The Shadow Lands
las Tierras Sombrías
The Shadow Lands lie at the easternmost edge of Essos, facing the coasts of Ulthos across the Saffron Straits. Within them stand the city of Asshai and the ruins of Stygai, and despite the harshness of the land it is not empty: its people cover their bodies in tattoos and hide their faces under masks of lacquered wood.
The rest of Essos regards them with suspicion, and some look there for the origin of the dragons and of the strangest objects that circulate across the continent.
Chapter 1
Seeds of darkness
Books only
In Yi Ti, the emperors known as the garnet emperors kept their military court at Jinqi, said to guard the empire's eastern border against raiders coming down from the Shadow Lands. That neighbor alone explains the region's grim reputation, though little else about it is known in Westeros.
Those who live there cover their bodies in tattoos and hide their faces under masks of red lacquered wood. The Dothraki call them 'seeds of darkness,' and the rest of Essos holds them at the same distance.
Chapter 2
Where the dragons came from
Books and show
Daenerys TargaryenOn her wedding day, Illyrio Mopatis gives Daenerys dragon eggs said to come from the Shadow Lands. She herself recalls hearing that the oldest dragons came from the east, from that region and from the islands of the Jade Sea.
Once inside Vaes Dothrak, Dany comes across statues so deformed she looks away. Ser Jorah tells her they were probably brought from the Shadow Lands as well.
The physical world
Los habitantes de esta región tienen el cuerpo totalmente tatuado y portan máscaras de madera lacada roja. Son considerados "semillas de oscuridad" por los Dothraki y los otros habitantes de Essos desconfían de ellos.
Population · Juego de Tronos, Capítulo 55, Daenerys.