Oldtown

House Hightower has ruled Oldtown since its tower first rose, long before there was any king to swear to: they were sovereigns in their own right, and only later bent the knee to the Gardeners. When Aegon the Conqueror set his crown over the continent, the Hightowers came to answer to the Tyrells, the new lords of the Reach, and so it has remained since. It was in Oldtown itself, in the Starry Sept, that Aegon received that crown: for a thousand years the temple had been the seat of the High Septon, and there the city's age of independent kings came to a close.

Seen from the cliffs of Battle Island, out in the current, the city spreads out like a map cut in stone: along the water the guildhalls stand in a row, packed together like palaces; further up, the domes and towers of the Citadel rise on both banks, joined by bridges wide enough to hold rooms of their own; further down, beneath the black marble walls of the Starry Sept, cluster the houses of the devout. Where the river widens into the Whispering Sound stands Hightower, seat of House Hightower and the tallest building in all of Westeros.

The rest of the city is a maze of crooked lanes, nameless crossings and streets with more potholes than paving. Four great septs ring their bells at dawn — one by the harbour, one for the Lord, the Seven Shrines set among gardens, and the Starry Sept itself — and near the docks a modest temple to R'hllor still stands. On one of the river's islands an inn has stood open for six hundred years, leaning south, called the Quill and Tankard and known for a cider strong enough to fell anyone; and anyone who cuts through the Cogetrapos alley can reach the old Thieves' Market.

Oldtown did not escape the Great Spring Sickness. Of all the cities of Westeros, it fared the worst after King's Landing.

Prince Oberyn Martell and his sister Princess Elia also passed through Oldtown on their way to Casterly Rock, where their mother hoped to betroth them to the Lannister twins, Jaime and Cersei. During that stop, Baelor Hightower tried to court Elia. He failed.

The War of the Five Kings barely touched Oldtown, until ships from the Iron Islands under Euron Greyjoy fell upon the coast of the Reach. They seized the Shield Islands, pushed past the Arbor, and tried to seal off the Honeywine bay.

The attempt on the city itself came to nothing: the City Watch beat back the attack.

Lord Commander Jon Snow sent Samwell Tarly to Oldtown to train as a maester and later serve the Night's Watch. Maester Aemon, Gilly and the singer Dareon travelled with him, but of the group only Sam and Gilly reached the city alive.

As soon as he arrived, Sam presented himself at the Citadel and reported Aemon's death. A young man named Alleras brought him before Archmaester Marwyn, and there Sam repeated everything the old maester had told him and everything he knew about the Others.

Marwyn heard the whole story and gave Sam a single order: study to become a maester, and return to Castle Black as soon as he could.