The Exiled Martells

The Basilisk Isles

New Ghis

After the Dornish Civil War during the Blackfyre Rebellion, some members of House Martell wished to stay and fight, while others wished to flee to Essos with the Targaryens and return when the time was right. The Martells that remained behind lived like rats, scurrying from loyal castle to loyal castle, desperately evading Yronwood troops that hoped to end the threat to their rule. It would be almost twenty years before House Martell ruled Dorne again, and the Martells have not forgotten it. Those that left Dorne and Westeros travelled much further, to the Summer Isles, Sothoryos and the Basilisk Islands, throughout the Free Cities, and further afield still.

Shortly after the Blackfyre Rebellion, the remnants of House Martell that had decided against remaining in Westeros had too experienced a division. A young scion of the family, Olyvar Martell, had always wished to travel the Known World, but had been forbidden from the desire by his father, Morton Martell, who was the younger brother of the Lord of Sunspear at the time. Persuading a number of scions, both those young and brash, and those older and eager to distract themselves from the lives they had lost at the hands of the Blackfyres and Bittersteel, they took some of the cogs and other ships they had fled on and sailed south, seeking the wonders of the Summer Isles, said to be a paradise unlike any besides the heavens above.

The few others that remained lingered with the Targaryens, the House that they had fought for with steadfast loyalty. It would make little sense to leave their homeland for those they considered their true Kings to abandon them as soon as their loyalty was tested. Martells would not be broken, and would support the Targaryens for the following decades. Although the strength the Martells would bring to the Red Dragons would not be in number of soldiers or ships, their skills would be useful in other means, working with the House that their Kingdom had long resisted subjugation to, until the days of Baelor the Blessed. Throughout the Bloodraven Rebellion, War of Unification, The Rising Faith and the Duel of the Dragons, they offered council, although few knew of their contributions, for the Sun and Spear of the House was rarely seen over the battlefield.

Those that followed Olyvar Martell however, lived quite a different life to the manses, wine and security of those that remained at the side of the Red Dragons. Within a moon of setting off for the famed Summer Isles, of the six ships that had sailed, only two remained. Set upon by corsairs from the Basilisk Isles, a number of Dornish scions had been captured and carried back to the isle of Talon, where they were sold into slavery. Another ship was destroyed in a storm that claimed the life of Olyvar himself, but in the end, some few Martell scions reached the fabled Summer Islands, where their descendants have resided ever since, although very few reached the paradise they were promised.

Those who survived the trip to Talon were purchased by Shordahl mo Rar, a wealthy Ghiscari, and sent to the city of New Ghis for service. The three surviving noble ladies, Mariah, Elia and Tyene were chosen to serve with the Graces, serving with the Red, Blue and Gold Orders respectively. Tristifer was chosen to serve in the pyramid of the House of Kezz, but committed suicide by throwing himself from a balcony within half a year, leaving his brother Dorian to serve their new masters alone. After a number of years, Dorian had grown to be amongst his master’s favourites, his quick wit and sharp mind setting him aside from those many others in the service of Andaq na Kezz, and so Dorian found himself permitted more and more privileges. Many years after they had first left Westeros, Dorian put his plan into action, stealing as much gold and silver as he and his helpers, comprised mainly of slaves that he had befriended throughout his time in service, could carry, fleeing for the docks. Stealing a slaver’s trade galley, they sailed southwest, landing on the Basilisk Isle of Howling Mountain. From here, drawing influences from the hardened men that inhabited the isles around him, Dorian made his plans. If the Martells could not rule Dorne free from the Blackfyres, he would do the next best thing. Rule the lands around them.

After Dorian died of a bout of wormbone contracted during a visit to the continent of Sothoryos, just to the south, it would be his descendant Maron Martell who would put his plan into play, claiming nearly all the Stepstones isles for himself, and declaring himself a Pirate King without parallel. It is rumoured that Maron Martell, having returned to Tyrosh and the integrated himself into the Martells that still resided there, encouraged Maegor Targaryen to push the Kingdom of the Three Daughters' claim over Lys, those prompting the Duel of the Dragons. In the ensuing chaos across the Stepstones, Moran was able to take control of each in turn, baring Pryr and Tyrosh itself,

As a result, the Martells have fallen somewhat out of favour with the Targaryen court, and are rarely seen, if at all.