#yorick yronwood

[sunspearesque]

oberyn sleeping with yronwood’s paramour when he was a teen and then defeating his angry ass in a duel which would eventually lead to his death is the last ‘fuck you’ from his badass ancestor princess nymeria to the yronwood bloodline LMAO

[of-pretty-crows-and-wild-women]

I often find myself thinking about the six Dornish Kings that Nymeria banished to The Wall.

I wonder how they found the stark difference between the arid expanse of the desert and the icy hills of the North. If they missed the warmth of the sand between their fingers and the taste of olives, figs and lemons.

More importantly, though, I daydream of children born to the Brothel during this time, I wonder if these Kings snuck away for a night like so many Black Brothers have done in the past.

I wonder if boys ran off into the south with heads filled with foolish notions of honour and glory, told by their mothers that their fathers were kings who lay with them for a fistful of coin and a night away from their post.

[dorneuniverse]

Pre-canon Dorne Week: Day 3 - Dornish characters

[sebeth]

The World Of Ice And Fire: Nymeria Arrives In Dorne

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

  Nymeria and company head for Westeros, having no luck finding a home in numerous other locations. The fleet of ships have been battered and not all made it to their final stop of Dorne. There are “isolated pockets of Rhoynar on the Stepstones, claiming descent from those who were shipwrecked.” Other ships were blown off-course and became slaves of the Lys and Tyrosh.

The remaining ships landed at the mouth of the Greenblood river near the Sandship, the seat of House Martell.

Dorne was a dry, desolate land, thinly peopled, and filled with quarrelsome lords and petty kings’ endless wars.

Most Dornish did not welcome the Rhoynar. They were perceived as unwelcome invaders with foreign ways and strange gods.

Mors Martell, the Lord of the Sandship, saw an opportunity. Eight out of every ten Rhoynar were women and a quarter of those women were warriors. Thousands of Rhoynar who had been boys when they fled were now young men, trained in the use of the spear.

Mors realized he could increase his power by tenfold if he allied with the Rhoynar.

Mors wed Nymeria and hundreds of his knights, squires, and lords bannermen wed Rhoynish women. Many of the already wed Dornish took Rhoynar women as paramours. Very Alexander the Great of Mors and Nymeria!

The Rhoynar’s artisans, metalworkers, and stonemasons had far more advanced skills than their Westerosi counterparts. Their armorers produced swords, spears, and armor suits no Westerosi smith could match.

Most importantly, the Rhoynish water-witches knew “secret spells that made dry streams flow again and deserts bloom”.

Nymeria burned the ships after the weddings, declaring “Our wanderings are at an end. We have found a new home, and here we shall live and die.”

Some Rhoynar “mourned the loss of the ships, and rather than embracing their new land, they took to plying the waters of the Greenblood, finding it a pale shadow of Mother Rhoyne, whom they continued to worship.” They are known as the Orphans of the Greenblood to this day.

Nymeria and Mors then declared war on their fellow kings. At least six kings were sent to the Wall by Nymeria and Mors, leaving their greatest foe: Yorick Yronwood, the Bloodroyal, Fifth of His Name, Lord of Yronwood, Warden of the Stone Way, Knight of the Wells, King of Redmarch, King of the Greenbelt, and King of the Dornish.

The Martell/Yronwood War went on for nine years. Martell’s allies were House Fowler of Skyreach, House Toland of Ghost Hill, House Dayne of Starfall, and House Uller of the Hellholt. Yronwood’s allies were his bannermen: the Jordaynes of the Tor, the Wyls of the Stone Way, along with the Blackmonts, the Qorgyles, and more.

The Jordaynes of the Tor is a shout-out to Robert Jordan of the Wheel of Time fame. I’m not sure if the rest of Yronwood’s bannermen are references to other science fiction/fantasy writers.

Yorick Yronwood slew Mors Martell in the seventh year of the war. Nymeria assumed sole command of the Martel armies. Two years later, Yronwood bent the knee to Nymeria.

