Slaver's Bay

Slaver's Bay is a great bay on the southern coast of the eastern continent of Essos, notorious as the center of the slave trade in the known world. Three great cities stand upon its shores, Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen, all of them built upon the ruins of the old Ghiscari empire and all grown rich and cruel on the buying and selling of human beings.

The cities of Slaver's Bay deal in every kind of bondage: the Unsullied soldier-slaves bred and trained at Astapor, the bed slaves and "pillow girls" trained at Yunkai, the pit fighters and household slaves of Meereen. The trade is the lifeblood of the region and the foundation of its great masters' wealth and power.

Geography

Slaver's Bay opens onto the Gulf of Grief and the Summer Sea to the south. Astapor lies on its western shore, Yunkai to the east of Astapor, and Meereen on the northern coast at the mouth of the Skahazadhan. The three cities are linked by the coast road along which slave caravans and armies move. North and east lie the parched lands, the Ghiscari hills, and beyond them the wider expanse of Essos toward Qarth and the red wastes.

History

The shores of Slaver's Bay were the heartland of Old Ghis, the first great empire of Essos, which rose before Valyria and warred against it five times before being utterly destroyed. The Ghiscari survivors and their successor cities rebuilt their civilization around slavery, and for thousands of years Slaver's Bay supplied bondsmen to the markets of the east and even, illicitly, to parts of the west.

In the story

Slaver's Bay becomes the arena of Daenerys Targaryen's war against slavery. She buys and then frees the Unsullied at Astapor, sacking the city; she takes Yunkai and frees its slaves; and she conquers Meereen, crucifying its masters and remaining to rule. Her campaign throws the whole region into upheaval, as the freed slaves, the dispossessed masters, the Sons of the Harpy, and the slaver powers of Yunkai and beyond contend for the future of the bay. In the aftermath of her conquests the region is sometimes called the Bay of Dragons by those loyal to her.