| rdfs:comment | - Unlike the other Free Cities, Braavos was never part of the Valyrian Freehold, but was instead founded 500 years before Aegon's Landing in Westeros by refugees fleeing Valyrian expansion. They were led by the Moonsingers, a sect of Force-sensitives, who settled in the lagoon in an effort to find a place safely away from the Valyrian dragons. For centuries it was called the Secret City and remained relatively unknown to the rest of the world, allowing for the Moonsingers to build up their walls and fortify their haven from invasion. Following the Doom of Valyria some four centuries after Braavos was founded, the wider world became aware of the city and its ports began to grow in size and popularity among sailors. As merchants and shipwrights began taking port in the city, Braavos began to s
|
| abstract | - Unlike the other Free Cities, Braavos was never part of the Valyrian Freehold, but was instead founded 500 years before Aegon's Landing in Westeros by refugees fleeing Valyrian expansion. They were led by the Moonsingers, a sect of Force-sensitives, who settled in the lagoon in an effort to find a place safely away from the Valyrian dragons. For centuries it was called the Secret City and remained relatively unknown to the rest of the world, allowing for the Moonsingers to build up their walls and fortify their haven from invasion. Following the Doom of Valyria some four centuries after Braavos was founded, the wider world became aware of the city and its ports began to grow in size and popularity among sailors. As merchants and shipwrights began taking port in the city, Braavos began to sprawl across the lagoon's nearly one hundred islands. Surrounded by a ring of uninhabited mountainous and marshy barrier islands which protected the city's seaward side, Braavos brought in firewood by barge from the mainland, allowing the tall pines on the seaward islands to act as windbreaks to protect the valuable harbors. When the Jedi Order returned to Tython after hundreds of millennia had passed since they occupied the world, the Braavosi welcomed the Forceful warriors with open arms. Seeing the return of the Jedi as a return to a more prosperous age, local Braavosi helped clear the way for a new Jedi outpost to be constructed within an old temple in the Isle of the Gods. While the Jedi had left Tython thousands of millions of generations before Braavos was founded, the Braavosi knew that the Forceful Valyrians from which they had descended shared a common ancestor with the original Je'daii. As the Jedi's presence on Tython grew, more and more Jedi Journeyers found their way to the island nation during their Great Journeys, seeking out knowledge and adventure within the city's boundaries. Many came seeking knowledge on Water Dancing, while others came to enjoy the food and drink offered in public houses and breweries. Mummer shows and whore houses catered to the needs of travel weary Jedi youths, while the Isle of Gods provided for reflection and introspection. Older Jedi came to Braavos to conduct business with the Iron Bank on behalf of the Jedi High Council or to partake in the Sealord's court. In Year 50, the High Council issued an order to the Grand Council of Tython, commanding them to begin resettlement of the other habitable worlds of the system. Ultimately, the Council was calling for the eviction of the non-Forceful citizens of Tython in preparation for the return of the Tho Yor. When emissaries arrived in Braavos to inform the Sealord of the High Council's demands, they were dismissed from the city and a war council was called. Ultimately, war was not the path the Jedi sought to take. Upon being refused the Jedi sent a capital ship to the city in a show of force, and offered a second chance at negotiations. Accepting the Order's terms, the Sealord accepted the offer to recolonize the planet Shikaakwa with the assistance of the Order and the Republic. The Sealord sent scouts of his court to accompany the Jedi for a expedition to Shikaakwa. Once heavily polluted during the original colonization, several millennia removed from its last inhabitant's departure left the world renewed and beautiful. A largely oceanic world, the land masses were swamp-like with archipelagos forming the coastlines. Mirroring the terrain of Braavos, the scouts reported back to the Sealord with excitement at the promise the new world held for them. With assistance from community and city planners from the Builder Corps, the Braavosi leadership were able to settle on a city layout that allowed for cultural stability and growth. As the citizens of Braavos were made aware of the coming changes, ships began to arrive to transport people and artifacts off of Tython and to their new home on Shikaakwa. When the new capital city of Shikaakwa was completed in Year 53, the great migration began and soon the entire city was left abandoned. For the next half decade the city slept in perpetual silence, as the world swept away most of the pollution of sentient activity while the structures and palaces remained largely intact. When the Tho Yor returned to Tython in Year 100, the city and the entire planet were changed forever. Thousands of new Forceful inhabitants flooded the world, scattering across it to make sense of their journey and asking themselves why the Force had willed them to the world. The Jedi Order, struggling with the fact that some did not wish to join them in their studies and sought other means of learning the mysteries of the Force, allowed the new-comers to roam the planet and seek clarity. A group of Bith and Annoo-dat settled in the ancient city of Braavos, marveling at the Titan standing guard at the mouth of the bay. The Bith set up their operations within the Sealord's Palace, while the Annoo-dat maintained their distance and took to the battlements of the Arsenal Castle in the shadow of the Titan.
|
