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Sothoryos


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I know that I care about even less about Sothoryos than I do about Essos. (Well, Slaver's Bay and beyond really. The free cities are cool.)

If Dany leaves Mereen to rule over some exotic cesspool in Sothoryos for the duration of TWOW I can't guarantee I will any of her chapters ever again.

Apart from that I'm sure it's really quite lovely.

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What we know is that it's basically GRRM's equivalent of Africa. It's a large, mostly unexplored continent that extends a long way south from Essos, probably crossing the equator. It has deserts and jungles on it, with dangerous animals (including species of apes). It also seems to be a haven for diseases not known in the rest of the world.

The cities of the north coast - Zamettar and Yeen - appear to be in ruins. It's possible, if not likely, that the northern part of Sothoryros (the bit on the maps) was devastated by tidal waves and tsunamis generated by the Doom of Valyria, which wiped out those cities and any civilisations there.

It appears likely that Sothoryos extends north and east from that bit we see on the ASoS map and also forms the south coast of the Jade Sea (as hinted on the new HBO map). It may be that that part of Sothoryos, much further east than the devastated part, has inhabited cities or kingdoms on it. We hear about traders doing a great circle of the Jade Sea, trading at all the ports along the way, and it might not be worth it if the entire southern coast was uninhabited.

IIRC Jorah Mormont says the Dothraki believe it has tall grass that will one day cover the world.

That's the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai. That's still on Essos, but beyond the Jade Sea.

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In ADwD, in one of the Dany chapters, it's stated that there are pygmies living there. Barristan the Bold's squire, Tumco Lho, whom he considers to be the best natural swordsman since Jaime Lannister, is from Basilisk Point on Sothoryos.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I picture it being a more "primitive" continent in terms of civilization standards that's a combination of africa/south america. While it may have a descent population, I think it would be more tribal/village like than having sprawling cities or stone castles and the like. (Not saying that there aren't any, but definitely less than that of other areas we've 'witnessed')

I could see that it's wildlife and climate would make it hard to develop an extensive society, with heat, disease (from insects?), and such.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm going to compile all the references to Sothoryos as I read the series. Will Daenerys go there or will there be characters from Westeros going there? I very much hope so. Or at least the Summer Isles because I love to read about fantasy in the tropics!

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We know there are Pleistocene Era creatures beyond the Wall such as mammoths, direwolves, short-faced bears, etc; I wonder if the in the jungles of Sothoryos, there are creatures from the Jurassic Period.

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  • 8 months later...

We know there are Pleistocene Era creatures beyond the Wall such as mammoths, direwolves, short-faced bears, etc; I wonder if the in the jungles of Sothoryos, there are creatures from the Jurassic Period.

You know I'd swear that there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it mention of a feathered lizard with a big claw in AGoT but I can;t for the life of me remember the quote in enough detail to make it come up in searches, but it sounds suspiciously liek a velociraptor or deinonychus

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