Nymeria remained sole ruler of Dorne despite remarrying twice – first to the aged Lord Uller of Hellholt and then to Ser Davos Dayne of Starfall, the Sword of the Morning. Her husbands served only as consorts and counsellors.

Nymeria ruled for twenty-seven years, survived a dozen attempts on her life, put down two rebellions, and threw back two invasions by the Storm King Durran the Third and one by King Greydon of the Reach.

In summary: Nymeria was a badass!

Nymeria had four daughters by Mors Martell and a son by Davos Dayne. The Dornish had adopted the customs and laws of the Rhoynar so upon Nymeria’s death, her eldest daughter succeeded her.

Up next, the Doom of Valyria

[westerosims]

For nine years Mors fought King Yorick Yronwood. When he fell in battle Nymeria herself took full control of his forces, and after another two years Yorick was forced to submit to the princess. Nymeria married twice more and had both sons and daughters, but it was her eldest daughter by Mors who succeeded her reign. A precedent was set; the Rhoynar tradition of equal inheritance became rooted in Dornish culture and remains so to this day. (TWOIAF PG 25)

[martellsource]

The flames lit the coast for fifty leagues as hundreds of leaking, listing hulks were put to the torch and turned to ash; in the light of their burning, Princess Nymeria named Mors Martell the Prince of Dorne, in the Rhoynish style, asserting his dominion over "the red sands and the white, and all the lands and rivers from the mountains to the great salt sea." Such supremacy was easier to declare than to achieve, however. Years of war followed, as the Martells and their Rhoynar partners met and subdued one petty king after another. No fewer than six conquered kings were sent to the Wall in golden fetters by Nymeria and her prince, until only the greatest of their foes remained: Yorick Yronwood, the Bloodroyal, Fifth of His Name, Lord of Yronwood, Warden of the Stone Way, Knight of the Wells, King of Redmarch, King of the Greenbelt, and King of the Dornish. For nine years Mors Martell and his allies (amongst them House Fowler of Skyreach, House Toland of Ghost Hill, House Dayne of Starfall, and House Uller of the Hellholt) struggled against Yronwood and his bannermen (the Jordaynes of the Tor, the Wyls of the Stone Way, together with the Blackmonts, the Qorgyles, and many more), in battles too numerous to mention. When Mors Martell fell to Yorick Yronwood's sword in the Third Battle of the Boneway, Princess Nymeria assumed sole command of his armies. Two more years of battle were required, but in the end it was Nymeria that Yorick Yronwood bent the knee to, and Nymeria who ruled thereafter from Sunspear. Though she married twice more (first to the aged Lord Uller of Hellholt, and later to the dashing Ser Davos Dayne of Starfall, the Sword of the Morning), Nymeria herself remained the unquestioned ruler of Dorne for almost twentyseven years, her husbands serving only as counselors and consorts. She survived a dozen attempts upon her life, put down two rebellions, and threw back two invasions by the Storm King Durran the Third and one by King Greydon of the Reach. When at last she died, it was the eldest of her four daughters by Mors Martell who succeeded her, not her son by Davos Dayne, for by then the Dornish had come to adopt many of the laws and customs of the Rhoynar, though the memories of Mother Rhoyne and the ten thousand ships were fading into legend. -- The World of Ice and Fire

[samwpmarleau]

[2/20] ASOIAF power couples → Nymeria of Ny Sar × Mors Martell

Legend tells us that Princess Nymeria took ten thousand ships to sea, searching for a new home for her people beyond the long reach of Valyria and its dragonlords. Nymeria’s voyage was long and terrible, and her fleet was battered and tattered when finally it arrived in Dorne.

Most of the Dornish lords viewed the Rhoynar as unwelcome interlopers. But Mors Martell, the Lord of the Sandship, saw in the newcomers an opportunity ... and if the singers can be believed, his lordship also lost his heart to Nymeria, the fierce and beautiful warrior queen who had led her people across the world to keep them free. When Mors took Nymeria to wife, hundreds of his knights, squires, and lords bannermen also wed Rhoynish women, and many of those who were already wed took them for their paramours. Thus were the two peoples united by blood, and their unions enriched and strengthened House Martell and its Dornish allies.

