Dothraki

The Dothraki are a race of nomadic horse-mounted warriors in Essos. They inhabit the vast central plains of Essos, known as the Dothraki Sea. Their bond with horses is such that Dothraki are said to be born, fight, and die in the saddle.

Dothraki warriors are commonly referred to as "horselords". They are also often (and half-derisively) called "Dothraki screamers", because of their fierce war cries as they charge into battle and raids.

## Layout

The Dothraki are currently divided into three main khalasars.

* Khal Viqallo
* Khal Horro
* Khal Azho

The khalasar of Khal Viqallo is the largest, currently comprising of 50,000 Dothraki. He and his riders have been raping and pillaging the many villages in Andalos in northwestern Essos.

The khalasar of Khal Horro is currently about 20,000 men strong and has been spotted heading towards Myr, following a large gift from the Volantenes to stay his blade.

The khalasar of Khal Azho has recently been terrorising the Lhazareen people of the Dothraki Sea. His khalasar, while the smallest of the three, still numbers 12,000 screamers.

### Vaes Dothrak

The closest thing the Dothraki have to a city or a home, Vaes Dothrak is located in the far northeastern edge of the Dothraki Sea. The tent city lies at the foot of a single solitary mountain, which the Dothraki call Maisi Krazaaji, or Mother of Mountains. Violence is forbidden in Vaes Dothrak, and the punishment for drawing a sword within the city is death. Vaes Dothrak is also home to a large marketplace, where merchants from the Free Cities and Slaver’s Bay buy and sell goods and slaves under the protection of the Dosh Khaleen.

## Culture and Religion

The Dothraki in Vaes Dothrak are ruled by a council of elder females known as the Dosh Khaleen, which in turn is led by the High Priestess of the Dosh Khaleen. Each khaleen was once a khaleesi, a wife of a khal. Upon the khal’s death, it is the former khal’s bloodriders sacred duty to deliver their khaleesi to Vaes Dothrak and the Dosh Khaleen, before ending their own lives. A bloodrider must join his khal in death. The Dosh Khaleen act as seers and interpret omens of the Great Stallion, the horse god of the Dothraki. The Dothraki believe the stars in the night sky are the khalasar of the Great Stallion, and that one day, a khal will rise to unite all Dothraki, called “the Stallion Who Mounts the World.” The Dothraki believe that when they die, their bodies must be burned so that they can join their ancestors in the Night Lands. Leaving an enemy Dothraki’s corpse unburned is one of the highest insults among Dothraki. Desecrating, dismembering, or decapitating a corpse is also considered highly insulting.

The Dothraki have a hatred and distrust of magic, but do believe in omens from the Great Stallion, which are interpreted by the Dosh Khaleen. The Dothraki tend to be fairly superstitious, and will wait until the omens are favorable to go to war.

In addition to the taking of goods and slaves from their conquered opponents, the Dothraki enjoy stealing idols, particularly statues, of their enemies gods, which they use to decorate the road to Vaes Dothrak. The closer to the city you get, the older and more moss-covered the statues appear, with those closest to the city dating back to a time just after the Doom of Valyria.

## Recent Events

### Khal Azho

Azho is a young khal, and still relatively unknown outside of the Dothraki Sea and nearby cities. Azho is the fifth son of Khal Rommo. None expected him to eventually lead a khalasar, but after besting three of his brothers in fights to the death, he gained the respect of many Dothraki enough to form his own khalasar. Once his khalasar was formed, he headed west to the Free City of Norvos, which he sacked after they refused to pay tribute to the young khal. Returning back to the Dothraki Sea with his spoils from Norvos, Azho stopped at Qohor. Qohor, having heard of the pillaging of Norvos that had just recently occurred, thought it wise to bribe the young khal with a gift. They presented him with an arakh made of Valyrian steel, which he calls Jaqqa, “the killer”.

Recently, he has taken to raiding and slaughtering Lhazareen as a way to stay close to Vaes Dothrak. He believes that the more his exploits are heard back in Vaes Dothrak, the more Dothraki will join him. He is particularly interested in challenging Khal Horro for dominion of his khalasar once he is sure he can win.

### Khal Horro

Khal Horro has a reputation as one of the most sadistic and bloodthirsty khals alive. He has a tendency to torture his enemies and is quite fond of using a whip to do so. Khal Horro’s past is filled with violence against other Dothraki. He was once a ko for a khal Dhako, but got fed up with what he perceived as Khal Dhako’s ‘weakness’ in dealing with prisoners. In truth, Khal Dhako insisted on treating his prisoners well because he knew that if he kept them alive and healthy, he could sell them for greater profit to slavers. Horro instead preferred to torture and kill prisoners for fun, and ended up challenging Dhako for leadership of the khalasar. He killed his khal and took most of his khalasar. Horro’s numbers have continued to grow as a result of the fear he instills in others. Many Dothraki joined him out of fear of what he might do to them and their families were he to fight them. A side effect of this bloodlust is that Khal Horro dislikes returning to Vaes Dothrak, where he is not allowed to spill blood. He keeps the sacred tradition, but can’t bear to stay in Vaes Dothrak very long before he must leave again. He is currently headed towards Myr after being bribed away from Volantis with lavish gifts. He has gone too long without a good fight and is determined to spill at least a little blood in Myr.

### Khal Viqallo

The eldest son of Khal Rommo and older brother to Khal Azho, Khal Viqallo is one of the most feared Dothraki in the Essos. While he lacks the bloodlust of Khal Horro, he is a tactician and warrior with no equal. Viqallo is known for wielding two swords: the arakh of the Dothraki in his right, and a longsword of the Westerosi in his left. He is skilled at riding to the point that he can still fully control his horse while he uses both hands to slay his victims. Countless towns and cities have fallen to his khalasar over the course of his life and tens of thousands killed. The bells in Viqallo’s hair are so numerous that his braid has grown all the way to his waist and is heavy with bells. There is not a single city in Essos that has not at least paid Viqallo homage, if not fell to his arakh. He is the only khal to ever breach the Black Walls of Volantis as well as the only khal to bring his khalasar as far as the Shadowlands, where he raided Asshai itself. Upon his return to Vaes Dothrak, he brought with him three score imprisoned shadowbinders who were hung from the god idols outside Vaes Dothrak. On his last return to Vaes Dothrak, the Dosh Khaleen’s omens indicated that the lands of the Andals were ready to be taken, and so his khalasar marched to Andalos, tearing the country apart and sending countless refugees fleeing to Braavos.

Despite this, given the right gift, Khal Viqallo has been known to ally with the Free Cities, most notably so at the Scouring of Ny Sar.

Khal Viqallo is starting to get a bit older, in his mid-late 40s, but is still healthy and a formidable warrior. His relationship with his youngest brother, Khal Azho, is more or less nonexistent. Viqallo was already a fully grown warrior and a ko of his father’s khalasar when Azho was born, and therefore paid the babe little attention and less affection.

### Vaes Dothrak

The Dosh Khaleen have recently noted the arrival of a Pentoshi merchant to Vaes Dothrak. He has yet to approach the Dosh Khaleen directly, but rumors have it that he has inquired among the other merchants how one might contract the Dothraki into fighting for Pentos.