Meereen

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Meereen
Type	City
Region	Slaver's Bay, Essos
Affiliation	Ghiscari Alliance; later Emperor Ian Dare's empire
Status	Under Imperial control following its surrender to Ian Dare
First Appearance	108

Background

Meereen is a Ghiscari city in Slaver's Bay whose elite remain attached to the memory and traditions of the ancient Ghiscari Empire destroyed by Valyria. Its Great Masters preserve old festivals and arena customs with particular grandeur, treating the public retaliation against a newly crowned champion gladiator as a scandal against the entire city. 285

The city historically covets the fertile, populous Lhazareen region but has avoided annexing it because Lhazar serves as a buffer against Dothraki raiding. The prospect of defeating Khal Drogo raises hopes that Meereen could expand its territory by more than three times its existing size. 243

Geography & Cityscape

• Port — Meereen's harbor becomes crowded with slave ships and merchant vessels from Volantis, Myr, Lys, Tyrosh, and Qarth as war approaches Slaver's Bay. 273
• Skahazadhan River basin — The city's agricultural hinterland is its prime farmland and a major reason Meereen resists plans to fight the Dothraki near its territory. 261
• City walls — Its old brick walls prove unable to withstand Ian Dare's massed catapults, which open a breach in the southwest corner during the siege. 288
• Pyramids — Great Lord families maintain pyramid residences that function as fortified strongholds, political centers, and storehouses. 288 333
• Daznak's Arena — Gladiatorial competition is a source of political power; arena owner Daznak rises after orchestrating the death of the successful fighter Erlanz. 284 285
• Great Pyramid — The central pyramid serves as the seat of Meereen's ruling council, a reception venue for foreign envoys, and later a center of Imperial administration. 321 326

Society & Economy

Slave System

Meereen is a slaveholding society ruled by Great Masters. Before Ian's conquest, its alliance with Astapor, Yunkai, and New Ghis is partly driven by the expectation that Lhazareen captives will become Ghiscari slaves. 290

Following Meereen's surrender, Ian imposes Astapor's Five-Tiered Slave System on the city. Reorganized slave soldiers begin at fourth-class rank but can receive improved rations, promotion, or military roles through training and assessment. 288 289

Grain Trade

Meereen is Astapor's traditional primary source of imported grain. Its larger population supports a broader cultivated area in the Skahazadhan basin than Astapor's Worm River basin. 217

The city later suffers a severe food crisis after grain shipments from the Vale and Astapor are cut off. Overcrowded ports, stranded sailors, supply vessels, and war captives worsen shortages and drive grain prices upward. 326 329

Trade and Wealth

• Meereen's wealth is portrayed as the accumulated product of thousands of years of slave trade, making it a target for foreign raiders during its period of instability. 332
• Its port attracts merchants, mercenaries, captains, slave traders, and diplomats from across Essos. 273 321
• Ian orders unlimited worldwide grain purchases at double the normal price after the city's submission, alongside unrestricted mercenary recruitment. 288

Government & Factions

Great Masters

Before its subjugation, Meereen is governed by a council of Great Masters. Their reluctance to risk the city in war, and their tendency to surrender when threatened with loss of life or property, undermine Meereen's defense against Ian. 288

• Grazdan zo Pal — Commander of Meereen's city defenses during Ian's siege; he is killed when New Ghis commander Eres zo Emde offers his head as part of Meereen's apology. 288
• Mazdahan zo Lorak — Meereenese envoy who insists that the Dothraki must be kept out of Slaver's Bay. 238
• Marrek — Great Lord whose family becomes one of the earliest Meereenese supporters of Ian and leads the city's Royalist faction. 332
• Ritsnak mo Ritsnak — Meereenese noble and later member of the executive committee; he is concerned with the interests of Meereen's nobles during the grain crisis. 326 329

Royalists and Holy Lord Faction

Meereen's nobility splits between Royalists who support Ian Dare and the Holy Lord faction led by Sitzdara and the Green Grace. Ian's rapid departure after his initial submission agreement leaves his supporters outnumbered and vulnerable to their rivals. 332

