when the first of Balerion's flames touched the city walls. The Burned Rider demolished the high white walls that proudly guarded the city as a message, though he left the bulk of the city proper intact and accepted their surrender and fealty. Within six months he had annexed the cities of Valysar and Selhorys, neither of which made any attempt at resistance once the Black Dread's shadow passed over their heads.
In the first months of of 89 AL, news reached Westeros that could scarcely be believed; indeed it was not by many, except the select few with reliable contacts on the other side of the Narrow Sea. The Burned Rider sent proclamations to every corner of Essos declaring the name of his Empire: Valyriarlie, or 'New Valyria'. Perhaps it was indeed true that he was a survivor of the old Freehold, because the Burned Rider selected one man from each of six cities under his dominion and named each of them Dāezōrēs, or 'Freeholder' in the common tongue. Each was given a dragon egg, presumably salvaged from the ruins of the ancient Freehold itself, and dominion over his own city. The eggs quickly hatched and the Freeholders used their newfound power easily consolidate their rule and spread the influence of their cities. The Burned Rider constructed a set of Fighting Pits where the New City of Volantis used to be, the largest in the world. It is said that there is at least one fight taking place at every single hours of the day and night, and between each fight the pits are lined with a fresh layer of pure white sand, so that every drop of blood spilled is clearly visible against it.
Almost ten years after it was formally declared as a nation, Valyriarlie stretches from the Orange Shore to ruins of Ar Noy on the banks of the Royne River and as far east as the ruined city of Bhorash, including the massive Selhoru Marshlands and the Painted Mountains. Almost the entire Rhoyne is within New Valyria's borders and while the Freehold has not yet come into direct contact with the cities of Slaver's Bay, preferring to trade in slaves and grow wealthyThe six Zaldrīzes Dāezōrēs, the Freeholder Dragons, rule their cities ably though they all kneel to the Burned Rider and Balerion. Rumors abound that there are more than six dragons within the New Valyrian Freehold, though no more than two have ever been seen on a single battlefield. Some say that blood-sacrifice at an unheard of scale is taking place in the Valyrian Temple that towers above Volantis' old city, for the purpose of hatching dragons and inducing them to grow more quickly with black sorcery, though these rumors are surely just the fanciful tales of New Valyria's fearful neighbors...
The rapid expansion of New Valyria has created grave anxiety in the coastal Free Cities, and it is said that Pentos, Norvos, and Myr are negotiating an alliance to combat the the growing threat in the east. None seem eager to field an army against the man who commands the Black Dread, however, despite repeated pleas from Qohor for assistance against encroaching Valyrian soldiers. Dragon wings have not yet been seen in the sky above Qohor, but as many in Essos have learned over the past fifteen years, where the black-cloaked Valryian soldiers appear, Tikun Zobri Morghon is not far behind.
Balerion was bore on his back a new rider, one that nobody had ever seen before. The man, if he could be called that, was grotesquely disfigured, as if he had spent a century sitting in an inferno yet was not wholly consumed by the flames. [Zack's Burned Rider Description]
Every soul in Volantis, at least those between the outer walls of the New City and the Black Walls partitioning the Old City, perished in the flames. Volantis was the most populace of the Free Cities, and far larger than the largest city in Westeros, by half again as much; it is said that nearly a million people had died by the end of the day, and not a single building remained standing. Half-slagged twisted structures of stone existed where some of the larger structures had stood, but in place was everything else was an almost perfectly flat, barren landscape. In the subsequent years, followers would begin to refer to the scorched patch of earth as "the Scar" for the shiny uniformness of it stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding land, much like a wound that had healed improperly.
