74 Always foward

House Martell's seat is located in the southern part of the Bay of the Sun, right next to the mouth of the Sunstream River.

The Sunstream is a tributary of the Greenblood River, it separates from it on the border of the House Allyrion and House Martell lands, it is quite smaller than the main river but it provides enough water to support a fairly large population.

The first Martells, in the days of the Long Night, settled there fleeing the Dark Winter; they and their followers thought that winter would not reach the desert. They were wrong. After the end of winter, many returned to the green lands, but there were some who stayed; of those houses the Martell, the Dayne and the Yronwood still remain; the three oldest bloodlines of Dorne.

For millennia House Martell remained a small but mighty kingdom, fighting many wars to preserve their territory but never seeming interested in expanding their domains. That changed with the arrival of Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar; the last Rhoynish princess.

A millennium ago when a dozen dragonlords joined forces with Volantis to destroy the Rhoynish port Sarhoy on the Summer Sea the Second Spice War started. In response to the actions of the Valyrians, Prince Garin of Chroyane summoned all the Rhoynish princes and princesses, and told them the following.

"We shall all be slaves unless we join together to end this threat."

The Rhoynish were not willing to sit idly by when their territories were invaded and destroyed, which is more important, they knew the future that would await them if they did nothing, and no Rhoynish was willing to live in chains.

The only person who protested against the war, the only person who saw that their chances against the full might of the Freehold were slim was Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar. Nymeria looked at the council of princes and princesses and told them the following:

"This is a war we cannot hope to win."

Her warnings fell on deaf ears, and the war plans continued. The princess sighed in defeat and commanded her troops to gather.

An army of 350,000 Rhoynish was raised, among them tens of thousands of wizards.

What followed was a series of victories for the children of Rhoyne, they conquered Selhorys, Valysar and Volon Thers. In those battles they even killed over a dozen dragons.

After the battles of the previous year the Rhoynish army lost 70,000 soldiers. Princess Nymeria was adamant in sending all the wounded home, some princes protested but many others, intoxicated by the taste of consecutive victories, shrugged their shoulders. Of the 70,000 soldiers who did not participate in the last battle, 24,000 had been killed in previous battles, 26,000 had been wounded in those battles, and the remainder were ordered by the princess to escort the wounded home.

Unknown to her allies Nymeria was preparing for the worst possible outcome, she ordered the soldiers she sent with the wounded to gather as many ships as they could and prepare everything in case they would need to flee.

Her fears came true.

The Freehold rallied their main army a couple of kilometers from Volantis to stop the Rhoynish advance.

200,000 soldiers and 500 dragonlords against 250,000 soldiers and 30,000 water mages.

It was the most epic battle since the Age of Heroes, and despite the many attempts by the Valyrians to suppress and alter information about it to protect their reputation as invisible and untouchable, it is still remembered a thousand years later.

The Rhoynish fought valiantly and crushed the Valyrians to the ground, what tipped the scales in favor of the Freehold were the dragons.

The Rhoynish had many strategies in place to stop the flying beasts. To do this they created special ballistae capable of firing a projectile the size of a tree at high speed, ingenious traps with nets to throw them from the sky,... But they did not take into account the rider. Since the wars against the Ghiscari Empire the Valyrians did not face a rival capable of challenging them, so part of their power was forgotten in time. The Rhyonish believed that the riders only served to tell the dragon where to go.

And that was the only thing the dragonlords they had faced up to that point did.

Unbeknownst to them, the elite of the Dragonlords were talented wizards with extensive military and magical training. They conjured shields protecting their dragons from the Rhoynish's anti-dragon weapons and cast powerful spells to destroy said weapons.

In the end the children of Rhoyne lost the war, but that was not their end.

Nymeria gathered more than ten thousand ships and managed to save more than one and a half million Rhoynish. She led them to Dorne, where she met Mors Martell. The Martell king had heard of the might of the Rhoynish and knew his army was outnumbered, so instead of fighting a lost war he welcomed the exiles with open arms.

Nymeria, seeing the benefits of an alliance with the Martell, married Mors; and thus House Nymeros Martell was born.

Mors Martell had no great ambitions in life, he was content to leave his kingdom in the same state as he inherited it. The princess did not share the mentality of her husband, she was a Rhoynish after all.

The Rhoynish have a saying: "If you left the world as you found it, then what was the meaning of your life?"

They were ambitious, always seeking to improve themselves. Never settling down, always moving forward.

These two opposing mentalities collided, one did not want to change things and the other wanted to be the one to promote change. In the end they both reached an agreement, both gave in on some things and stood firm on others.

