Lorath

Lorath is one of the nine Free Cities, and considered by many to be the least powerful. It is located upon a group of islands in the Shivering Sea, near the northern coast of Essos.

Amongst the major noble families of Lorath are the families Ennahran, H'ghar, Mestir and Tor'phal.

## Recent History

Over the past half a century, there has been increased sightings of grey and white leviathans within Lorath Bay and further on throughout the Shivering Sea around the Free City. Recent and regular large shoals of fish passing through the cold waters is the most often cited reason for such an occurrence, but the number seems to grow each year.

## City

### Location

Lorath is located on the western side of the largest of three islands surrounded by storm seas. It is located at the mouth of Lorath Bay and, with the exception of Braavos, is the northernmost of the Free Cities. The second-largest island is Lorassyon, but there are a score of smaller isles. To the south of the isles is a thickly forested peninsula. The Lorathi also claim dominion over the waters of Lorath Bay, but fishing fleets from Braavos and whalers and sealers out of Ib often venture into the bay, for Lorath does not have sufficient strength to make good its claim. To the east is the Axe and the west Braavos. Morosh at the Sarne delta is a Lorathi colony. The Lorathi isles are bleak and stony, but in their waters plenty of cod, whales, and grey leviathans can be found, as well as colonies of walrus and seal.

Lorath is the smallest, poorest, and least populous of the Nine Free Cities. It is located far from the trade routes, which has made it the most isolated of the Free Cities.

### People

Lorathi men often dress richly and are commonly believed to be poets and merchants.

The followers of Boash did not eat flesh, nor drink wine. They went about barefoot, dressing in hair shirts and hides, and their priests were eunuchs who wore eyeless hoods. The cult of Boash believed in extreme self-abnegation, and because all humans were equal before their god, they considered women to be equal to men in all matters, nor did they practice slavery. This denial of the self extended to the point that adherents came to refer to themselves and others using indefinite pronouns; they did not use names, and referred to themselves as "a man" and "a woman", instead of saying "I", "me", or "mine". While the cult of Boash has long gone extinct, certain of these speaking habits are still used in Lorath today. Nobles regard it as vulgar to speak of one's self directly.

Lorath used to be ruled by three princes: the Harvest Prince, the Fisher Prince, and the Prince of the Streets. These princes, once chosen, served for life. All are chosen by vote: the Harvest Prince by those who own land upon the islands, the Fisher Prince by all who own ships, and the Prince of the Streets by the acclamation of the free men of the city. While the council of princes still exists today, their titles have become ceremonial. The actual rule of Lorath now resides with a council of magisters made up of nobles, priests, and merchants.

### Economy

Salt cod, walrus tusks, sealskins, and whale oil form the greater part of the city's trade. The city's powerful textile merchants specialise in rich velvet, which they trade for steel. The steel is traded along the Shivering Sea for furs, ivory, and obsidian, which are then traded for the materials to make velvet.