Inexplicably, or perhaps just for reasons incomprehensible to the average person, the Burned Rider spared the Old City of Volantis, which immediately threw opened its gates to him and the families who traced their Valyrian bloodlines back millennia fell over themselves to swear their allegiance to the specter of death that flew above their city. They called their new master the Burned Rider, for he gave no name and that was the only thing that described him. The dragon, they simply called Tikun Zobri Morghon, or 'Death on Black Wings'. The Burned Rider claimed to be a survivor of Valyria, though if that was true or even possible no man could truly say, but what was clear, was his vision. Only a few saw it, in the beginning, and those foolish to believe he simply wanted to rule Volantis as a King quickly learned the folly of that. In 86 AL, the crossroads city of Mantarys was wiped off the the world by the Burned Rider, for reasons known to nobody but himself. Survivors fled both east and west, carrying word of terrible vengeance.
The nearby city-state of Tolos, a wealthy trade-port at the base of the Black Cliffs, immediately send delegates to Volantis to beg the Burned rider to accept their fealty, offering him gifts of gold, spices, and slaves from the East. The island city-state known as Elyria did the same barely a month later, and by the end of 87 AL the Burned Rider's empire stretched eastward from Volantis to the ruins of Bhorash. It is then that he began to turn his eye northward, to the cites along the Mother Royne. The city-fathers of Volon Therys were foolish enough to resist the Burned Rider at first, though they lowered their own banners and attempted to surrender when the first of Balerion's flames touched the city walls. The Burned Rider demolished the high white walls that proudly guarded the city as a message, though he left the bulk of the city proper intact and accepted their surrender and fealty. Within six months he had annexed the cities of Valysar and Selhorys, neither of which made any attempt at resistance once the Black Dread's shadow passed over their heads.
In the first months of of 89 AL, news reached Westeros that could scarcely be believed; indeed it was not by many, except the select few with reliable contacts on the other side of the Narrow Sea. The Burned Rider sent proclamations to every corner of Essos declaring the name of his Empire: Valyriarlie, or 'New Valyria'. Perhaps it was indeed true that he was a survivor of the old Freehold, because the Burned Rider selected one man from each of six cities under his dominion and named each of them Dāezōrēs, or 'Freeholder' in the common tongue. Each was given a dragon egg, presumably salvaged from the ruins of the ancient Freehold itself, and dominion over his own city. The eggs quickly hatched and the Freeholders used their newfound power easily consolidate their rule and spread the influence of their cities. The Burned Rider constructed a set of Fighting Pits where the New City of Volantis used to be, the largest in the world. It is said that there is at least one fight taking place at every single hours of the day and night, and between each fight the pits are lined with a fresh layer of pure white sand, so that every drop of blood spilled is clearly visible against it.
Almost ten years after it was formally declared as a nation, Valyriarlie stretches from the Orange Shore to ruins of Ar Noy on the banks of the Royne River and as far east as the ruined city of Bhorash, including the massive Selhoru Marshlands and the Painted Mountains. Almost the entire Rhoyne is within New Valyria's borders and while the Freehold has not yet come into direct contact with the cities of Slaver's Bay, preferring to trade in slaves and grow wealthyThe six Zaldrīzes Dāezōrēs, the Freeholder Dragons, rule their cities ably though they all kneel to the Burned Rider and Balerion. Rumors abound that there are more than six dragons within the New Valyrian Freehold, though no more than two have ever been seen on a single battlefield. Some say that blood-sacrifice at an unheard of scale is taking place in the Valyrian Temple that towers above Volantis' old city, for the purpose of hatching dragons and inducing them to grow more quickly with black sorcery, though these rumors are surely just the fanciful tales of New Valyria's fearful neighbors...
The rapid expansion of New Valyria has created grave anxiety in the coastal Free Cities, and it is said that Pentos, Norvos, and Myr are negotiating an alliance to combat the the growing threat in the east. None seem eager to field an army against the man who commands the Black Dread, however, despite repeated pleas from Qohor for assistance against encroaching Valyrian soldiers. Dragon wings have not yet been seen in the sky above Qohor, but as many in Essos have learned over the past fifteen years, where the black-cloaked Valryian soldiers appear, Tikun Zobri Morghon is not far behind.
all alone and also really bored 
Hopefully going to kickstart the festival too