To celebrate these unions, Nymeria burned the Rhoynish ships. “Our wanderings are at an end,” she declared. “We have found a new home, and here we shall live and die.” In the light of their burning, Princess Nymeria named Mors Martell the Prince of Dorne, in the Rhoynish style, asserting his dominion over “the red sands and the white, and all the lands and rivers from the mountains to the great salt sea.”

In the years of war that followed, no fewer than six conquered kings were sent to the Wall in golden fetters by Nymeria and her prince, until only the greatest of their foes remained. When Mors fell to Yorick Yronwood’s sword in the Third Battle of the Boneway, Nymeria assumed sole command of his armies. Two more years of battle were required, but in the end it was Nymeria to whom Yronwood bent the knee, and Nymeria who ruled thereafter from Sunspear for almost twenty-seven years.

When at last she died, it was the eldest of her four daughters by Mors Martell who succeeded her, not her son by Davos Dayne, for by then the Dornish had come to adopt many of the laws and customs of the Rhoynar.

[asongoficeandfiresource]

The Loves of Queen Nymeria

When Mors Martell took Nymeria to wife, hundreds of his knights, squires, and lords bannermen also wed Rhoynish women, and many of those who were already wed took them for their paramours. Thus were the two peoples united by blood. These unions enriched and strengthened House Martell and its Dornish allies.

For nine years Mors Martell and his allies (amongst them House Fowler of Skyreach, House Toland of Ghost Hill, House Dayne of Starfall, and House Uller of the Hellholt) struggled against Yronwood and his bannermen (the Jordaynes of the Tor, the Wyls of the Stone Way, together with the Blackmonts, the Qorgyles, and many more), in battles too numerous to mention. When Mors Martell fell to Yorick Yronwood’s sword in the Third Battle of the Boneway, Princess Nymeria assumed sole command of his armies. Two more years of battle were required, but in the end it was Nymeria that Yorick Yronwood bent the knee to, and Nymeria who ruled thereafter from Sunspear.

Though she married twice more (first to the aged Lord Uller of Hellholt, and later to the dashing Ser Davos Dayne of Starfall, the Sword of the Morning), Nymeria herself remained the unquestioned ruler of Dorne for almost twentyseven years, her husbands serving only as counselors and consorts.

[sunontherhoyne]

One of the best aspects of Nymeria’s story is that despite having all the reason in the world to be a bloodthirsty “do onto others before they do it to you” style conqueror, she chose mercy. Nymeria lost more than anyone could ever dream: her country, most of her people. She knew hunger, thirst and the desperation not to be enslaved along with poorest of the Rhoynish refugees. She lost the love of her life (it’s head canon, nobody’s telling me otherwise) and yet we see a pattern that she never acted in the spirit of reckless hatred and excessive violence. She could’ve had Yorick Yronwood slain and his whole bloodline wiped from history for killing Mors, along with the other rival kings. But she let them serve with honour at the wall, and allowed their families to retain their places. That’s a true leader. To put the well-being and long-term peace above her own feelings and pain for the benefit of not just her own people, but everyone in Dorne.

I can see her making a speech with her defeated enemies and allies present at the end of the conquest:

“We will conduct ourselves as victors should; with honour and modesty. We will take no revenge. Sack no city, or strike an innocent. Any who commit such actions shall face the appropriate punishments.

We came to Dorne on the brink. We have earned our right to peace. But we must not forget those who have called this country home long before us. This is their land too. Men, women and children of the Rhoynar, First Men and Andals will live together as equals with the same rights. No group will enjoy an advantage over another. There was a dream that was Dorne. It shall be realised.”

That “dream” was the one Mors always told her about.

I love that so much I almost feel like adding anything would take away from it x)

But yes, all of this is why I love Nymeria so much! She chose to be merciful. She chose to build something rather than destroy.

