The elephants

The elephants were one of two great political factions that contended for rule of Volantis, the oldest and proudest of the Nine Free Cities. Their name derived from the emblem of the party that favored commerce, diplomacy, and economic expansion over military aggression. After the Doom of Valyria, the Volantenes considered themselves the heirs of the Freehold and rightful rulers of the world, but they were divided as to how dominion might best be achieved. The Old Blood favored the sword, while the merchants and moneylenders advocated trade. As they contended for rule of the city, the factions became known as the tigers and elephants, respectively.

Origins and the Century of Blood

The tigers held sway for almost a century after the Doom of Valyria. For a time they were successful: a Volantene fleet took Lys and a Volantene army captured Myr, and for two generations all three cities were ruled from within the Black Walls. That ended when the tigers tried to swallow Tyrosh. Pentos came into the war on the Tyroshi side, along with the Westerosi Storm King. Braavos provided a Lyseni exile with a hundred warships, Aegon Targaryen flew forth from Dragonstone on the Black Dread, and Myr and Lys rose up in rebellion. The war left the Disputed Lands a waste, and freed Lys and Myr from the yoke. The tigers suffered other defeats as well. The fleet they sent to reclaim Valyria vanished in the Smoking Sea. Qohor and Norvos broke their power on the Rhoyne when the fire galleys fought on Dagger Lake. Out of the east came the Dothraki, driving smallfolk from their hovels and nobles from their estates, until only grass and ruins remained from the forest of Qohor to the headwaters of the Selhoru. After a century of war, Volantis found herself broken, bankrupt, and depopulated. It was then that the elephants rose up.

Elephant Rule and the Triarchs

The elephants have held sway ever since. Some years the tigers elect a triarch, and some years they do not, but never more than one, so the elephants have ruled the city for three hundred years. The triarchs are chosen from amongst those noble families who can prove unbroken descent from old Valyria, to serve until the first day of the new year. The elephants' preference for trade over war shaped Volantis's foreign policy for centuries, making the city a commercial powerhouse even as its military ambitions waned. The triarchs Nyessos and Doniphos were elephants during the events of the War of the Five Kings, while Malaquo was a tiger.

The Elephants and the Dragon Queen

During the siege of Meereen, the elephants' traditional caution was tested by the rise of Daenerys Targaryen. The Yunkish envoy Grazdan mo Eraz brought chests of gold and gems and two hundred slaves to Volantis, seeking to hire sellswords and turn the city against the dragon queen. The red priest Benerro preached that Volantis would surely burn if the triarchs took up arms against the silver queen, and thousands of slaves and freedmen crowded the temple plaza every night to hear him. The elephants, ever wary of destabilizing the trade that sustained their wealth, were divided. Nyessos owed much of his wealth to the slave trade and was susceptible to Yunkish bribes, while Doniphos was more cautious. The widow of the waterfront observed that if Doniphos was returned as triarch, the fleets would not sail, but if Alios or Parquello or Belicho gained the triarchy, war would follow. Ultimately, the elephants' fear of the red god's growing influence and the potential for slave revolt tempered their enthusiasm for open war against Daenerys, though the city's eventual commitment to the anti-Targaryen coalition remained uncertain.