## Timeline of Events

* 111BA - The War of the Wolf Fish begins between Braavos and Lorath. The conflict is so named for the fishing dispute that started the fighting. Lorathi raiders land upon the Braavosioan Coastlands, but vanish before those loyal to the Sealord can respond.
* 110BA - The Sealord send a fleet of fifty warships to occupy Lorath Bay, simultaneously restricting raiding of the Braavosioan Coastlands and Hills and limiting Lorathi fishing grounds. The Lorathi break within three moons, agreeing to new laws and legislations of piscary.
* 109BA - The War of the Wolf Fish comes to an official end in the first moon of 109BA, when legislation is formally signed at a manse within the Braavosian foothills.
* 96BA - A treaty is signed between the Harvest Prince, Magisters of Lorath, Magisters of Great Norvos and the Bearded Priests that allows the colonisation of the northern edge of the Axe by the Lorathi in exchange for a portion of the fishing hauls. The agreement would stimulate the outbreak of war between Lorath and Ibben the following year.
* 95BA - War of the Axe begins, marking the start of nearly three decades of bloody struggles between the Ibbenese and the Lorathi for control of fishing grounds in the Shivering Sea. The conflict is started when the Lorathi settle upon the northern tip of the peninsula known as the Axe following a treaty signed with the people of Great Norvos. The Ibbenese, considering the Axe to be their territory refute the legality of the agreement, triggering a series of conflicts, some petty, others violent.
* 93BA - Ibbenese raiders land on the isle of Lorassos, a small isle amongst the Lorathi archipelago. They remain undetected for nearly a moon, having captured the minor population of the isle, before making a bold final stand at the approach of a Lorathi liberation force. There are those few that refer to Lorassos as the Crimson Isle of Lorath, but the name is largely one confined to historical texts for the last centuries.
* 92BA - In the third moon of 92BA, a joint Lorathi-Saathi fleet sails into the harbour of the Port of Ibben, upon the isle of Ib. Whilst they are forced back before any men could be landed, they deal a resounding blow to the Ibbenese naval power, as well as crippling their fishing fleet in a manner that would be felt across the isle for near half a decade. The army intended for Ib instead lands on the Essosi mainland, marching through the Kingdom of the Ifequevron before reaching the city of Ibbish. After a siege lasting four moons, the city eventually yields, although much of the loot obtained is lost to Dothraki khalasars before it can be returned to the homelands of the invaders.
* 84BA - After ongoing raids and attacks on their colonies by the Dothraki, the Ibbenese sue for peace with the Free City of Lorath, ending the First War of the Axe. As part of the agreement, the waters around the Axe are declared the territory of Lorath, and the Ibbenese agree to take no fish or whales in the waters. Seal, lobster and crab hunters are still allowed to utilise the waters though, although no party exists to check that they do not take other catches with those sanctioned.
* 42BA - The Second War of the Axe begins, marking the restart of conflict between the Ibbense and the Free Cities with colonies along the Shivering Sea. The first attack is directed at the Norvoshi colony of Naros, on the eastern edge of the Axe. Disguised as whalers coming to trade, Ibbenese warships laden with berserkers raid the city, before setting it aflame. When the Norvoshi army finally arrives, the raiders are long gone, and the city is naught but ash. Lorath pledges to aid Norvos in its retribution against Ibben.
* 41BA - Ibbenese raiders strike at Norvoshi, Lorathi and Sarnori fishing colonies along the coastline of the Shivering Sea, declaring the bounties of the waves, and the lands overlooking them, to be theirs by right. In retaliation, a fleet from Sarys, bolstered by converted fishing skiffs and vessels from the Lorathi colony of Morosh begins to patrol the waves west of the Bay of Tusks, sinking ever Ibbenese vessel, military or civilian with impunity.
* 40BA - The Ibbenese continue to raid settlements around the Axe, continuing the six years of conflict remembered as the Second War of the Axe. Particularly targetted as the slow fishing vessels used by the residents of the fishing colonies owned by Norvos and Lorath.
* 22BA - The Third War of the Axe begins, with the first stone thrown by a Lorathi warship that attacked an Ibbenese whaling ship straying too far into Lorathi fishing grounds. The Shadow Council of Ib responded by sending forth raiders to strike at Lorathi settlements along the Shivering Sea, particularly those located around the Axe and its coastlines.
* 21BA - Raids on Lorathi colonies by the Ibbenese continue to occur, as well as attacks on Norvoshi fishing villages found along the coastlines north of the Hills of Norvos. With its main fleet stationed upon the Rhoyne, Norvos cannot defend them, and neither can the minor fleet of Lorath.
* 18BA - The Ibbenese attack the city of Morosh, a mining and fishing colony of Lorath. Before the minor fleet of Lorath could come to aid, the city is sacked, with many of its residents being taken to the isle of Ib in chains. The residents of Moroth petition the Tagaez Fen of Saath and Sarys for aid, but recent Ibbenese raids leave the Sarnori unable to offer meaningful assistance.