If I were in her position, I don't know if I could ever do the same.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Many people think House Wyl supported the Black Dragon, but why would they when part of the reason people hate the deal Daeron II made is because of their war crimes and presumably because they were never punished for them? House Wyl consistently commits war crimes such as rape, slavery (wasn’t Jorah near murdered for this?), attempted regicide (Baelor), etc. and are never punished for it by the Martells, so wouldn’t they be loyal to the Martells due to the many crimes they let them get away with like Gregor Clegane is to Tywin Lannister?

You’ll have to ask the people who believe the Wÿls called their banners for Daemon Blackfyre, because I believe they are one of the Dornish Houses most likely to support the Martells (aside from the Daynes of Starfall because of a marriage alliance with Maekar) due to the reason you just stated. Yes, the Wÿls were bannermen of the Yronwoods when Nymeria came, and unlike House Fowler they stayed loyal to King Yorick, but so did Houses Qorgyle, Blackmont, and Jordayne, and you didn’t use this previous vassalage as evidence for why these houses supported Daemon. Unlike the Yronwoods or the Blackmonts (if you believe the Vulture Kings were affiliated with them), after Nymeria the Wÿls always acted in the name of House Martell; in the First Dornish War, Wÿl the Widowlover cut off Orys Baratheon’s hand (in addition to killing Alys Oakheart’s father, castrating her Cafferen groom, and selling her and her maids into slavery. Arys Oakheart still recalls the event as infamous over 200 years after it happened. House Oakheart supported both sides during the First Blackfyre, which seems a point against a pro-Blackfyre House Wÿl); in Daeron I’s Dornish War, Lord Wÿl suspended Aemon the Dragonknight in a cage over a pit of venomous snakes, and challenged Baelor the Blessed to rescue him in a clear attempted regicide. You are right that we never hear of them being punished in canon. Consequently, I don’t think they would be inclined to rebel against the Martells who consistently treated them well. The Yronwoods guard the Boneway and the Wÿls’ castle is located somewhere along there, but considering the Yronwoods aren’t mentioned as sending men to Redgrass, it’s possible the Wÿls blocked them from coming up the pass and reaching the marches, where they might’ve found allies in House Peake (or again, they could’ve been blocked by House Dondarrion, who must’ve supported Daeron II thanks to Baelor’s marriage).

Apart from past loyalty that doesn’t seem to have carried over into the Blackfyre era, and close proximity, I’m struggling to find any point of positive connection between Yronwood and Wÿl that might make people think they both fought against the Martells. I even checked the non-canon Yronwood tree (though some of its information was canonized in Fire and Blood), and while the Yronwoods have 2 marriage ties to the Martells, 2 to the Blackmonts, and one each to the Manwoodys, Gargalens, Ullers, Vaiths, Jordaynes, and Santagars, they have none to the Wÿls. Marriage alliances don’t mean everything (see: the two Yronwood-Martell marriages when they later fought on opposite sides), but they do provide a decent picture of house relationships ca 130-170, and the Wÿl-Yronwood one seems distant. The only reason I could see them fighting on the side of the Yronwoods is if the Yronwoods’ ultimate plan was an independent Dorne, and thus allow the centuries-long rivalry between the Wÿls and the Marcher Lords to continue openly. However, that plan seems a little complicated (siding with half the Marcher Lords only to attack the rest of them later?), and comes without the security that House Martell has provided since at least Aegon I’s time. If you believe that some Marcher Lords supported Daemon because they wanted retribution for the war crimes committed in Dorne, then it stands to reason that they would want House Wÿl (whose head, as mentioned, tortured two members of the royal family with intent to kill) to give some sort of weregild. As far as we know, the Martells and Daeron II did not. Therefore, even without marriage alliances I think it’s more likely the Wÿls supported House Martell, who were willing to grant them lenience as long as their crimes were committed in service to their Prince. If you’re looking for other Dornish Houses who might’ve joined the Yronwoods, I think House Blackmont is the most likely, followed by House Drinkwater, House Allyrion, House Vaith and maybe Houses Santagar and Dayne of High Hermitage. But I doubt we’ll be getting confirmation either way anytime soon.

