House Sarot of Planky Town- As Told by Garrin Sarot
Even though Sunspear, the Seat of House Martel, is considered the capital of Dorne by many, it is not the biggest settlement we have. That title goes to Planky Town.
Straddling the mouth of the Greenblood River, just south of Sunspear, Planky Town is the closest thing we Dornish have to a major city, though I can understand why many visitors would hesitate to even call it a 'city'. Its walls are the waters of the Greenblood itself; its buildings are boats and barges that have been tied together, many never to sail again; and its streets are made of the long wooden planks that give Planky Town its name.
Most Dornish are not seafarers, we never have been, but we still understand that much of the world's trade travels by ship. After Princess Nymeria unified Dorne, her descendants, known as the Red Princes, saw what a natural harbor the mouth of the Greenblood formed. Knowing ships would be drawn to such a place, they created Planky Town to serve as a trading point between the Dornish who lived inland and merchants from across the sea. This, combined with the ruggedness of the rest of the Dornish coastline, quickly made Planky Town into Dorne's greatest port. Ships from all over the known world find their way here, from the Summer Isles, the Basilisk Isles, the Free Cities, and even the Shivering Sea; not to mention ships travelling around Westeros, between ports on the Narrow Sea and the Sunset Sea. Even the Ironborn will sometimes land here, although, given their attitudes… they usually don't stay for very long.
Despite being its founders however, and despite its closeness to Sunspear, the Martels do not govern Planky Town, at least not directly. After the settlement was founded, the Martels set up a garrison to guard it, but they had the rest of Dorne to worry about, as well as threats from beyond its borders, and so decided to elect a castellan to watch over their creation in their stead. The obvious choice was House Dalt, their seat of Lemonwood is even closer to Planky Town than Sunspear. But the Dalts refused, stating that they had enough problems to contend with in Lemonwood and could not risk expanding their forces to watch over Planky Town as well. Ask me, however, and I'll tell you how the Dalts were one of the first houses forced to kneel to Nymeria Martel, and they've never really been happy about that, a view that was apparently shared by many other Dornish houses that the Martels asked. With few other options, the Red Princes turned to my ancestor, Darius Sarot, head of the Martel household guard, and tasked him with watching over Planky Town. He accepted, under the condition that he be given complete authority over Planky Town, answering to no one except the ruler of Dorne. House Martel agreed, Darius became a noble, and his family, my family, became House Sarot, Lords of Planky Town and the self-styled Guardians of the Greenblood. Many think this second title is a show of vanity or pride, but it carries a far more subtle meaning.
House Sarot trace our descent from the Rhoynar, a civilization from Essos what once rivaled the Ghiscari Empire in both strength and majesty. Like the Rhoynar of old, we do not worship the Faith of the Seven, like the rest of Dorne does, but instead follow Mother Rhoyne, the great river that had given our people life and safety since the Dawn of Days. Our sigil is the dragonfly, who we call the grandchild of Mother Rhoyne, because these insects would prey upon other insects who in turn preyed upon the Rhoynar. Legend has it that, whenever danger would approach Mother Rhoyne she would whisper a warning to her grandchildren, and the dragonflies would rise from the river in great swarms, alerting the Rhoynar to the trouble. It is said that, when the Valyrians first descended on the Rhoynar, the swarms of dragonflies were so thick that they darkened the sky. If we had only heeded their warning on that day, perhaps we would still be with Mother Rhoyne now.
Sadly though, Rhoynish blood has never lacked for ignorance. When Prince Garrin the Great was defeated by the Dragonlords of Valyria, Princess Nymeria originally wanted to stay and finish what he started, until my ancestors warned her that if she followed his path she would most likely suffer his fate, and the Rhoynar way would be lost along with her. Nymeria saw the wisdom in our words and fled to Dorne. While she and Mors Martel worked to unite Dorne under their combined banner, we served them, and the rest of our Rhoynar brothers and sisters, loyally; it was our council that had brought our people to Dorne, and we did not want to disappoint them, or our Mother Rhoyne. However, the same could not be said for the rest of our kin. As time passed, we watched as the descendants of Nymeria and the rest of the Rhoynar drifted farther and farther away from their ancestor's culture. Some customs were kept, such as viewing women as equal to men, but much of the old way taught to us by Mother Rhoyne was discarded by the Martels, who strongly encouraged the other Dornish houses, and those of Rhoynar blood, to do the same, but House Sarot never did. We may have abandoned Mother Rhoyne, but we would never forsake her! Working secretly with others who resisted this order, such as the Orphans of the Greenblood, House Sarot remains committed to ensuring that the customs and cultures of the Rhoynar are never forgotten, even if this puts us at odds with House Martel and the rest of Dorne.
Like the dragonfly, which preys on insects that affect our lives, but has no true vendetta against us, House Sarot has no quarrel with anyone, save the quarrels you bring to us. But take heed, if you cause us grief, we will come after you with all we have and teach you the error of your ways. Ageon the Conqueror learned this lesson the hard way. After he and his sister had their dragons burn much of Dorne, including Planky Town, we followed him back to his beloved capital and taught him the folly of underestimating us. The Kings of Westeros have been hiding behind the swords of their Kingsguard ever since, as they should.
The words of House Sarot are 'There is Always Another", and they serve to warn our enemies that, just as the waters of Mother Rhoyne flow endlessly to the sea, so too shall members of House Sarot never cease until our goals are reached. If one of us fails, another may succeed. We we will set as many of our family, blood and honorary, against you as is needed, until you find yourself 'swarmed' with trouble.
And Cut!
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a good holiday and safe travels wherever you went! I've only been working on this entry for a little while, but I feel pretty good with how it's turned out, and so have decided to 'gift' it to all of you as it is. It may be a little shorter than other entries, but honestly, I can't think of anything else to add.
This lore chapter is based on the fact that Planky Town, though it was founded by the Martels, did not really have anyone directly watching over it, as far as I could see. You could say that the Westerlands has a similar concept with Lannisport, but they have a cadet branch of House Lannister watching over it, whereas the Martels are stated to just have a garrison. It was also inspired by the research I did on House Martel, especially on how, even though House Martel is descended from the Rhoynar through Princess Nymeria, it has abandoned much of the Rhoynar customs she brought over with her. In fact, the same Red Princes who helped found Planky Town also outlawed the Rhoynar language, which I thought was rather interesting, and so I created House Sarot to serve as a sort of foil to the Martels, someone who protects both Dorne and the Rhoynar way of life.
Responding to posts:
rcampbell1: Glad you're enjoying this! Let me know if there's anything in particular you want to see.
RustyPete12: You asked for Dorne, well here you go! As for the Vale, I have several ideas in mind, but I'm gonna need to do some more research before I start writing it. If there's anything about the Vale you know that could be connected to an OC noble house, please let me know.
Well, that's it for now. We've been through the Crownlands, The North, The Reach, the Westerlands, the Riverlands, and now Dorne. Only the Vale, The Stormlands, and the Iron Islands remain. Which region do you want to hear from next? Let me know in your responses.
Until Next Time, and Merry Christmas!