﻿#title:Volantis
#author:Anario
#types:essos
#

Volantis is one of the Free Cities located to the east of Westeros. The southernmost and oldest of the Free Cities, it lies on the southern coast of Essos, where the mighty Rhoyne River meets the Summer Sea. It was founded as a colony of Valyria many centuries ago and is a great port. People from Volantis are known as Volantene.

Volantis is the southernmost of the Free Cities, on the south coast of Essos - on the opposite side of the region from Braavos, which is located on the north coast (of the western end of Essos). It is also a substantial distance away from Pentos to the northwest, on the coast of the Narrow Sea, which is loosely about halfway between Braavos and Volantis. The Disputed Lands are located west of Volantis, site of endemic warfare between Myr and Lys, which Volantis sometimes gets dragged into. To the northeast of Volantis is the Dothraki Sea, putting it in danger of passing raids. The Valyrian Peninsula is southeast of Volantis, mostly abandoned and avoided since the Doom of Valyria.

As the southeastern-most of the Free Cities, Volantis is the closest of them to Slaver's Bay, which is on the other side of the Valyrian Peninsula, and the city is a gateway for travelers between the two regions. The overland route between the two regions is very dangerous and therefore little used. Instead, trade and travel between Volantis and Slaver's Bay is commonly done by sea, with ships sailing far around Valyria (careful to avoid the Smoking Sea in the middle of the shattered peninsula).

Volantis was the first of the Free Cities founded by the Valyrian Freehold in western Essos. Four centuries ago, Valyria was destroyed in a single day by a massive volcanic cataclysm known as the Doom, and the empire fractured. Without central leadership, Valyria's surviving colonies were torn apart in a period of chaotic civil wars known as the Century of Blood. As the oldest and most populous of the Free Cities, Volantis attempted to conquer the other remaining colonies and rebuild the Freehold under its own rule. It failed when all of the other Free Cities united against Volantis. The only thing that could unite all of the other Free Cities was their determination not to be forcefully united under the rule of the Volantenes. However, the deciding factor was that the young Aegon I Targaryen, possessor of the last three Valyrian dragons in the world, entered the conflict on the side of Volantis's enemies. Volantis's armies were shattered, and no further grand attempts were made to unite all of the Free Cities into a new Valyrian empire.

In the present day, Volantis remains one of the more powerful of the Free Cities, and has the largest population of any of them, although more than 80% of that population are slaves.