Who are the Stony Dornish?

[Bobity.]

When the ancient Danes arrived at now Starfall from places far tracking the path of a fallen star, I don’t think they were alone.

Before the arrival of the Andals and Nymeria Dorne was largely in two halves, the Sandy east along the Greenblood river/Eastern shores and the Stony mountainous west.  Between them an intimidating desert.  Andals came and populated the edges of the central desert at Sandstone, Hellhot and The Tor.  Later Nymeria co-opted the Sandy east with an Andal Martell and introduced the Salty Dornish.  With an ancient history of being seperated, throw in distinctive looks and I think it's safe to make an argument that the Sandy and Stony Dornish “First Men” peoples have little in common, either genetic or cultural.  The only connection is that they both live in Dorne.

The earliest power structure recorded for the Stony Dornish was of three principal regional rulers with the Yornwoods being the strongest, meaning they were probably the most brutal.

High Kings of Dorne AKA Bloodroyal - Yronwood

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Styling themselves the Bloodroyals, Lords of the Stone Way, Masters of the Green Hills, and High Kings of Dorne, the lords of House Yronwood in time ruled northern Dorne - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Kingdoms of the First Men

Kings of Stone and Sky - Fowler

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North and east, beyond a great gap in the mountains that provided the shortest and easiest passage from Dorne to the Reach, House Fowler carved its own seat into the stony slopes overlooking the pass. Skyreach, that seat became known, for its lofty perch and soaring stone towers. At the time, the pass it brooded over was commonly known as the Wide Way (today we name it the Prince's Pass), so the Fowlers took for themselves the grandiose titles of Lords of Skyreach, Lords of the Wide Way, and Kings of Stone and Sky. - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Kingdoms of the First Men

Kings of the Torrentine - Dayne

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At the mouth of the Torrentine, House Dayne raised its castle on an island where that roaring, tumultuous river broadens to meet the sea. Legend says the first Dayne was led to the site when he followed the track of a falling star and there found a stone of magical powers. His descendants ruled over the western mountains for centuries thereafter as Kings of the Torrentine and Lords of Starfall. - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Kingdoms of the First Men

Among those ancient kingdoms were the following prominent houses:

• House Wyl of the Boneway with the Yronwoods
• House Manwoody of Kingsgrave with the Fowlers
• House Blackmont of Blackmont with the Daynes

The list strongly overlaps with the six kings Nymeria systematically overwhelmed and sent to the Wall, which I suspect were all “First Men” Stony Dornish and not Andals.  Can’t say for sure regarding House Dryland of Hellgate, as Lucifer was the last of his line, though I suspect they were Stony.

The commonality in hair and eye colors are reinforced throughout the books, though the Daynes are more unique.

Danye

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our children would be as beautiful as dragonlords. If there was a handsomer man in Dorne, she did not know him. Ser Gerold Dayne had an aquiline nose, high cheekbones, a strong jaw. He kept his face clean-shaven, but his thick hair fell to his collar like a silver glacier, divided by a streak of midnight black. - A Feast for Crows - The Queenmaker

Yronwood

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youngest of Lord Yronwood's daughters had taken to following him about the castle. Gwyneth was but twelve, a small, scrawny girl whose dark eyes and brown hair set her apart in that house of blue-eyed blondes - A Dance with Dragons - The Merchant's Man

Fowler

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You used to ride the shoulders of an older girl . . . a tall girl with wispy yellow hair . . ." "Jeyne Fowler, or her sister Jennelyn." It had been years since Arianne had thought of that. - A Feast for Crows - The Princess In The Tower

Stony Dornish Culture

From the earliest history of the Stony Dornish, they have been fighting and resisting. Ancient history has them perpetually battling those loyal to Storm's End over the Dornish Marches and they were unique in the region for not becoming vassals to invading Andals or forced into marriages.  The Stony Dornish lords aggressively resisted Nymeria/Martell for 11 years before being overtaken.  While the resistance to the Targaryens after the Conquest was a unified Dornish response, much of the heavy fighting was done in the mountains.

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“The Dornish responded a year later by sending a host under Lord Fowler that seized and burned the great Marcher castle of Nightsong and carried off its lords and defenders as hostages, whilst another army under Ser Joffrey Dayne marched to the very walls of Oldtown, razing the fields and villages outside it.  So again the Targaryens turned to their dragons, unleashing their fury upon Starfall and Skyreach and Hellholt. “ - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons

Always fighting....

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There were other Dornish Wars, to be sure, and even during times of peace, raiders out of Dorne continued to descend from the Red Mountains in search of plunder in the richer, greener lands to the north and west. - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons

Is this consistent aggressive behaviour just a matter of culture, or could there be an influence at play?

Sacrifices in the Red Mountains

I believe that sacrifices are a key element for magical capabilities including blood magic, shadowbinding and infusing animal affinity genetics within a blood line. I have a unfinished post on the matter, but for now I just want to lay out the examples of non lethal blood sacrifices among the Stony Dornish. 

