A map showing the location of Slaver's Bay off the coast of Essos.
Slaver's Bay as it is depicted in the title sequence.
Slaver's Bay is the name given to an area on the southern coast of Essos, located to the south-east of Westeros and the Free Cities and to the west of Qarth. The name can refer to the bay itself or the entire region.
The area borders the Dothraki sea, which is located to its north. It is noted as the location of the three great slave-cities of Meereen, Astapor and Yunkai.
The country of Lhazar, noted for its unwarlike shepherd-folk, is located up the Skahazadhan River from Meereen, to the northeast of Slaver's Bay. The Dothraki enjoy pillaging areas close to Slaver's Bay and driving captives to the slave cities in return for riches. They particularly enjoy pillaging Lhazar, since it is located conveniently close to Meereen.
The bay also used to be the heartland of the fallen Valyrian Freehold, with the shattered peninsula of Valyria located to the west of the bay.
History
Season 2
As Ser Jorah Mormont's suggestion that they attempt to recruit an army in Slaver's Bay to help in their bid to invade Westeros, Daenerys Targaryen changes her destination from the Free Cities to Slaver's Bay, arriving in the city of Astapor to bargain for an army of Unsullied.[1]
Locations of note
- Valyrian Peninsula: once the heartland of the greatest empire in the world, now a shattered ruin of broken islands and smoking waters. Avoided by all but the bravest (or most foolhardy) treasure-hunters.
- The Smoking Sea: the body of water formed in the Doom of Valyria, as parts of the mainland plunged into the sea. The sea is feared for the poisonous fumes that emanate from it. Sailors give the Smoking Sea a wide berth.
- The Lands of the Long Summer: once the hinterland of the Valyrian Freehold and the site of its first conquests, devastated in the Doom of Valyria. Mantarys is the only major surviving settlement of this region.
- The Sea of Sighs: an inland sea in the Lands of the Long Summer.
- Tolos and Elyria: city-states on the north-western coast of Slaver's Bay.
- Bhorash: a ruined city on the north coast of Slaver's Bay.
- Lhazar: a small nation of sheep-herders, frequently raided by the Dothraki.
- Meereen: one of the three great slaver city-states, noted for its pyramids.
- Yunkai: one of the three slave cities, noted for its bed slaves.
- Astapor: one of the three slave cities, noted as being the home of the infamous Unsullied warrior-eunuchs.
- Ghiscar: an expansionist kingdom in the south-east of the region, claiming descent from the Ghiscari Empire thrown down by Valyria five thousand years ago.
- The Gulf of Grief: the gulf formed by the opening of Slaver's Bay into the Summer Sea.
- The Isle of Cedars: an island separating Slaver's Bay from the Gulf of Grief. Devastated by tidal waves during the Doom of Valyria.
In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Slaver's Bay is a region in south-central Essos where slaves are bought, trained, and sold in massive numbers.
The city of Meereen is located 550 leagues (1,650 miles) east of Volantis. The land-route from the Free Cities to Slaver's Bay, employing Valyrian roads crossing the northern end of the Valyrian Peninsula via the city of Mantarys, is known as the "demon road" and is considered exceptionally dangerous. The majority of trade and travel between the Free Cities and Slaver's Bay takes place by sea, with ships giving the ill-omened ruins of Valyria a wide berth.
See also
- Slaver's Bay at A Wiki of Ice and Fire (major spoilers from the books).
- HBO Viewer's Guide.
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