[tethys-the-aquatic-sea-godness]

The Founders of House Nymeros-Martell: Mors&Nymeria

After the Rhoyne was conquered by Valyria, Nymeria led the Rhoynar to Dorne, where she took Lord Mors Martell as her husband.

Their marriage gave the Martells the manpower to conquer the rest of Dorne and gave the Rhoynar a new homeland. The Dornish rulers have since styled themselves "Prince" and “Princess” in the Rhoynish fashion rather than "King".

Mors was slain by King Yorick V Yronwood in the Third Battle of the Boneway, but Nymeria forced Yorick to submit two years later.

[klaradox]

THE HISTORY OF DORNE: NYMERIA SUBDUES HER ENEMIES

This image is part of a history series which will be featured on my map of Dorne.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

Nymeria was a Princess of the Rhoynar. She fled her home country and brought ten thousand ships across the Narrow Sea to the shores of Dorne in southern Westeros. She struck an alliance with House Martell of Sunspear, taking Lord Mors Martell as her husband.

Mors Martell was Lord of the Sandship, and his lands were dwarfed by those of powerful kings such as House Yronwood. On the day she wed Mors, forming House Nymeros Martell, Nymeria had her fleet burned to affirm that the Rhoynar could not return to Essos.

The people of the Martell lands also intermarried with the Rhoynar, and the addition of the Rhoynar increased the strength of the Martells tenfold. Nymeria declared Mors to be the Prince of Dorne, using the Rhoynish title of prince instead of the Westerosi "king". Equal primogeniture was also introduced.

The following campaign of Nymeria and Mors to conquer Dorne took years to accomplish, as they had to defeat numerous lords and petty kings in succession. Although the Martells gained the support of the Fowlers, Tolands, Daynes, and Ullers, for nine years Mors battled their last and greatest opponent, King Yorick V Yronwood, whose supporters included the Jordaynes, Wyls, Blackmonts, and Qorgyles. Although Yorick slew Mors in the Third Battle of the Boneway, Nymeria continued the war and eventually forced the Yronwoods into submission after another two years.

By war's end Nymeria had sent six self-styled kings to the Wall: Yorick Yrownood, Vorian Dayne, Garrison Fowler, Lucifer Dryland, Benedict Blackmont, and Albin Manwoody. The fortress of Sunspear was made capital of Dorne, and House Martell has ruled ever since. The Rhoynar influence remains strong in Dorne.

ARTIST'S INFORMATION:

I tried to give those six kings that Nymeria defeated a bit of character. There is a Fowler on the far right, wearing a vulture helmet. "Fowler" implies having to do with birds of prey and we know that there will be someone like a "Vulture King" in Dorne later. I also used the same model for Vorian Dayne like before in the picture about the Daynes. There are six crows in the sky, symbolizing the future of those six kings as members of the Night's Watch.

www.klaradox.de/en/galerie/dorne

[sayruq]

Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar:

For nine years Mors Martell and his allies (amongst them House Fowler of Skyreach, House Toland of Ghost Hill, House Dayne of Starfall, and House Uller of the Hellholt) struggled against Yronwood and his bannermen (the Jordaynes of the Tor, the Wyls of the Stone Way, together with the Blackmonts, the Qorgyles, and many more), in battles too numerous to mention. When Mors Martell fell to Yorick Yronwood's sword in the Third Battle of the Boneway, Princess Nymeria assumed sole command of his armies. Two more years of battle were required, but in the end it was Nymeria that Yorick Yronwood bent the knee to, and Nymeria who ruled thereafter from Sunspear.

Though she married twice more (first to the aged Lord Uller of Hellholt, and later to the dashing Ser Davos Dayne of Starfall, the Sword of the Morning), Nymeria herself remained the unquestioned ruler of Dorne for almost twenty seven years, her husbands serving only as counselors and consorts. She survived a dozen attempts upon her life, put down two rebellions, and threw back two invasions by the Storm King Durran the Third and one by King Greydon of the Reach.