* 12BA - The Fourth War of the Axe, remembered as the Short War, and sometimes Igg's Folly. Ibbenese raiders led by the fearsome reaver-hunter Igg Tobo land upon the Axe, raiding the Lorathi fishing town of Lorosy. Unfortunately for them, a Norvoshi navy lingered a few leagues to the south, an escort in preparation for the pilgrimage of the High Priest of Great Norvos, Gavus to Braavos. The raiders hold the fishing village for no longer than a few weeks, but in spite of the minimal duration of the conflict, it is considered a war nonetheless.
* 12AA - The Fifth War of the Axe is started by the nephew of Igg Tobo, the disgraced raider slain during the Fourth War. With a fleet of over thirty warships, Roda Tobo ravages Lorathi and Norvoshi fishing villages across the peninsula, forcing a response. Once the Norvoshi can finally muster a force, the Ibbenese have vanished, leaving ash and smoke in their wake. The Fifth War of the Axe persisted for nearly a decade, before Roda Tobo finally returned to Ibben, his prolific pillaging having brought surprising wealth to the bleak isle.
* 14AA - The Battle of the Rime occurs. Ibbenese raiders, their presence hidden by the eponymous frozen fog of the songs accounting the slaughter, strike at a Lorathi fleet captained by the Fisher Prince Joraphos Marah. Stealing a third of the fleet, and sinking much of the rest, the whalers disappear into the fog once more, having taken the Fisher Prince captive. He is not seen alive again.
* 20AA - Roda Tobo finally returns to Ibben, having pillaged the shoreline from the hills of Norvos to the Forest of Qohor. Norvos and Lorath move to reclaim the fishing villages left devastated on the Axe in his wake.
* 60AA - When Ibbenese fishermen start to colonise the tip of the Axe, building the fort town of Ib Skag, conflict starts once more between the Lorathi and Ibbenese. Skirmishes erupt between villages and towns upon the shores of the Shivering Sea, and the waters surrounding the Axe itself, thus starting the Sixth War of the Axe.
* 64AA - Seeking peace after the Sixth War of the Axe, Cikuq Tagg offers to return the bones of the Fisher Prince Joraphos Marah, taken captive at the Battle of the Rime, to Lorath in exchange for an accord between the two nations. The Lorathi accept, marking the start of nearly a century of peace between Lorath and Ibben.
* 153AA - The first sighting of the infamous White Whale of the Shivering Sea. Said to be a huge leviathan, it was so named for the paleness of its appearance, a stark contrast to the typical grey of most of the giant whales. After a number of fishing vessels are supposedly destroyed by the beast, it is branded a threat to the Lorathi way of life, and warships are sent to search for it. In one encounter with the beast, it was said it managed to destroy nearly half a dozen of the Lorathi war vessels before disappearing into the waves once more. Among the dead was the Fisher Prince Belo Vollin, who Valyrian steel longsword in hand, faced off the beast, before falling into its gaping maw. Multiple supposed sightings have been reported since.
* 156AA - Further losses of fishing vessels are reported, and many are quick to blame the White Whale once more. However, a few within the city suggest that the disappearances are more likely as a result of Ibbenese raiders displaced by the end of the Seventh War of the Axe.
* 158AA - Less than a year and a half after the resolution of the last conflict between Ibben and Norvos, conflict once again sparks across the Axe when Ibbenese warships start attacking fishing vessels utilising the rich waters around the peninsula. For four moons, all ships not marked with Ibbenese symbols are sunk, before intervention not by the Norvoshi, but the Braavosi. The Sealord Martio Antaryon, leading a series of naval battles over the course of 158AA. Undeniably the most notable amongst them occurred in the tenth moon of the year, a short but brutal clash remembered as the Battle of Ash Bay. Amongst those slain were the First Sword and the Sealord himself, when a Ibbenese whaler collided with the Braavosi flagship upon which they resided.
* 169AA - The Eighth War of the Axe erupts when a Lorathi fleet attacks the peninsula in unison with the arrival of a Norvoshi army. At the Battle of Crab Cove, the Lorathi fleet is defeated handily by a flotilla of Sarnori vessels, captained by the noble family of Elros. Seeking to protect the Golden Current, the Sarnori also send an army by ship to the Axe, however they are hindered by storms. When they arrive, Ib Nes is in flames, and a number of the precious metal mines taken by the Norvoshi. The Mopaan family of Essaria councils Sarnori, Ibbenese and Norvoshi generals alike, and a compromise is reached. The northern tip of the peninsula, belongs to the Ibbenese, whereas that further south than the ruins of Ib Nes belongs to the Norvoshi, thus forming an uneasy relationship. Sarnor continues to profit from the agreement.
* 207AA - A Lorathi fisherman claims to have spotted the White Whale, the infamous and monstrous leviathan said to inhabit the waters to the north of Lorath. His claims are largely disregarded, for few living in the city continue to believe in the existence of the beast, the lasting sighting of which was nearly four decades prior.