During the food crisis, the Holy Lord faction is associated with attacks on grain routes and the city's unrest. Its pyramids become the principal targets of the Raider Alliance. 332 334

Imperial Administration

After restoring order, Ian plans to rule Meereen as one of the empire's directly administered commanderies, alongside Astapor and New Ghis. The existing bureaucratic structure makes the city suitable for direct transformation rather than feudal delegation. 334

The city later hosts Ian's coronation, where nobles and religious leaders swear allegiance and receive offices or enfeoffments based on merit and factional balance. 358

History

Alliance Against Khal Drogo

Meereen joins the Ghiscari alliance against Khal Drogo to protect Slaver's Bay and pursue the opportunity to expand into Lhazar. The city is nevertheless unwilling to accept battle plans that would expose its farmland or place the decisive fighting beneath its walls. 243 261

Meereen delays military payments and proves resistant to providing the full support Ian demands, contributing to his decision to pressure the city militarily. 252

Siege and Surrender

Ian marches Astapori and Yunkish forces to Meereen and deploys 32 catapults at the southeast and southwest corners of its walls. The arrangement allows flanking bombardment while avoiding the defenders' own catapult fire. 286

The siege engines breach the southern defenses within an hour. Recognizing that the Great Masters would surrender rather than risk their lives and fortunes, Eres zo Emde has Grazdan zo Pal executed and presents the Pal family's pyramids, property, slaves, and 100,000 Glimmer Coins as Meereen's apology. 288

Ian formally forgives Meereen's betrayal, maintains the wider alliance, and initially keeps his army from entering the city. He subsequently imposes the Five-Tiered Slave System and reorganizes Meereenese and Yunkish mercenaries and slave soldiers into new formations. 288

Consolidation and Unrest

Ian relocates his intelligence headquarters to Meereen and converts House Pal's pyramid into a temporary palace. He seeks compliant Great Masters who can govern locally without possessing enough power to threaten him. 289

Later, the city faces grain shortages, mutiny among the city guard, black-market military grain sales, and growing conflict among noble factions. Rumors that Ian has been defeated encourage foreign merchants and mercenaries to prepare for Meereen's plunder. 329 330

The Raider Alliance overruns the Holy Lord faction's pyramids, but Ian's fleet blocks the port and Ghiscari heavy infantry enters through the city. The raiders' coalition collapses before it can seize the rest of Meereen. 333

Imperial Center

After the raiders are defeated, the Unsullied and Slave Iron Legion secure the streets and pyramids. Red Priests distribute bread to the starving populace while presenting Ian as the returned Ghiscari Emperor and framing the unrest as a conspiracy by the Holy Lord faction. 334

Meereen becomes a center for Imperial propaganda, religious conversion, administration, and foreign diplomacy. Its populace later witnesses Ian's return on the black dragon Eon and publicly prostrates themselves before him. 334 377

Intelligence Network

Ian's Meereen intelligence station initially operates from the Bronze Gate Inn under Meereen Big and Meereen Two, later identified with the intelligence chief Mi Da. 284 326

• Meereen Big is a former criminal and smuggler informant familiar with the city's underworld. 284
• Meereen Two is a local merchant who owns the Bronze Gate Inn. 284
• The network investigates suspicious rising factions by assassinating leaders, sabotaging trade, raiding headquarters, subverting members, and buying off partners. 284
• Ian later gives the organization the name “Sons of the Harpy,” deliberately appropriating the name potential Meereenese insurgents might otherwise use. 289

Relationships

• Astapor — Historic supplier of grain to Meereen; later a fellow Imperial commandery and source of military support. 217 334
• Yunkai — Ghiscari rival and military partner; its troops accompany Ian's army during the siege of Meereen. 286 288
• New Ghis — Allied city whose commander, Eres zo Emde, engineers Meereen's surrender and becomes chief deputy commander of the allied forces. 288
• Lhazar — Desired expansion territory and long-standing buffer between Meereen and the Dothraki Sea. 243
• Khal Drogo's khalasar — External threat whose advance drives Meereen into alliance politics and exposes divisions among its ruling class. 238 243
• Ian Dare — Conqueror and later Emperor whose siege, slave reforms, intelligence network, and religious program transform Meereen's political order. 288 334