When at last she died, it was the eldest of her four daughters by Mors Martell who succeeded her, not her son by Davos Dayne, for by then the Dornish had come to adopt many of the laws and customs of the Rhoynar, though the memories of Mother Rhoyne and the ten thousand ships were fading into legend.

Princess Meria Martell:

Finally the queen's flight took her to Sunspear, the ancient seat of House Martell, where she found the Princess of Dorne waiting in her abandoned castle. Meria Martell was eighty years of age, the maesters tell us, and had ruled the Dornishmen for sixty of those years. She was very fat, blind, and almost bald, her skin sallow and sagging. Argilac the Arrogant had named her "the Yellow Toad of Dorne," but neither age nor blindness had dulled her wits.

"I will not fight you," Princess Meria told Rhaenys, "nor will I kneel to you. Dorne has no king. Tell your brother that."

"I shall," Rhaenys replied, "but we will come again, Princess, and the next time we shall come with fire and blood."

"Your words," said Princess Meria. "Ours are Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. You may burn us, my lady...but you will not bend us, break us, or make us bow. This is Dorne. You are not wanted here. Return at your peril."

Thus queen and princess parted, and Dorne remained unconquered.

Princess Deria Martell:

When Princess Meria at last passed away in 13 AC, her throne passed to her son, the aged and failing Prince Nymor. He had had enough of war and sent a delegation led by his daughter, Princess Deria, to King's Landing. This delegation carried the skull of Meraxes with them, as a gift for the king. It was ill received by many—Queen Visenya and Orys Baratheon among them—and Lord Oakheart urged that Deria be sent to the meanest of brothels to service any man who would have her. But King Aegon Targaryen would not countenance such an act and instead listened to her words.

Dorne wanted peace, according to Deria—but the peace of two kingdoms no longer at war, not the peace between a vassal and a lord. Many urged His Grace against this, and the phrase "no peace without submission" was often heard in the halls of the Aegonfort. It was claimed that the king would look weak should he agree to such a demand and that the lords of the Reach and stormlands who had suffered so much for his cause would be angered.

Swayed by such considerations, it is said, King Aegon was determined to refuse the offer until Princess Deria placed in his hands a private letter from her father, Prince Nymor. Aegon read it upon the Iron Throne, and men say that when he rose, his hand was bleeding, so hard had he clenched it. He burned the letter and departed immediately on Balerion's back for Dragonstone. When he returned the next morning, he agreed to the peace and signed a treaty to that effect.

[sebeth]

The World Of Ice And Fire: Nymeria Arrives In Dorne

Warning, Spoilers Ahead...

Nymeria and company head for Westeros, having no luck finding a home in numerous other locations. The fleet of ships have been battered and not all made it to their final stop of Dorne. There are “isolated pockets of Rhoynar on the Stepstones, claiming descent from those who were shipwrecked.” Other ships were blown off-course and became slaves of the Lys and Tyrosh.

The remaining ships landed at the mouth of the Greenblood river near the Sandship, the seat of House Martell.

Dorne was a dry, desolate land, thinly peopled, and filled with quarrelsome lords and petty kings’ endless wars.

Most Dornish did not welcome the Rhoynar. They were perceived as unwelcome invaders with foreign ways and strange gods.

Mors Martell, the Lord of the Sandship, saw an opportunity. Eight out of every ten Rhoynar were women and a quarter of those women were warriors. Thousands of Rhoynar who had been boys when they fled were now young men, trained in the use of the spear.

Mors realized he could increase his power by tenfold if he allied with the Rhoynar.

Mors wed Nymeria and hundreds of his knights, squires, and lords bannermen wed Rhoynish women. Many of the already wed Dornish took Rhoynar women as paramours. Very Alexander the Great of Mors and Nymeria!

The Rhoynar’s artisans, metalworkers, and stonemasons had far more advanced skills than their Westerosi counterparts. Their armorers produced swords, spears, and armor suits no Westerosi smith could match.

Most importantly, the Rhoynish water-witches knew “secret spells that made dry streams flow again and deserts bloom”.

