Ghis

Ghis is a cultural and geographical region in George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. It lies east of the Free Cities, west of Qarth, south of the Dothraki Sea and borders Slaver's Bay. May have been inspired by the city of Carthage, and the empire that bears its name.

History

The Ghiscari Empire

The Ghiscari Empire is one of the oldest known cultures and nations in the world. Its creation and Golden Age predates that of its successor, the Valyrian Freehold, by thousands of years. Built under the Ghiscari emblem of the harpy, the Empire was the military, economic and cultural powerhouse in the region now known as Slaver's Bay. At its height, Ghis fielded highly disciplined legions of soldiers that were reputed to be nearly unbeatable on the battlefield. The architecture of Ghis was, and still is, dominated by massive brick towers and pyramids built on the back of slave labor.

The Ghiscari Empire fell over 5,000 years ago while warring with the upstart nation of Valyria. Despite its wealth and nearly invincible legion, the Ghiscari lacked the one asset that the Valyrians used to build their fledgling empire: Dragons.

After the Fall

Even though Ghis was brought low by the Valyrians, it lived on in the culture, heritage and memory of New Ghis and the Ghiscari cities on Slaver's Bay. These three cities, Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen, became the hub of slave trade and were the wealthiest and most influential powers in the region. Their citizens lived in a state of stagnant excess, feeding off the labor of their slaves and paying off their enemies, namely the Dothraki, in money and slaves. This comfortable but greatly diminished lifestyle continued until the eastern military campaigns of Daenerys Targaryen.

Culture and Economy

The Ghiscari hold on fiercely to their history and many of the Ghiscari view the modern cities on Slaver's Bay as a continuation of the Old Ghiscari Empire that ceased to exist thousands of years ago. They take pride and solace in the fact that even though the Ghiscari Empire was torn asunder by the hated Valyrians thousands of years ago they have outlived them and survived the cataclysmic destruction of their enemies known as the Doom of Valyria.

The Ghiscari tend to be broad and fleshy with amber skin and dark hair and eyes. They often have red hair or a mixture of red and black hair, a feature not seen outside of Ghis. The wealthy slave traders of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen refer to themselves as the Good, Wise or Great Masters and are taken to dress in tokars, a toga like garment, which are used to identify a Masters rank and station in Ghiscari society by the variation on the fringes of the garment. These privileged families of Ghis have lives of luxury, floating on pleasure barges at dusk and feasting and hosting elaborate festivals honoring their history at night. While the Masters of the three cities are all wealthy and powerful, it is the Good Masters of Astapor - who trade in the eunuch slave soldiers known as the Unsullied - that claim the greatest wealth and station.

The Cities of Slaver's Bay

The three principal cities located in the former Ghiscari Empire, a region now known as Slaver's Bay, are Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen.

Astapor

The most wealthy of the cities, Astapor is 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 dilapidated, with massive, crumbling red-brick walls that the Astapori no longer man. The city is dominated by massive brick pyramids that line the waterfront of the bay, and the Plaza of Pride, which serves as an open air slave market, a marshalling area for the Unsullied, and a community gathering place. Even though the city has long passed its glory days, it is still a wealthy and powerful trade hub, with countless slaves, massive fighting pits, and training areas for gladiator and Unsullied slaves.

Yunkai

The smallest of the three cities, Yunkai, like Meereen, does not trade in Unsullied but 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. Due to the city's lack of Unsullied, it relies on a mixed professional and slave army of approximately 4,000 with at least 1,000 mercenaries. Typical for Ghiscari, Yunkai soldiers wear impractical armor and oiled hair teased into enormous shapes, limiting their effectiveness.

Meereen

The largest of the three slaver cities, Meereen has a population equaling 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 Ghiscari 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 equipped in traditionally extravagant Ghiscari fashion with scales of copper and lances as long as fourteen feet.