Sunspear
Also known as the Old Palace, Sunspear is the seat of House Nymeros-Martell and the capital of Dorne. The castle is located on the Broken Arm, north of the Greenblood on the far southeastern coast of Westeros and is surrounded on three sides by the sea, and by the shadow city on the west side that streatches the length of the coast for almost ten miles to Planky Town. Planky Town is the largest and most populous settlement in Dorne and the closest thing the Dornish people have to a true city. Planky Town is also the chief harbor of Dorne.
Sunspear is a walled settlement protected by three massive Winding Walls encircling one another, containing miles of narrow alleys, hidden courts, and noisy bazaars. The Threefold Gate, is where three massive guarded gates are lined up one behind the other to avoid the labyrinth, allowing straight passage on a brick path to the Old Palace.
Sunspear's chief structures, the Old Palace is the original stronghold of House Martell, also called the Sandship- it is a large, dun-colored building that looks like a dromond. Over time, two Rhoynish style towers sprung up around the keep: the tall and slender Spear Tower and the great, domed Tower of the Sun. These two towers are the first things visitors see when they arrive, whether by land or by sea.
HistoryThe Sandship, or the Old Palace, was the ancient keep of House Martell, a minor Dornish house at the time. When Nymeria arrived in Dorne with ten thousand ships of the Rhoynar possibly around 700 BC, she wed Lord Mors Martell, the Lord of the Sandship. This alliance of the Martells with the Rhoynar led to the unification of Dorne in Nymeria's War.The seat of the ruling Princes and Princesses of Dorne became Sunspear, the new castle which developed around the Sandship. It was named after the union of the Martell spear with the sun of the Rhoynar.Daeron the Young DragonTwo years ago in 157 AC. King Daeron believed Dorne represented unfinished business for his family. While the King personally led a host against Dorne, Alyn Valeryon, the King's Master of Ships transported Rickon Stark, the Lord of Winterfell who commanded forces outside Sunspear.After a failed assassination attempt on the King at Sunspear, an attack that wounded Daeron's cousin Aemon Targaryen 'the Dragonknight', a bloody battle between Targaryens and Dornish defenders arose. This skirmish lasted many hours and saw the death of Lord Rickson Stark while King Daeron returned to King's Landing with his wounded cousin and promoted Lyonel Tyrell as Warden of the Sands.
Fearing reprisal, Prince Martell fled after the resistance failed to take the life of young King Daeron- taking the entirety of House Martell on ocean faring ships that included the Lord Treasurer, his Administrator, the Master of Poisons, and the Commodore of the Royal Dornish Navy.
Lyonel Tyrell appointed Ser Gannon Baratheon as Steward of Sunspear for the Crown as he tracks down rebels on sand ships. Ser Gannon is a devout man of the Faith who regularly attends Faith mass. Ser Baratheon brings an individual known only as the Faceless Man to help fill political gaps left behind by the Martells.
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| Prince Eldros Martell |
House Martell
Words: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
Coat of Arms: A gold spear piercing a red sun on an orange field
Seat: Old Palace 'Sand Ship', Sunspear
Head of House: Prince Eldros Martell
Heir: Markon Martell
Ethnicity: Andal and Rhoynar
Founded: Coming of the Andals and 700 BC the Rhoynar
Holdings: Sunspear, Shadow City and Planky Town
Trade & Interests: Shipping and trading, training, expertise, diplomacy, ship repair.
House Members: 33
Bannermen: 18 Landed Houses of the Broken Arm
Family Weapon: The Ray of Light (spear)
Spear Tower Council
The Spear Tower Council, a small table of notables tasked with the day to day administration of Dorne. After House Martell fled Sunspear, some members holding ruling office, these folks who where left behind to manage Sunspear and the Broken Arm in the wake of Targaryen occupation.
Ser Gannon Baratheon of Storm's End: Steward of Sunspear for the King and Spear Tower Council Chair pro tempore. Apponted by Lord Tyrell. Ser Gannon is tall, blonde and reeking of masculinity, he is chiseled from the finest upbringing in the Stormlands. He is even a follower of the Faith (which makes mother happy) and enjoys weekly sermons at the Old Sept. His position is functionary however and he knows his power doesn't extend beyond Lord Tyrell, but he takes his current duties seriously, the last thing Ser Gannon wants is for people to die.
