Thousands of years before the Targaryen Conquest of Westeros, stories say the ancestors of
the Valyrians were simple sheepherders who discovered Dragons living near the chain of
Volcanoes they called the 14 flames.
Over time they bonded with the creatures, and were able to ride them into battle.
Becoming skilled in the magical arts, it is believed they controlled dragons through the
use of whips, magic horns, and sorcery.
Founding the city of Valyria, they came to rule as a Freehold, where every land owner
had a voice in policy, able to vote on various issues.
However it would be the 40 wealthiest and most influential families that held the most
political power.
As they expanded and built colonies, they sent Archons as representatives of Valyria,
to oversee each settlement.
However as they moved into the northeast they were confronted by the Old Empire of Ghis,
and fought a series of five wars against a people who at the time were the greatest superpower
west of the Bone Bone mountains.
Little is known about the First Ghiscari war, except that Valyria was victorious, but during
the second Ghiscari War, the northern Kingdom of Sarnor became involved, fighting alongside
the dragonlords of Valyria against the lock-step legions of the Old Empire and that again Valyria
was victorious.
Their victories would continue into the Third Ghiscari War, when the Sarnori again allied
with the dragonlords, their conflict now spread across the Summer sea nearing the lands of
Sothoryos, where the Ghiscari colony of Gorgai was captured by Valyria and renamed Gogossos.
In the Fourth Ghiscari War, Saronri civil strife led some to continue their support
of Valyria, while others sided with the Ghiscari.
However Valyria again proved victorious, this time capturing Zamettar, gaining the only
major city in the Sothoryos.
During the Fifth and final war around the year 4700BC, the Ghiscari were completely
defeated, with the dragonlords burning the city of Ghis and spreading salt and sulphur
so nothing would ever grow again.
After years spent interacting with Old Ghis, the Valyrians adopted their practice of slavery,
using a great number of captured prisoners in the mines of the 14 flames, working them
to death to extract bronze, iron, tin, gold and silver.
Becoming masters of stonework, they used magic and dragonfire to shape their constructions,
building beautiful cities of tall towers with valyrian sphynxes gazing down on them from
eyes of garnet.
They also developed a special kind of steel, folded many more times than normal and cast
with ancient spells to make weapons stronger and sharper than any other, becoming famed
and highly prized around the world.
Valyrians were also known to have built great roads across Essos, and magical items such
as glass candles, which were shards of obsidian that when burning gave off an unpleasant light,
allowing sorcerers to have visions, and see across mountains, seas and deserts, able to
communicate with one another half a world apart
With Ghis defeated and Valyrian civilization thriving, the Lords of the peninsula started
to look west, and established a colony along the banks of the river Rhoyne, at first just
a military outpost, but soon settled by merchants who’d paid the Freehold to establish their
own independently governed realm.
And so Volantis became the first Free city, handling their own internal affairs but paying
tribute to Valyria and living under her protection.
The Merchants were eager to take advantage of trade from the Rhoynar in the north, and
since they were a powerful civilization in their own right, the Valyrians chose to have
cordial relations with them for many years while Volantis grew wealthy and strong.
Moving further west more Free Cities were founded, defeating and conquering the Andals
who populated the coast.
There was Lys, a pleasure retreat and trade hub, Tyr a military outpost which soon became
famed for the unique dyes and coloring they produced, proving popular amongst the Valyrians.
There was the trade city of Myr which grew from the conquest of a walled Andal city,
yet there is some dispute over Pentos, with some claiming it grew from a trade settlement
where Valyrians mixed with Andals, while other say it was a city that already existed, but
it’s Andal king chose pay tribute to the Valyrians.
Other cities were settled by religious dissidents, with the bearded priests who worship a secret
god founding Norvos, and the followers of the Black Goat establishing Qohor from a simple
lumber camp.
Although Andals culture and civilization was largely destroyed in Essos, it is believed
many fled from the coming invasion thus leading to their great migration into Westeros estimated
to have occurred between 6 and 2000 years before conquest.
However others fled north, and so the island of Lorath also became a refuge for Andals,
with King Qarlon the Great known as King of all the Andals, expanding his territory south
and west.
Unfortunately he soon came into conflict with Norvos, and when he her marched against the
city directly, Valyria came to their defense, killing the king and destroying his homeland
in the Scouring of Lorath.
And so in 1436, another valyrian religious sect who followed the blind god Boash, settled
the island.
Aside from these 8 cities, known as the daughters of Valyria, there was the bastard daughter
Braavos, founded in a north western lagoon by escaped slaves who’d killed their masters
and stolen their ships, then fleeing from the wrath of the Freehold.
And so they secretly established the city of Braavos, going to great lengths to keep
its location secret for over a century.
However when the Sealord of the city felt it was ready to join the larger world, they
revealed themselves and sent negotiators to Valyria, to arrange a financial agreement
with the Freehold, settling the debts they owed for the people they killed and ships
they stole, though they did not pay for the slaves themselves.
This satisfied the Valyrians, who had moved on to other concerns.
The largest obstacle they faced in their western expansion was the powerful and relatively
advanced civilization of the Rhoynar, who had vast armies and knowledge of water magics.
And so when hostilities first began, the Rhoynar won a number of confrontations, and under
their leader Prince Garin the Great, raised an army of 250000 to face the Dragonlords.
But they ultamitely lost the Rhonish wars, seeing their final defeat in the Second Spice
War around 700 years before conquest, with their leader captured.
Facing slaughter, the Rhoynar who remained followed their last leader Princess Nymeria
into exile, boarding ten thousand ships to seek a new homeland, eventually settling in
Dorne.
With western Essos conquered, the Valyrian freehold annexed a small island in the narrow
sea around 326BC to act as their westernmost territory, quickly defeating the opposition
of local lords.
Using their magic they twisted black stone to form the fortress of Dragonstone beneath
the active volcano they called Dragonmount.
Yet as wealthy and powerful as the Freehold had become, their years of prosperity were
coming to an end when in 126 BC, a young woman named Daenys the Dreamers, a daughter of House
Targaryen, foresaw the great tragedy that would befall the Valyrian Penninsula.
Convinced his daughter was correct, Aenar Targaryen, patriarch of what was a minor noble
family, moved his household to the far away island of Dragonstone, an action seen as cowardice
by the aristocracy of homeland, as they’d withdrawn from the peninsula politics.
However as a result of their action, they were one of the few families to survive the
Doom of Valyria which struck 12 years later in 114BC.
Although the exact origin of the tragic event is not known, it is believed the 14 flames
erupted, destroying their cities and the Penninsula.
Although most of the nobles and their dragons were lost, some few survived, such as Aurion,
who declared himself First Emperor of Valyria, and raised an army of 30000 in Qohor, leading
them south atop his dragon to reconquer their homeland.
However many say the horrors of the Doom continued to haunt this area, and so the dragonlord
and his armies were never heard from again.
The rest of the continent fell to chaos and war, with the free cities struggling against
each other for supremacy, while Dothraki horselords ravaged central essos, conquering the Dothraki
Sea.
However on Dragonstone the Targaryens and their dragons survived, as did their allies
in House Velaryon of Driftmark and House Celtigar of Claw Isle, who were both of Valyrian ancestry.
Over the next century the Targaryens became a major power in the narrow sea, controlling
trade with the threat of dragonfire, until Aegon the Conqueror was ready to invade Westeros.