Blockade of the Skahazadhan
Bloqueo del Skahazadhan
The Blockade of the Skahazadhan was the naval operation through which the coalition led by Qarth cut the river route linking Meereen to Lhazar, stripping the city ruled by Daenerys Targaryen of its main supply line.
It was Qarth's armed answer to Daenerys's refusal to leave Slaver's Bay, and New Ghis and Tolos soon joined in, tightening the ring around a Meereen that had almost no fleet of its own.
Chapter 1
Thirteen ships and a bloodstained glove
300 ACBooks only
Having taken Meereen, Daenerys finds herself without a fleet of her own: she has broken up her only three ships to build rams, mantlets, siege towers, catapults and ladders. She sends Daario Naharis to Lhazar as her envoy, charged with reopening overland trade between the Lhazareens and Meereen.
Xaro Xhoan Daxos arrives in Meereen aboard the Silqua Rue. He brings thirteen ships as a gift, but attaches a condition: that Daenerys leave Slaver's Bay for Westeros, since her presence has cut off the slave trade in cities such as Volantis and Qarth itself. He also warns her of enemies stalking her, among them Pyat Pree. Daenerys has the ships inspected and then refuses the deal. Xaro answers by leaving a bloodstained glove on a satin cushion: Qarth's declaration of war.
Chapter 2
The river cut off
300 ACBooks only
Three Qarthine galleys sail up the Skahazadhan under cover of darkness. The Mother's Men try to stop them with flaming arrows aimed at the sails and cauldrons of boiling pitch poured onto the decks, but the ships are swift and take little real damage.
Soon afterward they are joined by three galleys from New Ghis and a carrack from Tolos.
Chapter 3
Meereen, hemmed in on three sides
300 ACBooks only
Meereen manages to strike a deal with the Lhazareens to reopen the overland trade routes, but it hardly matters: with the Skahazadhan cut off by the Qarthines and the Khyzai Pass held by Ghiscari camps, the city is left entirely isolated.