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| Maester Pyre Baugh |
Pyre Baugh of Lemmonwood: Maester for House Martel. Before his time on the Spear Tower Council Master Pyre studied at the Citadel with Master Oghan and Headmaster Kaheb. Pyre returned to his homeland and opened an apothecary dispensing remedies made from herbs, plants and roots. And like his father and his father's father, Pyre farms a relatively small area of Lemmonwood to this day. His knowledge of the region is expansive and he can provide nearly firsthand accounts of recent important events.
Ser Girstem Warder of Whitecourt: Master of the Courts. Girstem is responsible for executing judicial duties for House Martell including arbitrating inheritance rights, trade disputes, and rights of passage and leaderships. House Warder are widely used legislators, bipartisan negotiators and diplomats for Houses across Dorne and Westeros.
Mildenrod Santagar of Spottswood: Royal Liaison. Mildenrood comes from a family line who traditionally served the ruling house of Dorne since since the coming of the Rhoynar. Their small holdings are north of Sunspear along the coast allows this house to excel at sea fearing ship building second to House Wells. Mildenrood is a follower of the Faith and was appointed by Gannon Baratheon filling the vacancy left behind when Prince Martell fled with the previous Lord Treasurer.
Captain Hronagar Tyde of Coral Keep: Commodore of the Royal Dornish Navy. House Tyde are great sea fearing traders with holdings north of Sunspear along the coast. Hronagar Tyde is a follower of the Faith and attends weekly sermons. He was also appointed by Gannon Baratheon filling the vacancy left behind when Prince Martell fled with the previous Commodore.
Tergaram Carcel of Bladehall: Secretary of War. A small centrally located banner house in the Broken Arm, the Carcels are highly militant and disciplined spearmen. Tergaram is no exception to this, strong and well groomed which is why he was appointed to the Spear Tower Council by Gannon Baratheon to fill the vacancy left behind when Prince Martell fled with the previous war commander.
Cassella Vaith, Princess of the Greenblood, a honorary seat at the Spear Tower Council given annually to those young women who most exemplify the virtues of Nymeria. A willowy maid with green eyes and pale whiteblonde hair. A Princess of the Greenblood traditionally carries the Wand of Wonder and is in attendance at every session. She is a follower of the goddess Mother Rhoyne.
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| Radco Sands |
Other Personalities
Radco Sands, a familiar face for the heroes. An ally from the first meeting at the High Hermitage Sorghum Festival, Radco helped carry secret messages for Samaya Qorgyle and the resistance in his amazing flying carriage to Sunspear and to factions of resistance along with way.
Some call him a bard or assume he had some training as a maester because of the depth and width of his knowledge. He claims his mother was a hedge knight who found herself with an unexpected child; she gave him up at the Citadel in Old Town. Relying on his charisma and wit, he hoarded knowledge, friends and business contacts to become the eccentric explorer known today.
Dhulsa The Guide of Clan Fareyes, Master of the East Wind. Dhulsa is a member of a tribal first world long lived race of slight humanoids with sandy colored skin, long white hair and long thick tails. Dhulsa leads a group of Speakers seeking a Moon Temple. His is a peaceful cult seeking to spread their word of hope and serenity across the Broken Arm of Drone, and to discover the reasons behind Dhulsa's recent dark nightmares.
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| Dhulsa of Clan Fareyes |
The Old Sept
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| Pious Moll |
Located on the third rise across from the Sandship is the Old Sept. The highly stylized and stained class church to the Faith of the Seven. Weekly sermons at the Old Sept are high-energy gatherings of loud hymns and feverish dances lifting up the seven aspects of god. Faithful gather to hammer their fists on their palms while praising the Smith or perhaps rub the bellies of Mothers and Maidens with smiles and joy to god.
The man responsible for these energetic masses comes from House Dalt in Lemonwood, a house of landed knights in Dorne. Pious Moll is a tall, charismatic goliath of a man, with the sturn gaze of an inquisitor and the aura of a paladin who can work up the faithful into a family-friendly frenzy on each and every sabbath.
People say he can be heavy handed and sometimes crewel when it comes to church doctrine and employs religious enforcers to impose church teachings. 'Suffering cleanses the soul' Pious Moll would say.
