Slaver's Bay and Ghiscar
Built from the ashes of the ancient Ghiscari Empire stands Slaver’s Bay, a wealthy region of Essos due to its vast slave trade. The start of Slaver’s Bay was the ancient city of Ghis, now called Old Ghis. The founding of the city predate that of its successor, Valyria, by thousands of years. The city of Ghis grew into a military, economic, and cultural power that was the Ghiscari Empire. With its power Ghis held many soldiers that were highly disciplined, much as the Unsulllied of Slave’s Bay, and nearly unbeatable on the battlefield. The architecture of Ghis was brick towers and pyramids all built through slave labor. Even though Ghis had all of these they could not fight Valyria’s ultimate weapon, dragons.
Very little Ghiscari culture survived after the Empire’s collapse and the people of Slaver’s Bay take great pride in their heritage as they are the last that remain. In modern Slaver’s Bay the language of Ghiscari was forgotten, the people thus choose to speak in the language of their conquerors, High Valyrian, flavored with the accent of the Ghiscari language. Though the words are spoken in High Valyrian the people of Slaver’s Bay still write in their unique glyph system. Slave trade was the dominant industry of Slaver's Bay, and the cities' slave traders formed their ruling aristocracy. The slavers of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen called themselves as the Good, Wise and Great Masters respectively, and were taken to dress in tokars, a toga-like garment that only the freeborn may wear. The value of the material used to make a tokar's fringes indicated the wealth and rank of the Master wearing it. Slavers and their families lived in opulent luxury, floating on pleasure barges at dusk and hosting elaborate festivals honoring their history at night. Slaves, on the other hand, often endured brutal treatment.
SLAVER CITIES
Astapor
Astapor is famed as the only place in the world that the Unsullied can be purchased. These slave soldiers command a huge investment and earn the most profitable of returns for the Good Masters of Astapor. The city itself is ancient and almost in ruin, built from crumbling red bricks that are said to be colored by the slaves that died laying them. The brick dust can sting the eyes, causing freeborn women to wear veils. The city is dominated by massive stepped pyramids, some four hundred feet high, that line the waterfront of the bay. The Plaza of Pride served as an open air slave market, an area for the Unsullied to muster and be sold and a community gathering place. During the midday heat, the brick streets can become unbearably hot, making them largely deserted during the day. In the evenings, the slavers light silk lanterns on every terrace and play soft music as they sail on their pleasure barges. The Good Masters of Astapor are particularly cruel to their slaves. Fighting pits featured bloodsports pitting children against animals. Unruly slaves were flayed alive. However, the Good Masters' crowning achievement was their Unsullied, created through a brutal conditioning process that systematically dehumanized young slave boys to turn them into unfeeling fighting machines. Unlike the other cities of Slaver's Bay, Astapor relies on no additional mercenaries of slave levies for its protection. The city's unsold Unsullied defended it against any threats.
Yunkai
The smallest of the three cities, Yunkai is known for both its fighting pits and its pleasure houses, both of which turn out slaves at a brisk pace. The city is very similar to Astapor in architecture except for its smaller size and its use of yellow brick in its buildings instead of red. The slavers of Yunkai are known as the Wise Masters. The city relied on its relatively untrained slave army and whatever mercenary companies it can buy.
Meereen
The largest of the three slaver cities, Meereen has a population equal to Astapor and Yunkai combined. The city is constructed with similar architecture to its neighbors, but built in bricks of many different colors. Its landscape is dominated by a massive pyramid, named the Great Pyramid, and the Temple of Graces, which is capped by a golden dome. Meereen is unique among the Slaver’s Bay cities in that it is filled with many temples. The slavers of Meereen are known as the Great Masters. They field a force of lancers, who are generally slaves made for pit fighting, equipped in traditionally extravagant Ghiscari fashion with scales of copper and lances as long as fourteen feet.
Very little Ghiscari culture survived after the Empire’s collapse and the people of Slaver’s Bay take great pride in their heritage as they are the last that remain. In modern Slaver’s Bay the language of Ghiscari was forgotten, the people thus choose to speak in the language of their conquerors, High Valyrian, flavored with the accent of the Ghiscari language. Though the words are spoken in High Valyrian the people of Slaver’s Bay still write in their unique glyph system. Slave trade was the dominant industry of Slaver's Bay, and the cities' slave traders formed their ruling aristocracy. The slavers of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen called themselves as the Good, Wise and Great Masters respectively, and were taken to dress in tokars, a toga-like garment that only the freeborn may wear. The value of the material used to make a tokar's fringes indicated the wealth and rank of the Master wearing it. Slavers and their families lived in opulent luxury, floating on pleasure barges at dusk and hosting elaborate festivals honoring their history at night. Slaves, on the other hand, often endured brutal treatment.
SLAVER CITIES
Astapor
Astapor is famed as the only place in the world that the Unsullied can be purchased. These slave soldiers command a huge investment and earn the most profitable of returns for the Good Masters of Astapor. The city itself is ancient and almost in ruin, built from crumbling red bricks that are said to be colored by the slaves that died laying them. The brick dust can sting the eyes, causing freeborn women to wear veils. The city is dominated by massive stepped pyramids, some four hundred feet high, that line the waterfront of the bay. The Plaza of Pride served as an open air slave market, an area for the Unsullied to muster and be sold and a community gathering place. During the midday heat, the brick streets can become unbearably hot, making them largely deserted during the day. In the evenings, the slavers light silk lanterns on every terrace and play soft music as they sail on their pleasure barges. The Good Masters of Astapor are particularly cruel to their slaves. Fighting pits featured bloodsports pitting children against animals. Unruly slaves were flayed alive. However, the Good Masters' crowning achievement was their Unsullied, created through a brutal conditioning process that systematically dehumanized young slave boys to turn them into unfeeling fighting machines. Unlike the other cities of Slaver's Bay, Astapor relies on no additional mercenaries of slave levies for its protection. The city's unsold Unsullied defended it against any threats.
Yunkai
The smallest of the three cities, Yunkai is known for both its fighting pits and its pleasure houses, both of which turn out slaves at a brisk pace. The city is very similar to Astapor in architecture except for its smaller size and its use of yellow brick in its buildings instead of red. The slavers of Yunkai are known as the Wise Masters. The city relied on its relatively untrained slave army and whatever mercenary companies it can buy.
Meereen
The largest of the three slaver cities, Meereen has a population equal to Astapor and Yunkai combined. The city is constructed with similar architecture to its neighbors, but built in bricks of many different colors. Its landscape is dominated by a massive pyramid, named the Great Pyramid, and the Temple of Graces, which is capped by a golden dome. Meereen is unique among the Slaver’s Bay cities in that it is filled with many temples. The slavers of Meereen are known as the Great Masters. They field a force of lancers, who are generally slaves made for pit fighting, equipped in traditionally extravagant Ghiscari fashion with scales of copper and lances as long as fourteen feet.