A Note from the Executive Board Dear Delegates, This Study Guide Is
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A note from the executive board Dear Delegates, This study guide is designed to bring all the members of the committee up to speed on basic history of the world the committee inhabits, while presenting essential points of formation and changes in different houses across the kingdoms. It is in no way comprehensive, and for further research the delegates are requested to watch the events of the TV Shows for current recounts of events, and the books for histories of houses, as you will be expected to act in accordance to past actions carried out by your house. This will serve as your house policy. The objective of this committee is to simulate diplomatic discourse in the world of Game of Thrones, in order to think of solutions to the multitude problems of the various houses as, while also coming up with smarter courses of future action by the respective houses to deal with the looming chaos on Westeros, i.e. the Long Night. The committee will follow a slightly modified constant-crisis UNA/USA procedure, wherein an accelerated time-frame, with new updates being given to the delegates randomly that they will be expected to address while also solving the main agenda issues. The first agenda is that of Daenerys Targaryen ruling over the seven kingdoms. While the topic is framed with house Targaryen being at the center of the issue, the question of right to the throne is in no way exclusive to that of the Targaryens, and other houses can see this as a platform to put forth their rightful claims to the throne, should their claims be justified. The second agenda aims to formulate an agreement of sorts to control the use of ‘weapons of mass destruction’ in Westeros. Wildfire has been presented as an example, as it is a weapon that the user cannot maintain control of. The discussion of this issue can include the issue of the use of dragons in warfare, and potentially a wide range of poisonous weapons that destroy the lands or turn it infertile, or weapons that can cause harm over several generations. Asking questions such as follows and attempting to answer them would serve the structure of the debate ideally: Can the wildfire be used against the white-walkers? Is the knowledge of the wildfire in safe hands? With Daenerys Targaryen having had shown traces and resemblance to the mad king’s behaviour, do her dragons pose a threat to westeros? Can sorcery be put to good use? How can white walkers be tamed? Delegates would be expected to present such questions with regards their own Houses and people. Timeline “Past a certain point, all the dates grow hazy and confused, and the clarity of history becomes the fog of legend.” The following is a detailed list of events in chronological order that provides a history of the Westeros and Essos. It is in no way comprehensive, but consists of all the major events that are canon and serves to provide a reference of important events and precedence for future behavior of various houses and establishes the arguable laws of the land. Prehistory Before the coming of men: The lands of Westeros are inhabited by a mysterious race of diminutive humanoid creatures known as the children of the forest, as well as giants and other magical creatures. ca.-12,000 The First Men invade Westeros: A human ethnic group from Essos, the First Men, invades Westeros by crossing the Arm of Dorne, bearing weapons of bronze. In a futile attempt to end the invasion, the children use the hammer of the waters to shatter the land bridge, creating the Broken Arm and the island chain known as the Stepstones. The First Men are more numerous, larger, stronger, and more technologically advanced than the children, who try to resist the invaders using their magic and obsidian weapons. It proves unsuccessful, however, and the First Men gradually push deeper and deeper into Westeros, establishing hundreds of petty kingdoms. ca.-10,000 Signing of the Pact: After years of warfare, the First Men and children of the forest come to a standstill and finally agree to a peaceful coexistence, signing the Pact on the Isle of Faces. This pact gives the First Men dominion over the open lands and lets the children keep control over the forested areas. In time, the First Men adopt the worship of the old gods of the forest. ca.