* 254AA - In the final moon of 254, the Blockade of Lorath begins. The Sealord, an eager and ambitious man seeking to fundamentally prove that slavery is not a necessity for the Free Cities to flourish sends an offer to the Lorathi Princes and Magisters to join an unified alliance of cities dedicated to furthering their beliefs. Upon Lorathi refusal, a Braavosi fleet sails east, beginning a sixteen moon long blockade of the city.
* 255AA - The Blockade of Lorath continues through the year of 255AA, with food supplies growing dwindlingly small. The city is sustained somewhat by the seafood attainable from the shoreline, away from the blockading Braavosi ships, but any fishing vessel attempting to travel into deeper waters is quickly dispatched by the purple-hulled warships.
* 256AA - The Magisters submit to the will of the Sealord, agreeing to sign the Pact laid before them in order to end the Braavosi blockade. Meanwhile, dignitaries are sent east to the Sarnori and Ibbenese, and scheming to relinquish Braavosi influence begins shortly after the blockade is dissolved.
* 258AA - A Lorathi messenger convoy arrives at the Arsenal, bringing news of a potential rebellion brewing to the east. The Lorathi Magister Nyessano Eranyr had long been an opponent of the increase of Braavosi influence in the city, and the joining of the Alliance of the Narrow Sea. After he left the city in a rage, the remaining Conclave grows fearful that he may plan a coup, or a strike against Braavos itself, and thus seek protection from the Sealord and his mighty fleet. The Battle of Lorassyon Wake occurs when the Lorathi-Sarnori-Ibbenese fleet supporting Magister Nyessano Eranyr clashes with the Lorathi-Braavosi fleet supporting the Alliance of the Narrow Sea. With much of the Sealord's fleet elsewhere, dealing with Ibbenese raiders ravaging the Braavosian Coastlands, the strength of the Sarnori navy proves victorious, however Eranyr's own vessel is amongst those sunk. Knowing that it was only through Nyessano that they could prosper, Admiral Tugor Ahasoi orders the fleet return to Saath, and thus Alliance influence over Lorath is maintained.
* 260AA - Ibbenese raiders continue to attack the Braavosian Coastlands and the shorelines of the Lorath Bay in spite of the demise of the Magister Nyessano Eranyr, who originally encouraged such actions. They remain a plague to the Sealord for the next decade.
* 263AA - Braavosi vessels bound for the Lorathi fishing colony of Morosh are set-upon by Ibbenese reavers based out of the many caves and coves along the shoreline of Lorath Bay. The Sealord's navy sends a flotilla in response, although the infamous raider Agora Jogat and her followers are not located for another three moons. They finally meet their demise at the Battle of the Bitterweed near the end of 263AA.
* 270AA - The last of the Ibbenese raiders let loose upon the Braavosian Coastlands and shorelines of **Lorath** Bay by Magister Nyessano Eranyr is slain at the Battle of Ebon Cliff, where Vyran Antaryon struck down the Reaver-Lord Jagg Vargo in single-combat upon the pebbled beach near the eponymous cliffs.
* 282AA - When the Sealord Jarilos Prestayn dies after serving in the position for nearly forty years, there is great concern that the flourishing Alliance of the Narrow Sea may crumble in his wake. The lack of widespread troubles for his successor have proved otherwise.
* 287AA - The Great Hunt begins in the Shivering Sea, north of Lorath. When a number of fishing vessels disappear without a trace, rumours begin to circulate widely through the city of Lorath to the cause. Whilst most blame raiders from the east, a vocal few declare it the work of the monstrous leviathan known as the White Whale, which had plagued the city near a century and a half earlier. The fantastical tale reaches the ears of the Fisher Prince Sallanos Ahrar, who seeing it as an opportunity to strengthen wavering public support for his position in the role, rallies the fishermen of the city to find the creature. Despite multiple supposed sightings, and a number of further vessel losses, no true evidence of the beast's existence was gathered during the search that lasted for nearly ten moons.
* 294AA - Disputes over territory in the Sarne Delta break out between Saath and Sarys, primarily over fishing grounds in the rich fertile waters at the edge of the Shivering Sea. When the Lorathi fishing colony of Morosh also tries to make good their claim, the Sarnori cities unite against them, and burn any fishing vessels that sail south into the estuary, instead of out into open water.
* 298AA - Conquered by the vastly superior Braavosi fleet mounting a naval blockade five-and-fourty years prior, the Free City of Lorath is considered part of the Alliance of the Narrow Sea, a league of cities and towns ruled from Braavos by the Sealord. They are currently in a rare and fragile peace with the Ibbenese and Lorathi on the ownership of the Axe, an occurrence that last occurred in the aftermath of the Eighth War of the Axe over one hundred five-and-twenty years ago. The Ibbenese are however known for their fickle and lustful nature in terms of territory, so the concept of long-term peace is still questionable.