mdmeaux
Envoy
I realise that we are many years away from even finishing Westeros, but I thought it might be interesting to start looking at ideas for inspiration for different places in Essos, just to get some ideas flowing.
These are just some of my ideas, feel free to disagree or make other suggestions!
Free Cities
Braavos: With all the canals and lagoon, I think its fair to say that Braavos is essentially Venice, although more grey and less Mediterranean. There's quite a bit of canon on Braavos, such as the tall thin buildings with peaked rooves, so this one needs less imagination.
Lorath: I feel like Lorath doesn't really have much of a real world counterpart, being a sort of maze city, this would probably be mostly imagination. Probably very grey and bleak.
Pentos: Given the proximity to Westeros, I feel like Pentos should be sort of Eastern Mediterranean, for example somewhere in Greece or Croatia. Canonically it is mostly tiled rooves and has big walls, which fits with this inspiration.
Norvos Not really sure about this one, maybe Eastern Europe, for example Ukraine? I think it should still be stony, but with a lot of wood as well, to give it a sort of dark grey / brown feel.
Myr I think in terms of building style Myr could be like Turkey, being a sort of transition from the European style of Westeros to the more oriental feel of Essos. Not too sure though.
Tyrosh Given the name and island nature of the city, I think its fairly safe to say that Tyrosh is Tyre. This would be an interesting inspiration for the general layout of the city, but I'd say the building style should not be too different from that of Myr.
Lys Not really sure of a specific example from real life, although probably something again Middle Eastern, although a bit more exotic than the cities further north.
Qohor I think Qohor should be somewhat Russian, as it is in wooded area with lots of hunting and foresting, although it is also said to be the most exotic of the free cities and have big stone walls, so I think a mix between stone and wood would be most suitable.
Volantis Again, I'd say Volantis should be Middle Eastern in style, and a similar style for those cities around it.
Slavers Bay To me, slavers bay is (in style) again Middle Eastern, although more like the style of further east like Iran or Afghanistan or perhaps Egypt, and less 'exotic' than the Free Cities, and more dusty, sandy, stony and bleak. I'd say the pyramids should perhaps be more like Ziggurats than the pyramids in Egypt, as the pyramids in Slavers' Bay are designed to be inhabited and used, not tombs. It could also be more like Saudi Arabia.
Valyria Valyria is probably the most fantasy aspect of the universe, so I think this is where we can move slightly away from grounded realism to more imaginative and unique styles for the ruins.
Dothraki Sea The Dothraki don't have much in the way of buildings for us to actually build, although their culture is fairly clear based on that of the Mongols.
Qarth Again, no specific examples, although I'd say Qarth should be based off the sort of region around India and Pakistan, or somewhere along the silk road, with yet again more exotic-ness to it.
Yi Ti I'd say its fairly clear that Yi Ti is meant to be China / the far east, and this would be a suitable style for it imo.
Sothoryos Is presumably the analogue of Africa, and the style should be fairly basic as per canon, with mud huts and disease ridden jungle.
Again, these are just ideas, feel free to give your own opinions and suggestions, just thought it'd be interesting to start this conversation.
These are just some of my ideas, feel free to disagree or make other suggestions!
Free Cities
Braavos: With all the canals and lagoon, I think its fair to say that Braavos is essentially Venice, although more grey and less Mediterranean. There's quite a bit of canon on Braavos, such as the tall thin buildings with peaked rooves, so this one needs less imagination.
Lorath: I feel like Lorath doesn't really have much of a real world counterpart, being a sort of maze city, this would probably be mostly imagination. Probably very grey and bleak.
Pentos: Given the proximity to Westeros, I feel like Pentos should be sort of Eastern Mediterranean, for example somewhere in Greece or Croatia. Canonically it is mostly tiled rooves and has big walls, which fits with this inspiration.
Myr I think in terms of building style Myr could be like Turkey, being a sort of transition from the European style of Westeros to the more oriental feel of Essos. Not too sure though.
Qohor I think Qohor should be somewhat Russian, as it is in wooded area with lots of hunting and foresting, although it is also said to be the most exotic of the free cities and have big stone walls, so I think a mix between stone and wood would be most suitable.
Slavers Bay To me, slavers bay is (in style) again Middle Eastern, although more like the style of further east like Iran or Afghanistan or perhaps Egypt, and less 'exotic' than the Free Cities, and more dusty, sandy, stony and bleak. I'd say the pyramids should perhaps be more like Ziggurats than the pyramids in Egypt, as the pyramids in Slavers' Bay are designed to be inhabited and used, not tombs. It could also be more like Saudi Arabia.
Valyria Valyria is probably the most fantasy aspect of the universe, so I think this is where we can move slightly away from grounded realism to more imaginative and unique styles for the ruins.
Dothraki Sea The Dothraki don't have much in the way of buildings for us to actually build, although their culture is fairly clear based on that of the Mongols.
Qarth Again, no specific examples, although I'd say Qarth should be based off the sort of region around India and Pakistan, or somewhere along the silk road, with yet again more exotic-ness to it.
Yi Ti I'd say its fairly clear that Yi Ti is meant to be China / the far east, and this would be a suitable style for it imo.
Sothoryos Is presumably the analogue of Africa, and the style should be fairly basic as per canon, with mud huts and disease ridden jungle.
Again, these are just ideas, feel free to give your own opinions and suggestions, just thought it'd be interesting to start this conversation.
