Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon’s designed ship

The Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon’s designed ship, turned his appetite for exploration into a source of extraordinary wealth and influence for House Velaryon. Across nine voyages, it carried him beyond the established trade routes, from Yi Ti and Leng to Asshai-by-the-Shadow and the remote shores of the Shivering Sea. Its final expedition returned with riches on a scale that briefly made House Velaryon the wealthiest house in the Seven Kingdoms, despite the loss of most of its fleet and every elephant it had carried.

Design and Purpose

Corlys Velaryon designed and built the Sea Snake himself. Unlike the traders from Oldtown and the Arbor who sailed as far as Qarth for valuable goods, he used his ship to press farther, making it the instrument of a more ambitious program of exploration and trade. The vessel’s importance lay not simply in the distance it covered: its voyages brought House Velaryon fortunes that altered the family’s standing among the great houses.

Voyages Beyond the Established Routes

On the Sea Snake’s first voyage, Corlys passed through the Jade Gates to Yi Ti and the isle of Leng. He and his ship were the first from Westeros to make that journey. They returned with such a rich cargo of silk and spice that House Velaryon’s wealth doubled in a single stroke.

The second voyage carried the ship farther still, to Asshai-by-the-Shadow. For the third, Corlys took a different course across the Shivering Sea. The expedition made him the first Westerosi to navigate the Thousand Islands and visit the bleak, cold shores of N’ghai and Mossovy. These routes established the ship’s record as a vessel of repeated ventures into waters beyond the familiar destinations of western traders.

The Ninth Voyage and Its Consequences

In all, the Sea Snake made nine voyages. On the ninth, Corlys took it back to Qarth, carrying enough gold to buy twenty more ships and load them with saffron, pepper, nutmeg, elephants, and bolts of the finest silk. The return came at a steep cost: only fourteen ships in the fleet reached Driftmark safely, and every elephant died at sea.

Even after those losses, the profits were vast enough to make House Velaryon the richest house in the Seven Kingdoms, surpassing the Hightowers and the Lannisters, though only briefly. The Sea Snake’s record thus joins commercial triumph to the hazards of long-distance sailing: its cargoes transformed the fortunes of its owners, but the final voyage’s wealth arrived alongside the wreckage of much of the fleet.