Sandstone
Asperón
Sandstone is the ancestral castle of House Qorgyle, built deep in the Dornish desert around the only well within fifty leagues in any direction.
Its isolation among the dunes made it both a refuge and a target through the great conflicts that shook Dorne, from the conquest of the first Targaryen kings to Martell schemes generations later.
Chapter 1
The well among the dunes
Books only
Oberyn MartellDuring the Andal invasion, House Qorgyle pushed into the Dornish desert and raised their stronghold beside the only spring within fifty leagues. Sandstone grew from that choice, guarded less by its walls than by the distance and thirst around it.
Generations later, a young Oberyn Martell spent time at the castle as a ward of Lord Qorgyle, learning under him before his name became known across the rest of Westeros.
Chapter 2
Dragonfire over the sands
From 9 ACBooks only
In the year 9 After the Conquest, during the First Dornish War, King Aegon I flew over the desert with his sister Visenya and burned Sandstone, Vaith, and Hellholt with their dragons.
It was also at Sandstone that, during that same campaign to subdue Dorne, a hundred scorpions fell onto Lord Tyrell's bed while he slept and killed him. According to Arenas Rojas, the plot was hatched by the lord of the castle himself.
Chapter 3
The route that never arrived
Books only
Myrcella Baratheon
Areo HotahCenturies later, Princess Arianne Martell secretly plotted to crown Myrcella Baratheon Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Her route ran up the Greenblood to Vaith and then across the sea of sand to Sandstone, where she hoped to find support.
The plan never reached that last stretch: Areo Hotah intercepted Arianne before she could reach the castle.