Mors agreed to the princess' plan of expansion but refused to let Rhoynish culture engulf his own (many Rhoynish had already made plans to change all of Dorne in their image, from architecture to culture). In the end both cultures merged, of course there were several conflicts that will take generations to resolve.

Ultimately all of Dorne adopted many Rhoynish traditions and mindsets, including constant improvement. That mindset turned out to be essential in not only surviving in the desert but also thriving. Each generation brings something new, however small that improvement may be, in the end everything counts to make a better Dorne.

Doran Nymeros Martell was no exception, in fact, he caused more changes than the last ten generations of Martell together.

The Capital of Dorne being one of them.

***

Shadow city arose around the walls of Sunspear and is a chaotic but beautiful labyrinth of alleys in which any visitor ends up getting lost. The city is divided by three defensive walls, and a fourth is being built around the new buildings.

When the prince was 5 years old the city that surrounds Sunspear had approximately 60,000 inhabitants, that number increased to 90,000 in less than a decade and continues to grow every day.

Doran's numerous inventions brought much attention to Dorne and the Princess of Dorne knew how to capitalize that attention for the benefit of her kingdom. As a result, trade increased enormously and several companies sprang up in the city, companies that needed employees to function. Those employees brought their families with them and the city grew in size.

"In about twenty years it will be as big as Kings Landing." Rhaella comments as she walks with Oberyn in her arms.

"That is something I fear." Doran answers with a grimace, remembering the capital.

After spending the morning on the beach the two babies got tired after playing in the sand and splashing in the sea, they are currently sleeping in the arms of Rhaella and Doran.

"With proper planning I'm sure that could be avoided."

"Easier said than done Rhae." Doran looks around. The alleys of the city were narrow and three adults could hardly circulate side by side. Fortunately people recognized them and were respectful enough to get out of the way of three Martells and one Targaryen. `Gerold, Lothar and the other two guards also help with that`

"How's that? Building a sewer system can't be that hard. And you can't tell me you're short on coins, I may not know the exact amount but it's no secret that your House's current earnings are equal to the Tyrell's."

"Coin is not the problem." Doran cradles Elia, who shifts a little in his arms. "Shadow City's design is."

"The design?"

"Shadow City was never intended to have more than 40,000 inhabitants. The narrow streets and labyrinthine layout are not intended for a city larger than that. More than 40,000 inhabitants and daily life becomes claustrophobic. People and goods can not circulate freely, which hinders trade within the very city and makes the day-to-day life of the citizens more difficult."

"Oh, I see." Rhaella looks around with a new understanding. She always loved how chaotic Shadow City is, the princess looked at it as a grand and intricate work of art.

`No wonder my ancestors didn't dare burn Sunspear. To destroy such a wonder is a sin, but I can see the drawbacks of such a design.`

"The best thing would be to demolish the entire city and start-"

"Don't you dare!"

Doran stops, surprised by Rhaella's tone, turns his head and sees the princess looking at him with fire in her eyes.

"Doran Nymeros Martell, don't you dare even propose to demolish this Masterpiece of art!" Rhaella's eyes sparkled and for a split second Doran felt an electric sensation in the air.

It is not the first time that he feels that around the Targaryen princess: Rhaella`s latent magic.

Doran deduced that Rhaella has a very powerful latent magic, and sometimes that magic makes small appearances. Not enough to affect the outside world, but enough for an expert like him to feel its presence.

`Like someone asleep opening their eyes a fraction before falling back into unconsciousness`

"Are you even listening to me?!"

Doran snaps out of his reverie and sees the Targaryen princess looking at him with a furious expression.

"Yes, of course I was listening to you."

Rhaella narrows her eyes, and Doran has a fleeting flashback of a girl with bushy hair giving him the same look.

"Fine, I got lost in my thoughts." Doran confesses, knowing that Rhaella already saw through his lie.

"I'll forgive you if you promise not to demolish Shadow City."

`Why do I feel like I just fell into a trap?`

"I promise."

Rhaella smiles victoriously and starts to walk away, Doran following her with a grudging smile on his face.

`Not that I seriously planned to demolish Shadow City. It is a cultural and historical heritage of Dorne, I would not dare to harm it. On fact, I think my grandmother would rip my ears off if I were to propose such a thing`

After a few minutes the group arrives at the gates of Sunspear.

"Haven't they finished carrying everything yet?" Rhaella looks at the workers carrying goods down the Threefold road; Threefold Road is the only direct road from the outskirts of the city to Sunspear.

That road is packed with carts full of goods that come and go, so Doran and his group had to return to Sunspear through the city.

"It'll take a while, since they're checking every cart."

A fleet of twenty caravels sailed to the Summer Islands a year ago under the leadership of Andrey Martell, the objective of that trip was to obtain a large number of exotic products.

It was obviously a success.