Furthermore Pious Moll has a way for names, it is suspected that he remembers all who visit the Old Sept as well as all the members of his congregation including the 'families of faith': Banner Houses most active in the church Carcel, Santagar, Tyde, and Warder.
Pious Moll was extremely pleased when he discovered the Steward of Sunspear was a man of Faith.
Spear Tower
One of the first things visitors see is the Spear Tower. A 200 feet high sand colored slender tower dedicated to the ancient house Martell and is primarily military in function. It contains barracks, municipal offices and can hold noble prisoners below. High in the minaret, the Spear Tower Council meets to discuss land feuds, settle personal arguments and to see to the operations of Dorne. The ancestral spear of the Martells is usually under guard here.
Tower of the Sun
The wide squat Tower of the Sun in contrast is a dazzling, elaborate and stylized high bronze dome that houses the formal high seats of the Prince and Princess of Dorne. Two grand chairs face the dawn, one with the Martell spear inlaid in gold upon its back, the other bearing the blazing Rhoynish sun. A glowing orb, hovers in the center of the great hall called 'the Sun of Dorne'
The Godswood of Sunpear
Many of the major Dornish Houses can trace their lineage to the First-men, House Martell is no exception. At one time, before the Faith and goddess of the Rhoynar, many Dornish venerated the old gods.
Some remnants of these old gods remain and the Godswood of Sunpear is one of these rare examples. Back then first-world races maintained sacred groves, each containing a stone circle and a sacrificial altar with a nearby Wierwood tree overseeing the ancient rites with its stoic gaze. The Godswood is one of the oldest locations in Sunspear and is part of the original Old Palace.
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| Godswood at the Old Palace |
Temple of the Moon Lotus
On the south side of the Greenblood are temple ruins to the great Mother Rhoyne, the river goddess. The ancient temple features a long stone path of dark crumbling turtle statues that overlook the water lotus pools. Water trickling from the Greenblood river can always be heard. It is a place of serenity and is known to many to be the first sanctified holy ground to Mother Rhyone in Westeros.
After Targaryen forces laid waste to the temple, three Ghiscari Bouda have since revitalized the ancient temple bringing with them a small sect who show devotion to their goddess with evening prayers and black invocations.
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| Ghiscari Bouda |
The Weeping Stones (Former Water Touchstone)
Overlooking the ocean thirteen black stones thrice the size a draft horse continually produce fresh water by ancient magical means, giving them their weeping appearance. Each Summer Solstice bhuka tribal elders lead pilgirms to the Weeping Stones to welcome summer and to appease the water elements. It is said water directly from the stone has restoration properties.
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| The Weeping Stones |
Shadow City
The closest thing to a true city that the Dornish have, a dusty cluster of buildings huddled against the Winding Walls of Sunspear. Around 400 BC, the three Winding Walls were raised, running through the Shadow City, forming a defensive curtain which led to the labyrinth of narrow alleys, homes, grocers and bazaars seen today. Banner Houses of the Broken Arm hold various aspects of trade and have a presence in Shadow City. Most commodities, metal goods and services can be found in the dim streets.
Only the Threefold Gate provides a straight path to the Old Palace, allowing visitors to pass all three of the Winding Walls directly, without having to pass through the confusing streets of the shadow city. If need be, these gates can be heavily defended. It is said the Prince's spy network the Sand Scorpions has a presence in Shadow City.
Planky Town
The town sits at the mouth of the Greenblood ten miles south of Sunspear, with planks instead of streets lending to its name. The Planky Town is a settlement that floats upon the river. The houses, halls, and shops are made of poleboats, barges, and merchant ships, lashed together with hempen rope and floating on the tide. Again the Banner Houses of the Broken Arm control various aspects of trade here.
The merchant galleys of the Free Cities of Essos are known to visit Planky Town both known for its open and free trade. Travel from Planky Town to Godsgrace as well as Vaith are easily possible via barges and flat skiffs on the Greenblood.
History
Last year during King Daeron’s conquest of Dorne, the Master of Ships, Alyn Velaryon broke through Planky Town after raiding the Salt Shore coast, destroying much of the shipyards along the way. He then sailed up the Greenblood to Vaith raiding the river settlements along the way while Rickon Stark was fighting Dornish resistance alongside his nephew at Sunspear for the Targaryens.
Sailors who sailed with Alyn Velaryon reported a change in him after his raids along Salt Shore.
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