Ghoyan Drohe

Ghoyan Drohe is a ruined Rhoynar city on the Little Rhoyne, destroyed by Valyrian dragons a thousand years before the events of A Dance with Dragons. Tyrion Lannister passes through its desolate remains during his journey east with Illyrio Mopatis and later with Griff's company, and the site serves as a meeting point where Illyrio transfers Tyrion to the sellsword Griff and his party. The city's decayed state—choked canals, broken temples, and a sparse, fearful population—embodies the long shadow of Valyrian conquest and the fragility of civilization in the riverlands of Essos.

Location and History

Ghoyan Drohe was a Rhoynar city, situated hard beside the Little Rhoyne, a slow green waterway that Tyrion Lannister finds unimpressive compared to the rivers of Westeros. The city was once a fair place, green and flowering, with canals and fountains, until the Valyrian dragons reduced it to a smoldering desolation. A thousand years later, the canals are choked with reeds and mud, stagnant pools breed swarms of flies, and the broken stones of temples and palaces are sinking back into the earth. Gnarled old willows grow thick along the riverbanks. The city's destruction is part of the broader pattern of Valyrian conquest that Tyrion reflects on as he travels through years as well as leagues, back through history to the days when dragons ruled the earth.

Tyrion's Journey Through the Ruins

Tyrion first hears of Ghoyan Drohe from Illyrio Mopatis during their journey from Pentos. Illyrio tells him that their road will pass into the Velvet Hills and begin their climb toward Ghoyan Drohe, upon the Little Rhoyne. When Tyrion finally reaches the site, he finds it no more impressive than its reputation suggested. The city had never been large, but it had been a fair place until the war and the dragons came. The few people who still remain amidst the squalor tend little gardens in amongst the weeds; the sound of iron hooves ringing on the old Valyrian road sends most of them darting back into the holes they crawled from. The bolder ones linger in the sun long enough to stare at the passing riders with dull, incurious eyes. One naked girl with mud up to her knees cannot take her eyes off Tyrion, having never seen a dwarf before, much less a dwarf without a nose; when he makes a face and sticks out his tongue, she begins to cry.

Meeting Point for Illyrio and Griff

Beyond the tangled willows, the road ends abruptly, and the party turns north for a short ways to ride beside the water until the brush gives way and they find themselves beside an old stone quay, half-submerged and surrounded by tall brown weeds. There, the Shy Maid, an old ramshackle single-masted poleboat, is waiting. This is where Illyrio transfers Tyrion to the sellsword Griff and his company. The magister had intended to continue on to Ghoyan Drohe for a farewell feast before the party starts downriver, but Haldon Halfmaester informs him that there is no time for feasts; Griff means to strike downriver the instant they are back, as news has been coming upriver of Dothraki movements and other threats. Illyrio gives Tyrion over to Griff's custody, and the dwarf's journey continues eastward from this desolate meeting point.