The origins of the Free Cities are as disparate as their peoples, yet all owe their existence
to the Valyrian Freehold.
The cities of Volantis, Myr, and Lys were founded as trading colonies, while Tyrosh
originated as a military stronghold.
Pentos and Lorath were first settled by others, only to be subsumed as the authority of the
dragonlords moved westwards.
Qohor and Norvos became a place of refuge for religious dissidents, but no matter their
origins, each for a time came under the command of Valyria, all save one.
The mere existence of the 9th city was kept secret for a century and even after it revealed
itself to the world, its exact location remained hidden.
The Dragonlords searched in vain, but for all their power, even they never discovered
the location of the Free City of Braavos.
Known as the “bastard daughter of Valyria”, Braavos owes its existence to the bravery
and cunning of escaped slaves.
On route to a new Valyrian colony on the distant shores of Sothoryos, these slaves rebelled
and took command of the ships that had been their prisons.
They turned north instead of south, travelling as far as they could.
According to the histories, it was a group of slave women from the lands of Jogos Nhai,
moonsingers, who predicted where their final sanctuary could be found, a hidden lagoon
covered in pine and fog, where no man or woman would ever be a slave.
Braavos sprawls across a hundred islands situated within a vast lagoon.
Its seaward sides are protected by towering mountains, while the nearby mainland is covered
in impassible bogs and swamps.
The only navigable entrance is a single inlet, over which the famous Titan of Braavos stands
guard.
This massive fortress is one of the great wonders of the world, standing 400 feet high,
its eyes burning with the light of roaring beacon fires.
Not since the Century of Blood following the Doom of Valyria has any enemy been so foolish
as to provoke the Titan’s wrath and the memory of burning pitch unleashed on the intruding
ships below is a potent reminder to all those who might look on Braavos with dreams of conquest.
Immediately beyond the Titan lies the Arsenal of Braavos, a shipyard without equal in the
world, where the entire Braavos fleet can lie at anchor and a new warship can be built
in a single day.
The city itself is a maze of waterways and bridges, linking together islands and floating
structures.
Where the citizens of other cities might boast of their grand avenues and streets, the Braavosi
can be justly proud of their canals.
These are as tightly packed with travellers as any street in any city, filled with fisherman,
merchants, priests and travellers.
Three main harbors provide access to the city, but countless wharves and landings are the
site of unyielding activity.
Only in the Drowned Town can some semblance of quiet be found.
This is the eldest part of the city and many of its buildings have collapsed back into
the waters, places where only the poorest live now.
Within the alleyways of the city, away from the water’s edge, Braavos might be mistaken
for any of the other great cities of Westeros or Essos, save for its near complete absence
of nature.
Soil is a rare commodity in Braavos, and the city is one of stone architecture and great
works of granite.
Houses are constructed so close together they seem to lean upon one another, and every inch
of space is put towards some purpose.
Despite this, it is a city like any other, with a variety of Inns, alehouses, and brothels
scattered across its hundred islands.
It might also be said to be a city of a hundred gods, for every religion is respected within
its borders.
On the Isle of Gods, located in the center of the city, temples can be found serving
every faith.
The Temple of the Moonsingers is the most revered, but it presides alongside the Temple
of the Lord of Light, the Sept Beyond the Sea, the Cult of Starry Wisdom, and many others.
Even gods whose time has ended are honored here, remembered in the Holy Refuge.
The most mysterious place of worship is the House of Black and White.
It honors what its followers refer to as the Many-Faced God and is greatly feared as the
headquarters of the Faceless Men, assassins whose abilities are said to be beyond that
of normal men.
Ultimately however, the city is one of traders and merchants and it has been said that profit
means more than pride amongst the hundred isles.
Above its fleets and sellswords, the greatest weapon of Braavos is the Iron Bank.
Its immense wealth and influence has made Braavos the most powerful of the Free Cities
and the Iron Bank it is said, will always have its due.
That time may be coming soon.
The War of the Five Kings has bankrupted all of Westeros and many have tried to court the
favor of the Iron Bank.
Of most concern to the Sealord of Braavos however is the rumors of a three headed dragon
born somewhere in the far east.
Braavos was founded by those who fled Valyria and the wrath of its Dragonlords and the city
would sooner sink beneath the waves than be bound to the will of a foreign tyrant.
In Atlas, the Templin Institute investigates the most storied places from across alternate
worlds.
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