In January of 2019, over 80 new and unseen illustrations from the World of A Song of
Ice and Fire will be on display in Berlin Germany, for a four day exhibit, free to the
public.
These images were created by 40 men and women from around the world, who worked as concept
artists for the Game of Thrones tv show, and the exhibit was organized with the full blessing
and support of George RR Martin.
Those in attendance will also have access to an audio guide, exploring the background
of the regions on display, with unique music composed for each room.
As a preview to the event, we can explore some of the history behind the beautiful locations
revealed in the trailer.
During the reign of King Harwyn Hardhand, the Ironborn went to war with the Kingdom
of the Storm and took possession of the riverlands, to form the Kingdom of Isles and Rivers.
When the King’s son Halleck came into power, he chose a modest tower in Fairmarket for
his seat, however when his own son came into power, a new project was undertaken.
Harren the Black, as he was known, sought to build a monument to himself, in the form
of a colossal fortress with walls so tall and thick no army could ever hope to breach
them.
In the Construction of Harrenhal by Sven Sauer & Greig Howitt, we see the five mighty towers
and colossal walls off in the distance, with a long line of people, perhaps workers, approaching.
Desiring the highest hall and tallest towers in all Westeros, King Harren’s slaves and
servants laboured for forty years in terrible conditions, with thousands dying before its
completion.
Built along the northern coast of the godseye, it’s construction drained the resources
of both the Iron Islands and the Riverlands, and led the King to plunder neigboring kingdoms
for stone, lumber, gold, and laborers.
And yet despite all of his efforts, Harren’s dream was never truly realized, as the very
day of the Harrenhal’s completion, Aegon the Conqueror of House Targaryen landed an
army in Westeros which included 3 large fire breathing dragons.
When their fiersome armies arrived at the gates of Harrenhal, they were joined by an
alliance of rebel Lords from the Riverlands, who had turned their backs on King Harren,
despising him for all the years of suffering he inflicted upon their lands.
Despite being betrayed and surrounded by enemies, Harren refused to surrender, retreating into
his fortress where he and his sons were burned alive in a torrent of dragonfire.
Due to the horrors commited in its construction and the fate King Harren the Black, many believed
Harrenhal was cursed, and as if to lend further credence to this belief, every family who
ruled the fortress thereafter, eventually presided over the demise of their House, seeing
the hold given to six different families throughout the reign of the Targaryen Kings.
In the Great Tourney at Harrenhal by Sven Sauer, we see a party of knights on their
way to the great fortress in 281 AC, where House Whent was host to an event of enormous
significance for all of Westeros, in which the seeds of civil war were planted.
Though there were a great many interesting occurrences throughout the festivities, the
tournament was remembered primarily for the actions of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, son of
the Mad King Aerys II, who competed and emerged as Champion, earning the right to crown a
woman of his choice as Queen of Love and Beauty.
Yet much to the surprise of those in attendance, he passed over his own wife Elia Martell,
to give the crown of blue roses to lady Lyanna Stark, the betrothed of Lord Robert Baratheon
of the Stormlands.
This was later described as the moment when all the smiles died, as Rhaegar had in one
action insulted the Houses Martell, Stark and Baratheon.
A year later, Rhaegar was accused of kidnapping Lyanna Stark, and when her brother, the heir
to Winterfell rode to King’s Landing seeking vengeance, he and his father were executed
by the Mad King, leading the Starks as well as their allies in House Baratheon and Arryn
to raise their banners in Rebellion.
Built along the rivers of the mountains of the moon, Strongsong by Rene Aigner, depicts
the seat of House Belmore, one of the most powerful families of the Vale.
The Belmore’s of Strongsong were sworn bannermen to the Arryns of the Eyrie, who first rose
to power during the Andal invasion of Westeros, thousands of years before the Targaryens took
power.
Though the First Men kingdoms of the area attempted to unite against the invaders, the
Andals under Ser Artys Arryn were eventually victorious, founding the Kingdom of Mountain
and Vale.
Though most of the First Men then surrender and bent the knee to their new king, some
few refused to submit and retreated into the mountains, forming clans who survived by raiding
nearby villages and vulnerable travellers, though their poor weapons and ragged armor
made them less of a threat to the Lord of a mighty fortress like Strongsong.
Built in a land once ruled over by three petty kings, The Golden Tooth by Manuel Grad reveals
the seat of House Lefford, who served as vassals to the Lannisters after they conquered the
Westerlands to form the Kingdom of the Rock.
House Lefford itself traces their lineage back to the marriage of an Andal Warlord to
a Lady of the First Men and under the rule of House Lannisters were charged with the
defense of this vital strategic position, as most armies had to pass by the Golden Tooth
to attempt invasion from the east.
