Norvos

Norvos is one of the nine Free Cities of western Essos, nestled amongst the Hills of Norvos upon the banks of the river Noyne before it reaches the Rhoyne to the south.

It is called Great Norvos by its residents.

## Layout

The city of Norvos is split into two distinct regions, the smaller High City, placed upon the taller hills houses the noble houses of the city, as well as the Fortress-Temple of the Bearded Priests of Norvos, whereas the Low City is home to the commonfolk and most of the visitors to the city. The two are connected by the Sinner's Steps.

#### The High City

* The Stone Walls - unlike the Low City, the High City is surrounded by two layers of pale-grey stone walls, upon, populated by half a dozen guard-towers shorter than only the Bell Tower at the centre of the city. From these towers, archers capable of launching shafts hundreds of feet.
* The Fortress-Temple of the Bearded Priests - guarded by a holy guard of slave soldiers branded with the symbol of an axe upon their chests, the Fortress-Temple is a monolith of blue-grey rock, lifted from the hills around the city. Within, the Bearded Priests hold their conclave with the High Priest in the Hall of Voices. The current High Priest is Tallen, called *the Voiced*.
* The Manses of the Nobility - positioned around the centrally placed Fortress-Temple of the Bearded Priests, but with a view to be as far from the Sinner's Steps as possible, the manses and palaces of the ancient families of Norvos can be found, including the families Ahrohr, Essoran, Golathis and Maegen. While most are built from the same pale-grey stone that abundant within the territory of the Free City, some families have sought to set themselves apart by using materials such as marble, basalt and granite in contrast to their neighbours.
* The Bell Tower - within the Bell Tower, the feature that brings many curious visitors to the Free City can be found. The three bells of Norvos, named Noom, Narrah and Nyel play in unison or individually to signal the start and end of the day, times for work and rest, preparing for war or making love.
	+ Noom has a deep, resonating tone.
	+ Narrah has a lingering strong sound.
	+ Nyel is the highest pitched of the three.

#### The Sinner's Steps

The Sinner's Steps is a great stair of wide steps carved directly through the side of one of the tallest peaks within the Hills of Norvos, and connects the High City with the Low City. The incline is somewhat variable, with an increasing gradient closer to the High City. On a normal day, it takes around half an hour to make the ascension from the bottom to the top, but at times of festival, when the stairs are covered in dancing bears and merchants, it can take hours.

#### The Low City

* The Wooden Walls - unlike the High City, the Low City is protected only by a wooden palisade surrounded by ditches and a wide but shallow moat. Historically, there was an organisation tasked with its maintenance, but in recent years the walls have started to become covered in moss and vines.
* The Dockfront - the city of Norvos is situated upon the Noyne, and utilises the fast-flowing waters for transportation and trade with Qohor and, further to the south, Volantis. The city has a small navy of river galleys, which when not in use remain moored within the Dockfront.

 Recent History

In response to the growing strength of the Kingdom of the Three Daughters in the Disputed Lands, the Norvoshi Bearded Priests sent the magister Vargen Ahrohr to Qohor to parley a formal alliance between the two Free Cities, so that if the Targaryens did set their gaze northwards, they could stand together in solidarity to repel the Dragons. Ever since the Treaty at Dagger Lake, the Qohorik and Norvoshi have traded with preference between each other, and effectively share the territories of the northern Rhoyne and its tributaries.

In 268AC during a routine survey of the ruined city of Ny Sar, Captain Viggo Vortyris spotted the remains of a scuttled merchant cog, shattered amongst the ruins of the Rhoynish city. Noting that it appeared the ship had been split in two by a great force striking the middle of the vessel, he sent out his men on a series of scouting parties into the seemingly abandoned city, hoping to find the source. When one of the groups failed to return, Viggo himself led a party in the direction of their last location, before finding himself, too, set upon by a band of vagabonds and privateers that had started to establish a presence at Ny Sar. Fleeing to his vessel, *Flame of the West*, Viggo was crushed by a rock dropped from one of the many archways that bridged the river Noyne as it passed through the ruins, and his ship torn asunder by the force. Hearing of the loss of the scouting party, both Norvoshi and Qohorik military vessels were sent to the manage the threat, a skirmish that would come to be known as the Scouring of Ny Sar.

When the Bearded Priests and Magisters refused to pay tribute to Khal Azho and his khalasar of 12,000 riders, stating that they had not heard of, and therefore were not frightened of the young Khal, the Dothraki sacked the Low City, burning the wooden palisades that surrounded it, and filling the waters of the Dockfront with the bodies of those his bloodriders had no further desire to gain pleasure from. When he rode his khalasar east, towards Qohor, the Qohorik were quick to offer tribute, fearing the same fate would befall their city.