Dorne

Dorne is the large peninsula which makes up the southernmost part of Westeros, and is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms. The lords of the ruling House Nymeros Martell style themselves "Prince" and "Princess" in the Rhoynish fashion.

The Martells rule from their capital, Sunspear, outside of which sprawls the shadow city. Notable houses include Allyrion, Blackmont, Dayne, Fowler, Jordayne, Qorgyle, Santagar, Toland, Uller, Vaith, Wyl, and Yronwood.

Dorne is the least populous of the Seven Kingdoms. Dornishmen differ both culturally and ethnically from other Westerosi due to the historical mass immigration of Rhoynish people and their relative isolation. Dornishmen have adopted many Rhoynish customs on top of their First Men and Andal origins. Dornishmen have a reputation for hot-bloodedness and sexual licentiousness, and are still viewed with some mistrust and rivalry by the people of the neighboring Dornish Marches and the Reach. Dornish bastards of noble origin are given the surname Sand. Dornish paint their silks instead of sewing coats of arms.

Dorne contains septs for the Faith of the Seven and red temples for followers of R'hllor.

## History

### First Man

The First Men settled Westeros by crossing the land bridge across the narrow sea called the Arm of Dorne. During their great war with the First Men, the children of the forest allegedly broke the Arm with the hammer of the waters in an attempt to stop them coming.

First Men houses who established themselves as prominent kings included House Dayne, the Kings of the Torrentine; House Fowler, the Kings of Stone and Sky; and House Yronwood, the Bloodroyals who styled themselves High King of Dorne. A rival High King of Dorne was also chosen from a dozen houses along the Greenblood.

Dorne has had a violent history, particularly with the houses of the Red Mountains, who lived by raiding across the borders into the Dornish Marches, feuding with each other endlessly. The various Dornish kings, the Kings of the Reach, and the Storm Kings fought border wars beyond count and made countless raids across mountains and marches even when at peace, leading to their great enmity.

### Andal Adventures

During the Andal invasion of Westeros, most Andals avoided Dorne, aside from adventurers such as the Ullers, Qorgyles, and Vaiths. The Allyrions, Jordaynes, and Santagars also established their own realms. The Martells defeated two First Men houses, the Wades and Shells, claiming territory near the mouth of the Greenblood.

### House Nymeros Martell

Centuries ago, Dorne was a coalition of First Men and Andal petty kings and lords, with no ruler strong enough to seize control of the entire region. Seven hundred years ago, or alternatively a thousand years ago, the Rhoynish Wars forced the people of the Rhoynar to flee their homeland along the Rhoyne in Essos. Led by their legendary warrior-queen, Nymeria, they left in a fleet of ten thousand ships, eventually making landfall at the mouth of the Greenblood in Dorne. Nymeria allied with Lord Mors Martell of the Sandship, and with his support conquered the entire peninsula in Nymeria's War, uniting it with House Nymeros Martell of Sunspear as its ruler.

While the monarchs from the rest of Westeros used the title "king", the new rulers of Dorne used the Rhoynish title "prince" instead. Although no longer kings, the Yronwoods, the second most powerful house in Dorne, continued to call themselves "the Bloodroyal".

The Rhoynar brought their own gods with them to Dorne, but they have largely disappeared in favor of the Faith of the Seven. Nevertheless, many Rhoynish customs, including inheritance regardless of gender, have been absorbed into Dornish society. Descendants of the Rhoynar who have not assimilated into Dornish society are known as orphans of the Greenblood.

### Targaryen Era

Three centuries ago, Aegon I Targaryen claimed the Seven Kingdoms and invaded Westeros. During Aegon's Conquest, he subjugated each of the Westerosi monarchs one by one, except Dorne. One of Aegon's sisters, Rhaenys Targaryen, flew on her dragon, Meraxes, above the Dornishmen guarding the Prince's Pass, but each Dornish castle she visited was abandoned. When she came to Sunspear, she was met by Meria Martell, Princess of Dorne, who warned that the Targaryens would face peril if they attacked Dorne.

In 4 AC, however, Aegon the Conqueror announced another campaign, which became the First Dornish War. Whereas other kings and lords had taken to the field against Aegon, or clustered in castles, the Dornish refused to give open battle and allow Aegon to deploy his dragons. Instead, they turned to ambush and raids, striking quickly and then slipping back into the desert or through the mountain passes, where even the dragons could not find them. Aegon's younger sister-wife, Queen Rhaenys, participated in this war, which eventually lead to her death. Meraxes was also killed, being hit in the eye by a scorpion at the Hellholt. In 13 AC a peace was agreed between Dorne and the Iron Throne, which held for seventy years, barring conflicts with raiders in the mountains, the misleadingly named Second and Third Dornish Wars.

