The Long Night There came a period in which children , grew into adulthood, and died without ever seeing the spring. The Winter lasted a generation and led to wide spread famine. The oldest and strongest among the northmen took to the task of going hunting, many never returned and thus leaving more food for those more likely to survive. The long Night however did not just bring harsh weather, there are tales of creatures known simply as The Others. They came from The lands of always winter more north than anyone has ever dared venture, they rode monstrous ice spiders, dead horses, and resurrected the dead to serve them. The long night came to an end when a hero sought out the help of the children of the forest together the nights watch was created and fought The others in the battle for dawn. The battle finally broke the endless winter and sent the others to retreat back north. With the help of Brandon the builder The Wall was created to protect the realms of men from what lies beyond. As Westeros recovered from the Long Night a new power was rising in Essos....
The Rise Of Valyria Essos the vast continent, is said to be where civilization as we know it developed. Citites such as Qarth, YiTi, and Old Ghis were one of the first but the greatest of all of them would come to be known as Valyria. It was on the peninsula that the valyrians learned to tame dragons and use them as weapons of war. Many claim that they are descendants of dragons themselves and are kin to the ones they controlled. They called themselves the Freehold because all those who held land had a voice. Valyria and Old Ghis would constantly fight each other for control over territory, it wasn't until the fifth and final war that the valyrians used there dragons to burn everything in Old Ghis, and so the Ghiscari became another part of the newly formed Valyrian empire and so the conquered forgot there common tongue and opted to learn high Valyrian.
Valyria's Children The Valyrians learned about slavery from the Ghiscari who would be the first enslaved. The Valyrians hungered for valuable ores and many perished working the Valyrian mines. As Valyria grew it needed more ore and thus more slaves, they expanded in all directions and only the dothraki managed to hold them off. On the shores of Essos the Valyrians raised cities which would later be known as the free cities. Qohor and Norvos were founded following religious schisms. While others such as Old Volantis and Lys were trading colonies. Pentos and Lorath were different in that they existed long before the Valyrians came but paid homage to them to retain the right to rule themselves. Many slaves decided to bind themselves together accepting all different religions and culture and creating the city of Braavos. They remained hidden and even after being discovered continued using the name of the secret city. The number of citys and those enslaved is unknown but there conquest led to many fleeing the continent all together and crossing the narrow sea to Westeros. These people would be known as the Andals......