Nymeria burned the ships after the weddings, declaring “Our wanderings are at an end. We have found a new home, and here we shall live and die.”

Some Rhoynar “mourned the loss of the ships, and rather than embracing their new land, they took to plying the waters of the Greenblood, finding it a pale shadow of Mother Rhoyne, whom they continued to worship.” They are known as the Orphans of the Greenblood to this day.

Nymeria and Mors then declared war on their fellow kings. At least six kings were sent to the Wall by Nymeria and Mors, leaving their greatest foe: Yorick Yronwood, the Bloodroyal, Fifth of His Name, Lord of Yronwood, Warden of the Stoen Way, Knight of the Wells, King of Redmarch, King of the Greenbelt, and King of the Dornish.

The Martell/Yronwood War went on for nine years. Martell’s allies were House Fowler of Skyreach, House Toland of Ghost Hill, House Dayne of Starfall, and House Uller of the Hellholt. Yronwood’s allies were his bannermen: the Jordaynes of the Tor, the Wyls of the Stone Way, along with the Blackmonts, the Qorgyles, and more.

The Jordaynes of the Tor is a shout-out to Robert Jordan of the Wheel of Time fame. I’m not sure if the rest of Yronwood’s bannermen are references to other science fiction/fantasy writers.

Yorick Yronwood slew Mors Martel in the seventh year of the war. Nymeria assumed sole command of the Martel armies. Two years later, Yronwood bent the knee to Nymeria.

Nymeria remained sole ruler of Dorne despite remarrying twice – first to the aged Lord Uller of Hellholt and then to Ser Davos Dayne of Starfall, the Sword of the Morning. Her husbands served only as consorts and counsellors.

Nymeria ruled for twenty-seven years, survived a dozen attempts on her life, put down two rebellions, and threw back two invasions by the Storm King Durran the Third and one by King Greydon of the Reach.

In summary: Nymeria was a badass!

Nymeria had four daughters by Mors Martell and a son by Davos Dayne. The Dornish had adopted the customs and laws of the Rhoynar so upon Nymeria’s death, her eldest daughter succeeded her.

Up next, the Doom of Valyria

[beyondmistland]

Westerosi Worldbuilding Wednesday: Hidden History of Dorne: Lost Lore (Part I)

Ø  Letter #1: Dorne means "desert" or "empty land" in the Old Tongue.

Ø  Letter #2: The Old Gods were never adopted by the Dornish.

Ø  Letter #3: The Old Man of the Mountain was worshipped by House Yronwood.

(He was once the sire of all divinities...According to archives at Yronwood.)

(He was once the gods' caretaker...If you believe the claims of everyone else.)

(Today he is a lesser aspect of the Father Above.)

(He will wake up when Dorne approaches its darkest hour.)

The Maiden-Made-of-Clouds was worshipped by House Fowler.

A love goddess was worshipped by the riverine houses.

(They gave her many titles. The Lady of Sighs. The Guardian of the Grove. The Mistress of Pleasure.)

House Dayne worshipped the Queen of Stars.

(Her worst enemy was the Night Lord.)

(The Night Lord was her consort.)

(He abducted her...If you believe the claims of House Dryland.)

(He seduced her...If you believe the claims of House Dayne.)

House Blackmont worshipped the Bloody Vulture.

(Today he is a lesser aspect of the Stranger.)

Ø  Letter #4: "Dry" Dornishmen are cunning and composed. "Wet" Dornishmen are bold and reckless.

(These labels went out of use when Daeron I conquered Dorne.)

Ø  Letter #5: To survive the journey around the Broken Arm ships do two things.

(They bring along tender vessels.)

(They pick up food and drink at a dozen locations.)

(Arranged in advance.)

Ø  Letter #6: There are a dozen Dornish clans.

Ø  Letter #7: The Dornish Play Cycle is the most popular in Westeros.

(It was commissioned to help foster unity among the Dornish people.)

(I. The Beginning and the End—The arrival of the First Men.)

(II. Where the Star Falls-House Dayne is founded.)

(III. The Price of a Crown-House Dryland is founded.)