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“Dorne rebelled against them and did so with shocking rapidity. Garrisons were put to the sword, and the knights who led them were tortured. In truth, it became a game among the Dornish lords, to see which knight would live the longest as bit after bit of him was removed.” - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons

Chopping up people into pieces, yeah, that sounds like blood sacrifice. 

Wyl of Wyl

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“Worse occurred at the hands of the Wyl of Wyl, whose deeds we need not recount; they are infamous enough and still remembered, especially in Fawnton and Old Oak.” - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons

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“During Aegon's invasion of Dorne in 4 AC, however, Lord Orys was taken captive whilst attempting to bring his forces through the Boneway. His captor was the Wyl of Wyl, known as the Widow-lover, who struck off Orys's sword hand.” - The World of Ice and Fire - The Stormlands: House Baratheon

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“Lord Orys was captured by Lord Wyl, and many of his bannermen and knights besides. They remained captive for years before finally being ransomed for their weight in gold in 7 AC. And even then, each and every one of them returned lacking a sword hand, so that they might never take up arms against Dorne again.”  - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons

I see parallels between Wyl of Wyl and Vargo Holt the “Crippler”.  Remember, Vargo wore a goat helm, was from Qohor and chopped off hands when given the opportunity.  I would suggest he was among the “faithful” of his home city. 

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“The dark god of Qohor, the deity known as the Black Goat, demands daily blood sacrifice” - The World of Ice and Fire - The Free Cities: Qohor

Benedict Blackmont

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“Benedict of House Blackmont, who worshipped a dark god and was said to have the power to transform himself into a vulture of enormous size.” - The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Coming of the Rhoynar

While I am not sold on polymorphing, I think that Blackmont worship of a dark vulture god is legit.  With dark god worship comes sacrifices, which I believe the Blackmonts are quite up front about in their heraldry.

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“The vulture of Blackmont grasps a baby in its talons," said Pod. "House Blackmont of Blackmont, ser."  A Storm of Swords - Tyrion V

Infant sacrifices has been referenced beyond Craster, often framed as a decision in desperation.  I believe that the innocence of the victim bears weight in the sacrifice.

Vulture Kings

The Vulture King is a title applied to two separate Dornish strongmen who had rebelled against the crown, during the reigns of Anys l and Daeron ll.  Both from the Red Mountains, exact identifies unknown, but within the realm of the Stony Dornish.

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Ser Arlan served your lord father when he and Lord Caron burned the Vulture King out of the Red Mountains, ser - The Hedge Knight

We know little more of the Vulture King Lord Caron had faced, but now have more on the uprising against Anys l, thanks to The Sons of the Dragon.

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And high in the Red Mountains of Dorne, a pretender called the Vulture King appeared, and called on all true Dornishmen to avenge the evils visited on Dorne by the Targaryens. Though Princess Deria denounced him, swearing that she and all leal Dornishmen wanted only peace - The Sons of the Dragon

What if these two Vulture King figure historical accounts are part of a larger pattern?

In later centuries, several other men would take the title “Vulture King,” but whether they were of the same blood as the first, no man can say - The Sons of the Dragon

GRRM has confirmed some Vulture King background through SSM, its mountain origins and pattern of reoccurrence among different families.

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Q: Was the Vulture King a Blackmont? If not, what House did he belong to? 
A: Not necessarily. There are several vulture kings and they set up a place in the mountains. One of them might have been Blackmont, but not all of them.http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/US_Signing_Tour_Madison_WI

I believe that these Vulture King events were more common throughout history.  The vulture influence may not have been obvious from the perspective of the defender.

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Greatest of all the Gardeners was King Garth VII, the Goldenhand, a giant in both war and peace. As a boy, he turned back the Dornish when King Ferris Fowler led ten thousand men through the Wide Way (as the Prince's Pass was then called), intent on conquest.” - The World of Ice and Fire - The Reach: The Gardener Kings

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It was Durran the Young, also known as the Butcher Boy, who dammed the river Slayne with Dornish corpses, after turning back Yoren Yronwood and the warrior maid Wylla of Wyl in the Battle by the Bloody Pool - The World of Ice and Fire - The Stormlands: House Durrandon

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As Oldtown grew wealthy and powerful, neighboring lords and petty kings turned covetous eyes upon its riches, and pirates and reavers from beyond the seas heard tales of its splendors as well. Thrice in the space of a single century the city was taken and sacked, once by the Dornish king Samwell Dayne (the Starfire) - The World of Ice and Fire - The Reach: Oldtown

What inspired people to join Samwell, Ferris, Yoren and Wyla to mount these campaigns?

We only have one account of a Vulture King army, and it was best described as a stinking rabble.  

