The Rise of Valyria: From Humble Shepherds to Dragon Lords

The Humble Beginnings:

Before the gleaming towers and dragon-filled skies, Valyria was nothing but a backwater peninsula. Its people? Simple shepherds, guiding their flocks through the shadows of fourteen great volcanoes – the Fourteen Flames. Little did they know these smoking mountains housed secrets that would forge the greatest empire the world had ever seen.

The First Dragon Tamers:

Nobody knows exactly who tamed the first dragon. Some say it was a young girl who found a wounded dragon in a cave. Others claim it was a group of shepherds who discovered dragon eggs in the volcanic vents. But one thing’s certain – these simple folk did what the great civilizations of Ghis and Old Empire couldn’t: they formed bonds with dragons.

Did You Know? The earliest dragon tamers didn’t use whips or chains. Instead, they developed a mystical bond using blood magic – a practice that would become deeply woven into Valyrian culture.

The Rise to Power:

  • First came mastery of the skies
  • Then, the discovery of magic within the Fourteen Flames
  • Soon after, the forging of Valyrian steel
  • Finally, the birth of an empire

The Old Empire of Ghis didn’t stand a chance. Five wars they fought against the rising Valyrian. Five times they faced dragons in battle. Five times they fell. With each victory, Valyria grew stronger.

The Birth of the Freehold:

Unlike the dragon-riding Targaryens who would later rule as kings, ancient Valyria was different. They created something unprecedented – a freehold where any dragon lord could rise to power. Well, “free” if you were one of the forty dragon lord families, that is.

Legacy:

Today’s dragons in House of the Dragon? They’re mere shadows of Valyria’s might. At its height, hundreds of dragons soared above the Freehold. The Targaryen’s three dragons that conquered Westeros? That was just a fraction of what their ancestors commanded.

From shepherds to dragonlords, Valyria’s rise reminds us why we love this world so much. It’s a story of discovery, ambition, and the price of power. Because as we’ll explore in future posts, the higher Valyria soared, the harder it would eventually fall…

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