(IV. Trial by Fire-House Yronwood is founded.)

(V. A Crown Made of Skulls—The most powerful house in Dorne.)

(VI. Doom—The riverine realm collapses.)

(VII. Where Other Men Fear To Tread—The arrival of the Andals. (Act I: One Last Trick—House Toland is founded. Act II: A Flower in the Sand—House Vaith is founded. Act III: A Knight in Leopard's Skin—House Santagar is founded. Act IV: The Will of the Seven—House Allyrion is founded. Act V: To the Very Best of Friends—House Uller is founded. Act VI: The Grace of Water—House Qorgyle is founded. Act VII: Our Time Has Come—House Martell is founded.))

(VIII. What is Dorne worth? —A difficult decision must be made.)

(IX. Till All the Seas Go Dry—The Storm King wars with House Yronwood.)

(X. The High Spider—House Yronwood is brought down by a Holy War.)

(XI. We Will Never Be Kings—Chaos.)

(XII. Ten Thousand Ships—The landing of the Rhoynar.)

(XIII. When All is Darkest—The Third Battle of the Boneway.)

(XIV. Bowed, Bent, Broken*—Six men are sent to the Wall.)

(XV. Long Live the Princess—Nymeria dies.)

(XVI. The Dead Play Games Too***—Lady Toland saves her husband from the King of Ghosts.)

(XVII. False Coin***—A comedy.)

(XVIII. Peace Without Submission*******—Aegon I.)

(XIX. The Black Foe*******—Daeron I.)

(XX. The Treaty*******—Baelor I.)

(XXI. The Union*******—Daeron II.)

(*Also the name of a play celebrating Daeron I's conquest of Dorne**.)

(**Commissioned by Lord Hightower.)

(***Apocryphal)

(***Certain details make it clear that the play is an analogy for the riverine realm's collapse.)

(***Ghosts in shells. Halls full of briar. A city atop a brown hill.)

(***Other details make it clear that the play is also an analogy for the riverine realm's conquest by the Andals.)

(***Lady Toland driving the ghosts back to their realm by shedding seven tears.)

(***As a result, many Maesters believe this play to be an appropriation.)

(***Apocryphal)

(***Yorick I was busy arranging his heir's marriage to Princess Alyssa. As a result, Mammon Dryland was left in charge of the treasury. Nine lords asked him for money****. They were all refused. When the king came back he replaced Mammon******.)

(****Lord Wyl wished to build a bigger snake pit. Lord Uller wished to build a new guildhall for the Alchemists. Lord Dayne wished to throw a tourney. Lord Martell wished to repair the Sandship. Lord Toland wished to build a new tomb for his wife. Lord Jordayne wished to publish a piece praising Yorick I*****. Lord Fowler wished to expand his hunting grounds.)

(*****He wrote a poem criticizing House Dryland instead.)

(******Seeing that Mammon had put on weight the king ripped open his robes. This revealed Mammon's plan to sneak out silver.)

(***The most popular play.)

(***Frequently banned by House Martell.)

(*******Addendum)

(The Yronwoods are always pretentious. The Ullers are always obsessed with wildfire. The Wyls are always cruel. The Allyrions are always pious. The Daynes are always good. The Drylands are always evil*. The Jordaynes write everything down**.)

(*There is only one exception.)

(**They are long-winded.)

(**They are always forgotten by everyone else.)

As always, share, comment, and critique.

[westerosims]

Princess Nymeria named Mors Martell the Prince of Dorne, in the Rhoynish style, asserting his dominion over “the red sands and the white, and all the lands and rivers from the mountains to the great salt sea.” Such supremacy was easier to declare than to achieve, however. Years of war followed, as the Martells and their Rhoynar partners met and subdued one petty king after another. No fewer than six conquered kings were sent to the Wall in golden fetters by Nymeria and her prince, until only the greatest of their foes remained: Yorick Yronwood, Warden of the Stone Way, Knight of the Wells, King of the Redmarch, King of the Greenbelt, and King of the Dornish. (TWOIAF PG 25)