Despite Dornish independence, House Targaryen continued to claim the Iron Throne control over the land as part of the Seven Kingdoms. In 83 AC the foolish Prince Morion Martell launched the Fourth Dornish War and was defeated in a day by King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and his sons. On his death in 103 AC it was said that even Dorne mourned.

In 110 AC, Dorne joined the Triarchy in the war against Prince Daemon Targaryen for control of the Stepstones. King Viserys I Targaryen considered wedding his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, to the Prince of Dorne, and thereby bring Dorne under control of the Iron Throne, but Rhaenyra eventually wed Ser Laenor Velaryon instead.

#### Conquest of Dorn

   In 157 AC, shortly after his ascension, King Daeron I Targaryen began to plan his invasion of Dorne, intent on "completing the Conquest". Daeron attacked Dorne with three separate hosts; One led by Lord Lyonel Tyrell, which marched through the Prince's Pass, entering Dorne at the western end of the Red Mountains; One led by Alyn Velaryon, who came by sea; And one by the Targaryen king himself, which came through the Boneway. Within a year, the Targaryen armies arrived at the gates of Sunspear and battled their way through the shadow city. In 158 AC, the Prince of Dorne and forty of the most powerful Dornish lords bent their knees in the Submission of Sunspear. However, rebels continued to cause trouble. In 159 AC, after he had consolidated his rule, Daeron I returned to King's Landing, leaving Lord Lyonel Tyrell to keep the peace in Dorne. Although the loyalty of the dornish nobility was ensured by taking fourteen highborn hostages, the smallfolk continued to rebel against Targaryen rule.

Lord Lyonel was eventually murdered at Sandstone, the seat of House Qorgyle, and within a fortnight the Targaryen conquest was undone. Daeron returned to Dorne in 160 AC, winning several victories in the Boneway, while Lord Alyn Velaryon descended on the Planky Town and the Greenblood as he had done the first time. In 161 AC, the Dornishmen agreed to meet to discuss terms and renew their fealty. However, the meeting was a ploy to kill King Daeron I. Daeron died together with three of his Kingsguard knights, while another was captured, and a fifty yielded.

With Daeron's death, the conquest of Dorne came to an end. It is said that ten thousand men had died conquering Dorne, but many more died trying to hold it; According to Maester Yandel, Daeron lost another forty thousand men during the three years after his conquest had completed, but according to Benjen Stark the true number was fifty thousand.

#### Uniting the Seven Kingdoms

With the death of his brother, the Iron Throne passed to King Baelor I Targaryen, whose first act as king was to grant pardon to the Dornish hostages. Baelor walked barefoot from King's Landing to Sunspear, personally escorting the hostages (who rode on fine horses) back home. The Prince of Dorne and Baelor came to an agreement regarding a peace. As part of the terms of the agreement, Baelor agreed to betroth his young cousin Daeron to Princess Myriah Martell, the eldest child of the Prince of Dorne. As both were still young children, the marriage took place later during Baelor's reign.

Prince Daeron's father, King Aegon IV Targaryen, a veteran of Daeron I's conquest of Dorne, planned to launch an unprovoked war against Dorne. In 174 AC, he made his attempt. He turned to the pyromancers of the ancient Guild of Alchemists to built "dragons" of his own design, wood-and-iron monstrosities fitted with pumps that shot jets of wildfire. Aegon wanted to drag them through the Boneway, but they never came that far. All seven burned down in the kingswood. Likewise, the huge fleet Aegon IV had constructed for his invasion never reached Dorne either, but instead was broken and scattered by storms on route to Dorne. After these failures, Aegon IV never spoke of Dorne again.

Prince Daeron inherited the Iron Throne in 184 AC, and ascended the Iron Throne as King Daeron II Targaryen. One of his earliest significant acts after assuming the throne was to begin negotiations to unify Dorne under Targaryen rule. Negotiations lasted two years, but eventually Daeron and his good-brother, Prince Maron Martell, now the ruling Prince of Dorne, reached an agreement. Maron was betrothed to Daeron's younger sister, Daenerys. When they were wed in King's Landing in 187 AC, Prince Maron knelt before the Iron Throne and swore his oaths of fealty, placing Dorne under Targaryen rule.

Due to the peacefully negotiated unification, the Martells were allowed to continue using the title Prince of Dorne, unlike their lordly counterparts in the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. They additionally had won several concessions, resulting in significant rights and privileges for the Dornish lords that the other great houses did not. Additionally, Dornish influence at the royal court of King's Landing grew. All of these concessions resulted in dissatisfaction among some lords, and was one of the seeds from which the First Blackfyre Rebellion eventually sprang.

During the First Blackfyre Rebellion, Prince Baelor Targaryen, the eldest son of King Daeron II and Queen Myriah, commanded a host from Dorne and the stormlands, with whom he achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of the Redgrass Field.