As the people of Westeros venture forth beyond their lands, seeking wealth and opportunity,
most chose safety over profit, remaining close to home, sailing along the Narrow and Summer
Seas, using well established trade routes for their ventures.
Yet further east beyond Sothoryos and South of Eastern Essos, the chance to earn a true
fortune is found, in the Jade Sea, where travellers face new and terrifying dangers, but also
the potential for tremendous wealth, by trading with the cities and realms of the far east.
But even so, those brave enough to make the journey often only go as far as the city of
Qarth and Island of Qal located along the Jade Gates.
Qarth is an ancient city ruled by the powerful pureborn class presiding in the hall of a
thousand thrones and is also home to the famed Warlocks of the House of the Undying.
This city acts as a crossroads of civilizations where eastern and western traders can exchange
goods, making the Qartheen extremely wealthy as intermediaries between them.
Those few Western travellers who wish to continue further east, then sail their ships along
the Jade Sea Trade Route, passing through the Jade Gates towards Asabhad, for which
little is known, though it is likely a successor state to the Ancient Patrimony of Hyrkoon,
along with Kayakayanaya, Bayasabhad and Shamyriana.
The Journey then continues towards the city of Yin, capital of the Golden empire of Yi
Ti, passing by the Isle of Whips, sometimes used as a way station for slavers.
Yi Ti, is where travelers can find silks, spices and other exotic goods which can be
sold for a fortune in the West.
The Golden Empire is known to many as the land of a thousand gods and a hundred princes,
ruled by one god-emperor and has a long history dating back thousands of years to the Empire
of the Dawn which fell during the Long Night.
Yi Ti then rose out of the chaos, and has been ruled by a number of dynasties leading
into the modern day, where the throne is contested by three self-proclaimed Emperors, in the
17th Azure Emperor from Yin, the First Orange Emperor out of Trader Town and the 69th Yellow
Emperor of Carcosa, The winds of the far east then send ships
to the Island of Leng, located near to the Golden Empire, and originally populated by
a people known as the Lengii, who grow tall and thin, keeping to themselves and their
traditional ways, closing off the island to outsiders for many years.
Said to be home to ten thousand tigers and ten million monkeys, Leng is also known to
have vast underground cities and tunnel systems believed to be inhabited by dark gods referred
to as the Old Ones.
Eventually they started allowing visitors, yet even then the God Empress would occasionally
massacre all foreigners on the island to appease her gods with four great purges known to have
occurred before Emperor Jar Har of Yi Ti invaded and conquered them, putting an end to the
killings.
Leng once again gained independence roughly 100 years before Aegon’s Conquest, re-establishing
the God Empress as their ruler.
However the descendants of Yi Ti migrants now populated the northern 2/3rd of the island,
having established the cities Leng Yi and Leng Ma, while the native Lengii retreated
to the South and the city of Turrani.
In order to keep the peace and a sense of balance in the political system, the God Empress
chooses one husband of Lengii descent and the other of Yi Ti, to command their land
army and naval fleet.
The Jade Sea trade route then moves south, but if one were to continue north beyond Leng,
they would find the city of Jinqi.
Once home to the Maroon Emperor’s of Yi Ti, it was established to act as a defensive
barrier against reavers from the Shadow Lands.
South of these Mountainous Shadow lands, is Asshai, the Eastern most city of the Jade
Sea.
Home to sorcerers, spellsingers, aeromancers and warlocks, Asshai is a realm Shrouded in
mystery where all dark arts, religions and practices are accepted.
Although food and fresh water is scarce, they are rich in precious stones and gold, trading
them for everything else they require.
As a result, those brave and lucky enough to make the journey as far east as Asshai
and survive, return home with tremendous wealth.
The winds of the Jade Sea trade route then lead ships on a journey west, travelling past
the Manticore Isles named for the Manticore’s that populate these lands.
And the crescent shaped island of Marahai, with two smaller volcanic islands off its
coast.
Ships then sail to the port city of Zabhad on the coast of the Isle of Elephants named
after the animals which populate the land, and ruled by the Shan from a palace made of
Ivory.
Now in the final stretch of the Jade Sea Trade Route, travellers can stop at Port Moraq,
a trade city along the southern coast of Great Moraq, the largest island in the known world,
then continuing on along it’s eastern coast passed the cinnamon rich islands of the Cinnamon
Straits and towards Lesser Moraq and Vahar, which has grown wealthy from the spice trade.
Finally, there is the city of Faros, where inhabitants worship a Stone Cow, the last
city on the Jade Sea Trade route located near the Jade Gates where the journey began.
Although travel to the far east provides an opportunity for great riches, the long sea
voyage presents many dangers, with ships from Pentos under even the best circumstances believed
to take two years to reach the Jade Sea and return.
In addition, the distance between eastern and western lands, and infrequency of their
interactions, means travellers are susceptible to many forms of disease, sometimes transporting
those illnesses with them, spreading terrible plagues like the Grey Death which was brought
to Pentos on a trade ship from the Jade Sea, killing over 2000 people.
As a result, few make the journey east, with even fewer documenting their travels to provide
accurate reports, with even the full size of the Jade Sea not yet discovered.
However, Maesters of Westeros do have some information collected over the years, with
some considering the Jade Compendium written by Colloquo Votar of Volantis as the best
source of Information for the islands and port cities of this eastern ocean.
In addition, there are the works of Lomas Longstrider, the famed adventurer who travelled
as far as Yi Ti and Leng, using what he learned to write the books Wonders and Wonders Made
by Man.
There are also the voyages of Corlys Velaryon, known as the Sea Snake, famous for travelling
in a ship by the same name, journeying to Qarth, Yi Ti and Leng, documented in the book
The Nine Voyages written by Maester Mathis.
Corlys was so successful in his ventures, that for a time, the wealth he brought back
made House Velaryon the richest family in Westeros.