The area also held significance for their gold mines, which helped make the Lannisters
one of the richest families in all of Westeros.
Originally founded as a military colony by the Dragonlord of the Valyrian Freehold,
Tyrosh by Claudio Pilia, depicts the rich and prosperous city which developed upon an
island in the stepstones, becoming a popular center for commerce in the area.
The merchants of Tyrosh grew rich from the slave trade, and continued to thrive even
after the Doom of Valyria, using their wealth to hire mercenaries to fight their wars.
In their time as an independent city state, Tyrosh was involved a great number of conflicts,
such as the unending wars against Lys and Myr for the Disputed lands and their repeated
attempts to conquer the stepstones.
They also defeated an invasion by Volantis, and became a refuge for House Blackfyre of
Westeros, a family determined to their Targaryen kin and claim the Iron Throne of the Seven
Kingdoms.
Once known as a home to a race of diminuative forest dwellers, the Kingdom of Ifequevron
by Chris Sanchez reveals a hauntingly beautiful scene in the ruins of a once thriving settlement.
Named Ifequevron by the Dothraki, meaning those who walk in the woods, the inhabitant
of this northern forest were said to be shy, and gentle folk who wielded powerful magic
may have been kin to the Children of the Forest who once populated Westeros.
Yet while nearby conquerors like the Dothraki respected the Wood Walkers and left them in
peace, the Ibbenese from an island to the North had no such restraint, and eventually
swept through the territory, leaving behind only one ruined settlement, thereafter known
as Vaes Leisi, meaning city of ghosts.
In time, the Ibbenese lost much of what they’d won in their wars with the horselords of the
south, however the wood walkers largely vanished, leaving behind carved trees, haunted grottoes,
and strange silences in their absence.
When the Westerosi adventurer, Bryan of Old Town journeyed aboard the spearshaker to visit
the forested lands of the Ifequevron, the local ibbenese told him stories about the
ancient creatures, claiming that some still existed, and blessed those who left offerings
of leaf, stone and water.
Once known as the festival city, Chroyane by Falk Boje, depicts the richest and most
powerful of the Rhoynar cities who ruled over much of western Essos before the conquest
of the Valyrian Freehold.
Described as olive skinned with dark hair and eyes, the city states of the Rhoynar were
fiercly independent but also united by culture, language and religion, devoted to the worship
of the Goddess Mother Rhoyne.
Though conflict with the Valyrians was avoided for a time, while the Dragonlords conquered
the Andals along the northern and western coasts, war proved inevitable, leading Prince
Garin the Great of Chroyane to unite their Rhoynish armies, raising 250000 warriors accompanied
by powerful water wizards.
Yet in the end they could not contend with dragonfire, seeing their final defeat in the
Second Spice War around 700 years before the Targaryen conquest of Westeros.
With the army defeated, Prince Garin the Great was captured and locked in a golden cage where
he was to be forced to watch his beloved home of Chroyane destroyed.
But legends say Prince Garin resisted, calling upon the Goddess Mother Rhoyne to curse these
lands and destroy the invaders, resulting a violent flood which drowned everyone in
the area.
In the years that followed, the ruins of the sunken city became known as the Sorrows, a
land of darkness and disease, where some say a mysterious Shrouded Lord rules over Stone
Men, praying on those who become lost in the grey mists.
Far to the east of the known world, beyond the Bone Mountains of central Essos, the Bleeding
Sea by Sven Sauer & Greig Howitt, depicts the infamous lake whose waters appear red
due to a type of blooming plant in the area.
Yet despite the modest origins of its coloring, the suggestion of violence in the name of
these waters is not out of place, as stories say it is surrounded by lands of war and wicked
magics.
To the west lay the plains of the Jogos Nhai, ruled over by a nomadic warrior race, famed
for their ferocity in battle, while in the south there is the Golden Empire of Yi Ti,
the most powerful realm east of the bone mountains constantly trying to expand or defend their
borders.
To the north there is secret city of Nefer, believed to be home to necromancers and torturers,
as well as Mussovy, a great grey forest populated by shapechanger and demon hunters.
To the east there are the raider of a cold desert known as the Grey Waste, the Land of
Shrykes roamed by Shrieking monsters, and the city state of K’dath, where the inhabitants
perform horrific rituals to feed the hunger of their mad gods.
For more information about the Unseen Westeros Exhibit, like where to get tickets, or for
more about the artists and organizers behind the event, please be sure to check out the
links in the description box below, and if you would like contribute to the success of
this unique project which is free to the public, be sure explore their Kickstarter page and
give what you can.