Sunspear

**Sunspear** is the capital of Dorne, southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms, located in the far southeast of the continent on the Summer Sea. It consists of a strong, fortified castle and a town that sprawls around it. It is a town built largely of mud and straw. The town's largest structure is Spear Tower, a 150-feet structure with a pinnacle of shining steel.

The castle was the seat of House Martell, Princes of Dorne. The current head is Prince Lewyn Martell.

## History

The Sandship was the ancient keep the House Martell, minor Dornish lords. When Rhoynish warrior-queen Nymeria arrived in Dorne with her ten thousand ships around 700 BC, Lord Mors Martell, the Lord of the Sandship, wed her, and this alliance of the Martells with the Rhoynar led to the unification of Dorne in Nymeria's War.

The seat of the ruling Princes and Princesses of Dorne became Sunspear, the new castle which developed around the Sandship. It was named after the union of the Martell spear with the sun of the Rhoynar. It contains beautiful towers built in the Rhoynish fashion, such as the Spear Tower and the Tower of the Sun of the Old Palace. The Winding Walls of the castle were built around 400 BC.

During Aegon's Conquest, Queen Rhaenys Targaryen confronted Princess Meria Martell at Sunspear, where the Dornish Princess defied the Targaryen invasion. During the First Dornish War, the Dornishmen abandoned their castles, allowing the Targaryens to take them without fighting. Amongst the castles taken in those early years was Sunspear. Lord Rosby was named Warden of the Sands and Castellan of Sunspear, but he was killed in the Defenestration of Sunspear after the Dornishmen swarmed back into the castle from the shadow city. Later on in the war, during the two years of the Dragon's Wroth, the Targaryens burned the Dornish castles with dragonfire, with the exception of Sunspear. *Conjectures* by Archmaester Timotty suggests the Targaryens did so to encourage the Martells' bannermen to turn against their overlords, although the Dornish remained loyal.

Rickon Stark, the son of Lord Cregan Stark, was killed in battle outside of Sunspear in one of the final battles of the conquest of Dorne. The Dornishmen surrendered to King Daeron I Targaryen, the Young Dragon, in the Submission of Sunspear in 158 AC, but they rebelled in the following years. Daeron's successor, King Baelor I Targaryen, walked barefoot from King's Landing to Sunspear to forge a peace with Dorne.

## Layout

### Sunspear

Sunspear is a walled settlement, protected by three massive Winding Walls, encircling one another and containing miles of narrow alleys, hidden courts, and noisy bazaars. The Threefold Gate, where the gates are lined up one behind the other, avoids the labyrinth, instead allowing straight passage on a brick path to the Old Palace.

One of Sunspear's chief structures is the original stronghold of House Martell, the Sandship, which is a large, ugly, dun-colored building that looks like a dromond. Over time, towers in Rhoynish fashion sprung up around the keep. Two other chief structures are the tall and slender Spear Tower and the great, domed Tower of the Sun. The Spear Tower is a hundred and a half feet high, and can house noble prisoners; In the Tower of the Sun, the high seats of the Prince of Dorne can be found: two twin seats, one with the Martell spear inlaid in gold upon its back, the other bearing the blazing Rhoynish sun. These two towers are the first things visitors see when they arrive at Sunspear, whether by land or by sea.

### Shadow city

The closest thing to a true city that the Dornishmen have, the shadow city is no more than a queer, dusty town. Built against a wall of Sunspear, the shadow city spreads westwards. Closest to Sunspear's walls, mud-brick shops and windowless hovels can be found. Stables, inns, winesinks and pillow houses are found west of those, with walls of their own. More hovels have been build against those walls, which in has led to the city becoming a labyrinth of narrow alleys, homes, and bazaars.

Around 400 BC, the three Winding Walls were raised, running through the shadow city, forming a defensive curtain. Only the Threefold Gate provides a straight path to the Old Palace, allowing visitors to pass all three of the Winding Walls directly, without having to pass through the labyrinth of the shadow city. If need be, these gates can be heavily defended.

## Recent Events

Adrian Celtigar was killed by Valarr Targaryen, who came to the a tourney in Dorne as a mystery knight.