Norvos

Norvos is a theocracy: bearded priests claim to speak for a god that lives deep inside a temple only true believers may enter, and though a council of magisters exists, it's the priests, through their own clergy, who decide who sits on it.

To keep the peace among the population, those same priests raise and train slaves turned into soldiers: they brand them on the chest and, in a ritual ceremony, marry them to their own halberd.

The city stands split in two, one half high on the hill, the other low by the river. Three bells with three different sounds mark the hours and the habits of its people, and once a year bears dance on the Sinner's Steps for anyone who cares to watch.

Norvos lives mostly off its looms, though much of its people work the land; its men are known for long mustaches waxed to a point. One of the old Valyrian roads runs through the city on its way between Pentos and Qohor.

During the violent years of the Century of Blood, when the Free Cities tore at each other, Norvos sent its fire galleys out alongside those of Qohor to face Volantis on the waters of Lake Daga.

Much later, in 115 AC, the city had a different kind of visit: Prince Daemon Targaryen and his wife, Lady Laena Velaryon, passed through with their dragons Caraxes and Vhagar, on a journey across Essos marking their marriage.

They weren't welcomed with the same ceremony as in other Free Cities — neither Westeros nor the Triarchy carried much weight in that theocracy — though no one in Norvos wanted to miss the chance to see dragons fly.

Myrcella Baratheon's failed coronation had consequences for those who had stood by her up to that point.

Ser Andrey Dalt drew a rather different fate: he was sent to Norvos, to serve Lady Mellario, far from the court he had just left behind.