Velvet Hills
las Colinas de Terciopelo
The Velvet Hills are a small range of low hills in southern Andalos, on the continent of Essos, close to Pentos. The Little Rhoyne rises there, and the old Valyrian road linking Pentos to Qohor runs straight through them.
The place carries a grim reputation: tales tell of bandits who once ambushed travelers from a nearby lake and of maidens who lured wanderers to their deaths. Amid Andal-era ruins and a forgotten Valyrian sphinx, it is also one of the stretches Tyrion Lannister crosses on his journey east.
Chapter 1
A landscape of legends
Books only
A deep lake lies near the Valyrian road that cuts through the hills. Local lore held that bandits once lived there in a den beneath the water, dragging fishermen under and devouring them.
The road passes the ruins of Ghoyan Drohe and other remnants of the Andal occupation, among them circles of standing stones that another legend attributes to giants. Beside the road stands a Valyrian sphinx with a dragon's body and a woman's head, carved to resemble a dragon queen; of the dragon king that once stood beside her only a moss-covered stone base remains, since the Dothraki hauled the statue away to Vaes Dothrak.
Pentos also tells of the Swan Maidens, said to have lured travelers into these hills to kill them.
Chapter 2
A dwarf's disappointing crossing
Books only
Tyrion LannisterFleeing east, Tyrion Lannister crosses the Velvet Hills alongside magister Illyrio Mopatis, on their way to meet Haldon and Rolly Duckfield. They come from Pentos, cross the Flatlands, and past the hills start climbing toward Ghoyan Drohe, above the Little Rhoyne.
Tyrion finds the scenery underwhelming, telling Illyrio they should be called the Velvet Nipples instead.
The physical world
Del rey dragón solo queda la peana de piedra lisa cubierta de musgo y enredaderas, pues los Dothraki le arrastraron hasta Vaes Dothrak.
What it is like · Danza de Dragones, Capítulo 5, Tyrion.
What we are not sure about
PositionWe worked it out
The position was inferred from the label on the base map rather than from a symbol of its own: it marks the area, not the point.