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Hundreds of Dornish knights and several thousand seasoned spearmen had joined the Vulture King’s rabble, and the rabble itself had swelled enormously, to more than thirty thousand men. So large had his host become that the Vulture King made an ill-considered decision and divided his strength. Whilst he marched west against Nightsong and Horn Hill with half the Dornish power, the other half went east to besiege Stonehelm, seat of House Swann, under the command of Lord Walter Wyl, the son of the Widow-lover. - The Sons of the Dragon

Sounds like a mob drawn to a religious figure, not unlike Dany. Notice the Vulture connection to Walter Wyl, who’s father, Wyl of Wyl liked chopping off hands.  We also see examples of deliberate mutilating blood sacrifices from the Vulture King himself.

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The Vulture King personally sliced off Dondarrion’s nose before putting Blackhaven to the torch and marching away. - The Sons of the Dragon

What is behind the Vulture King phenomenon?

I believe an “Old Ones” or demon in the aspect of a vulture has faithful among the Stony Dornish of the Red Mountains.  Maybe it's connected to the Vultures Roost, the ruin first added on the AFFC South map, but never mentioned in text.  Or maybe a cave system exists within the Red Mountains, they seem to be everywhere and connected to ancient history.

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“the time he led six of us up into the mountains to find the old lair of the Vulture King.”  - A Dance with Dragons - The Merchant's Man

I see a similarity between the recurrence of the Vulture King and the history of Leng in the Jade Sea. Where Old Ones convinced the rulers to kill all foreigners on several occasions throughout history.

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“the great and holy isle of Leng” - The World of Ice and Fire - The Bones and Beyond: Yi Ti

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“Leng became known as a haunt of demons and sorcerers.” 

“the Empress of Leng was known to have congress with the Old Ones, gods who lived deep below the ruined subterranean cities, and from time to time the Old Ones told her to put all the strangers on the island to death. This is known to have happened at least four times in the island's history if Colloquo Votar's Jade Compendium can be believed.  Not until Jar Har, sixth of the sea-green emperors, conquered Leng with fire and steel and took it into his empire did these slaughters cease for good and all. - The World of Ice and Fire - The Bones and Beyond: Leng

 

The Leng Old Ones influence spanned generations, much like the pattern of historically combative Stony Dornish with periodic Vulture King figures.

The Danes history places them as distant travellers following a fallen star back in the Dawn Age, back when the GEOTD was a power in the Jade sea.  I believe that a fully populated Asshai was at least part of the GEOTD, if so, the city would have filled the same role that it does in the books, spreading the knowledge and practice of magic through sacrifice.

The Danes history is woven within the Stony Dornish, I believe where came the Danes followed the Stony Dornish.  The migrants appeared to be inclined towards sacrificial demon worship, settled in the Red Mountains and started to fight.

How does this relate to the books? 

If we are looking for examples of Stony Dornish starting fights….

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Ser Gerold drew his sword. It glimmered in the starlight, sharp as lies. "This is how you start a war. Not with a crown of gold, but with a blade of steel." - A Feast for Crows - The Queenmaker

I wonder if Georld actually wanted to kill Myrcella, or if facial mutilation was his true aim?

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“The Vulture King personally sliced off Dondarrion’s nose before putting Blackhaven to the torch and marching away.” - The Sons of the Dragon

It's kings blood flowing through Myrcella’s veins after all, I wonder what return Darkstar will get for that blood sacrifice?

Why the Aero Hotah POV?

Norvos is a city founded by a splinter group of people from Valyria who felt the Freehold was too religiously tolerant, same as their friends from Qohor.  They have a god with a secret name which works directly through its priests and considers the Black Goat to be a “vile and treacherous“ demon, almost as if it were a competitor.

Areo Hotah is from Norvos and was trained by the bearded priests, so would be aware of the nature of his home religion, though his loyalty has shifted completely to Doran Martell.

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Ser Arys had come to Dorne to attend his own princess, as Areo Hotah had once come with his. Even their names sounded oddly alike: Areo and Arys. Yet there the likeness ended. The captain had left Norvos and its bearded priests, but Ser Arys Oakheart still served the Iron Throne. - A Feast for Crows - The Captain Of Guards

The Hotah POV is following Darkstar into the Red Mountains whose Stony Dorish have a vast history of fighting, but have ironically sat idle as Westeros erupted in war.  If a new Vulture King is amassing in secret, fueled by a vulture Demon/Old Ones/Old God the Hotah POV may reveal it, and with Hotah comes personal POV experience and context about demon gods, being a former student of the bearded priests of Norvos.  Many have been perplexed by the purpose of the Hotah POV, I believe that it's a tool for an eventual reveal on the nature of demons and sacrifice.

Doran has a strong grip on the nobility of Dorne, but previous Vulture Kings seem to have found influence and followers outside of the nobility structure. Princess Deria Martell had initially denounced the Vulture King, suggesting peace instead.  I feel that Doran will have the same lack of influence if a new Vulture King appears.