-3000 Over the centuries following the Andal invasion, the southern kingdoms of the First Men fall, and eventually the Andals raise up six powerful kingdoms of their own. Wildling Invasion: The free folk (wildlings) unite under the brother Kings-beyond-the-Wall, Gendel and Gorne. They manage to evade the Night's Watch and bypass the Wall in great numbers using a network of tunnels that extend under the Wall. However, they are met by the Stark king on the other side and are eventually thrown back. ca. -700 House Stark finally subdues House Bolton, their primary antagonists for dominance in the North. Later Karlon Stark would defeat sea raiders from the east and found the cadet branch House Karstark. In the west, the ironborn of the Iron Islands rise to power; at their peak they control most of the western coast from Oldtown and the Arbor in the south to Bear Island in the north. The Rhoynar, fleeing the Valyrians, migrate to Dorne. This is the last major migration into Westeros. Between 8000 BC - 4700 BC Rise of the Valyrian Freehold: While Westeros was recovering from the Long Night, in Essos, the peaceful sheep-herding folk of the Valyrian peninsula find dragons lairing in the Fourteen Flames, an immense chain of volcanoes extending across the neck of the peninsula. The Valyrians tame the dragons with magic, which gives them the means to gain influence over the area. The Valyrian Freehold is established. In its capital, Valyria, magic flourishes, topless towers rise toward the heavens where dragons soar, stone sphinxes gaze down through eyes of garnet, and smiths forge swords of legendary strength and sharpness. Ghiscari wars: Five wars are fought between the Old Empire of Ghis, the greatest empire on the eastern continent, and the Freehold — wars which Valyria wins with the help of its dragons. The Valyrians practice slavery learned from the Ghiscari. ~4700 BC Fifth Ghiscari War: The Ghiscari wars end with the fifth war in which Old Ghis is utterly destroyed by the Freehold, as to ensure there would not be a sixth war. The Valyrians destroy the city's walls and streets with dragonflame, and salt and sulfur the fields. With the Ghiscari empire shattered, the Valyrian Freehold expands its influence over the surviving Slaver Cities of Slaver's Bay. Following the defeat of the Old Empire of Ghis, the Freehold seeks to expand their territories. The Andals, who had been living in Andalos, traveled west to flee the upcoming Valyrians and prevent slavery. They first landed in the Fingers in the Vale of Arryn. From there, they spread all across Westeros. ~3700 BC After a thousand years, the Andals who invaded Westeros look towards the Iron Islands. There, they extinguished the line of Urron Greyiron, who had ruled the Iron Islands for a thousand years. 1436 BC Lorath: A sect of religious dissidents leave the Freehold to establish a temple upon Lorath's main isle, becoming the first inhabitants of the city that will become Lorath. ~950 BC - 700 BC The Rhoynish Wars: With the destruction of Old Ghis, the Freehold's slow westward expansion brings it into conflict with the Rhoynish cities along the great River Rhoyne, a vast waterway. This series of wars between the Valyrian Freehold and the Rhoynar, starting around 950 BC with the First Turtle War, lasts for some two hundred and fifty years and ends with the Second Spice War. ~700 BC The Rhoynar migration: Prince Garin the Great raises an army a quarter-million strong to oppose the Valyrians, but fails utterly against their dragons. Following the defeat of the Rhoynar in the Second Spice War, Nymeria, a Rhoynish warrior-queen, evacuates the survivors of Garin's war, mostly women and children, on ten thousand ships across the narrow sea, seeking refuge in Dorne in southern Westeros. There, Nymeria forms a marriage alliance with Lord Mors Martell and together they finally organize the land into one kingdom, establishing House Martell as the ruling house of Dorne after Nymeria's War. Mors adopts many Rhoynish customs. The unification of Dorne under Nymeria and Mors leads to new conflicts with the kingdoms of the Reach and the Storm, expressed through raids, skirmishes, and the occasional wars over the centuries. ~ 326 BC The Valyrian Freehold annexes a small island at the mouth of Blackwater Bay, off the east coast of Westeros. The Targaryens, a Valyrian dragonlord family, take control of the island, building a castle whose towers are shaped to look like dragons, giving it its name: Dragonstone. 126 BC Migration of the Targaryens: Following a prophetic dream of his daughter Daenys, Lord Aenar Targaryen decides to leave Valyria with his family and all their belongings. They settle on Dragonstone. 114 BC The Doom of Valyria: The nature of the Doom is unclear, save that heavy volcanic and seismic activity are involved, likely due to the Fourteen Flames, the mountains where the dragons were first discovered. The Valyrian peninsula is shattered and the city of Valyria is laid waste, although not completely destroyed. The dragons of Valyria are virtually wiped out and the Valyrian Freehold crumbles apart in the Century of Blood.