Grande Pirâmide

A Grande Pirâmide de Meereen possui duzentos e cinquenta metros de altura, desde sua enorme base quadrada até o cume. Uma grande harpia de bronze ficava sobre seu topo.

Informações

A Grande Pirâmide fora construída como uma cópia da Grande Pirâmide de Ghis, cujas colossais ruínas Lomas Longstrider visitara certa vez. Como a antiga predecessora, a Pirâmide possui trinta e três níveis, número que é de alguma forma sagrado aos deuses de Ghis". Meereen possui uma vintena de pirâmides menores, mas nenhuma chega sequer à metade de sua altura.

As fundações da pirâmide são massivas e espessas, para suportar o peso da enorme estrutura em seu topo. As muralhas interiores são três vezes mais espessas do que as muralhas de qualquer castelo. Porém, Viserion conseguiu escavar um buraco nas paredes, para servir como um lugar de descanso para si mesmo - seu equivalente à uma toca de dragão. As muralhas exteriores possuem mais de 9 metros de espessura; elas abafam o tumulto das ruas, e mantêm o calor fora da pirâmide. Consequentemente, o interior da pirâmide é fresco e escuro. É sempre sombrio dentro da base da Grande Pirâmide.

É uma longa descida desde o topo até o térreo. A escada de serviço é escondida entre as grossas paredes de tijolos, e seus degraus são mais estreitos, íngremes e retos do que os da grande escadaria de mármore raiado. Sor Barristan Selmy sobe a Grande Pirâmide cinco ou seis vezes ao dia para resolver assuntos da rainha, o deixando com dores em seus joelhos e costas. Ele teme que, um dia, não conseguirá mais fazer a subida.

As portas principais da pirâmide são fechadas e lacradas ao pôr do sol.

Após o Cerco de Meereen, a Rainha Daenerys Targaryen toma a Grande Pirâmide como sua sede. Seu PDV nota, inicialmente, que a Harpia de bronze não está mais no topo da pirâmide, mas não menciona quando ela fora removida ou destruída. Ela, depois, se lembra de ter mandado derrubarem a Harpia. Selmy, mais tarde, constrói um farol no topo da pirâmide, onde antes estava a Harpia. Ele é feito de lenha seca embebida em óleo, e coberto para manter a chuva afastada. Ele pretendia acender o farol, e suas chamas seriam o sinal para sair pelos portões e atacar os inimigos.

Estrutura

Cume

Daenerys Targaryen's keeps her private chambers (or queen’s apartments) in the lofty apex of the pyramid on the highest step. Her chambers are surrounded by greenery and fragrant pools. There are low brick parapets. Irri occasionally shares the main bed with Daenerys, particularly after their sexual encounters. Jhiqui e Missandei appear to have their own beds within the chamber.

Sor Barristan Selmy's bedchamber (originally slave quarters) is a small cell adjoining the queen’s apartments; his furnishings consist of a bed, a chamber pot, a wardrobe for his clothing and a chair to sit on. On his bedside table he keeps a beeswax candle and a small carving of the Guerreiro.

There is a terrace garden within the apex. From the terrace Daenerys has a view of the whole city of Meereen and and its surrounding area. Including the Templo das Graças and nearby areas of the "pewter sea", the rio Skahazadhan, the dry brown hills, the orchards,and fields of the city. The garden is directly connected to her bedchamber through terrace doors, allowing her to step out there during the night. As she likes the feel of grass between her toes. A persimmon tree seems to serve as a favorite spot for birds. There is a terrace pool. Daenerys takes baths in its cool water, while little fish nibble at her arms and legs. The persimmon tree is visible from the pool. While swimming, Dany had a vision de Quaithe standing below the tree.

Dany's dragons know where she is living. She finds Viserion on the terrace coiled around a pear tree with his head resting on his tail. Rhaegal is captured on the terrace when he is basking in the sun. Drogon liked to bask in the sun at the apex of the Grande Pirâmide when he was sated.

After Dany's disappearance on Drogon, Irri e Jhiqui continue inhabiting the royal apartments until they leave Meereen with most of Daenerys's Dothraki khalasar. The khalasar has set out to search the Mar Dothraki for their missing queen. The copeiros de Daenerys lived in the queen's apartments until they were moved to the apartments of Hizdahr zo Loraq in the heart of the Grande Pirâmide. For a while Sor Barristan, agora Mão da Rainha, and Missandei remain the only occupants of the apex. Missandei in the private chambers and Sor Barristan in his small cell. Ser Barristan thinks of Missandei as "forlorn little ghost" haunting the royal chambers. She occupies herself with reading material - piles of scrolls and books. She may have brought them to the apex herself, or found them within the pyramid but their origin remains uncertain.

At Sor Barristan's command the burned and dying Príncipe Quentyn Martell was laid out in the queen's own bed. The bedding was ruined. Sheets, covers, pillows, mattress acquired the smell of blood and smoke. Only Missandei could bear to remain by his side, as the sight of him was too awful for the copeiros. Missandei was the only person who tended to the needs of the dying man, offering to him water and leite de papoula. While Selmy called for the Graças Azuis, the official healers of Meereen, they never arrived. The situation lasted for three days. Missandei reported the time of Quentyn's death and placed a coverlet on his face. Selmy briefly removed the coverlet to examine the body. When the corpse was removed, the copeiros returned to the royal apartments.

Salão

The queen’s splendorous audience chamber (or hall) is one level below her apartment, down a broad marble stair. It is an echoing, high-ceilinged room with tiles and walls of purple marble. Daenerys found the place "chilly". Tall candles burn amongst the purple marble pillars, and Unsullied stand with their backs to the pillars. Daenerys Targaryen sits upon a plain ebony bench that she has made her throne. The hall also has a terrace. The lowerterrace and its garden were used by Daenerys and Hizdahr to entertain the representatives from Yunkai. The garden includes lemon trees and night-blooming flowers.

The previous use of the room is unrecorded. However, a throne stood there prior to her occupation of the Pirâmide. The throne was "a fantastic thing of carved and gilded wood", all in the shape of a savage harpy. Daenerys refused to use a "harpy's lap" as a throne and had the old throne destroyed. Its remains were used for firewood. The ebon bench was her own choice, though she noted the Meereeneesa population considered the bench unworthy for a queen. Daenerys found herself spending long hours on the bench, listening to various petitioners and official representatives. She felt her buttocks going numb from all the sitting. She joked to Barristan Selmy about having "too many councillors and too few cushions". Selmy took the joke literally, adding satin pillows to the ebon bench. Danny smiled at the pleasant surprise.

With Daenerys missing, her consort and co-ruler Hizdahr zo Loraq took over the audience chamber. Replacing the ebon bench with two imposing thrones of gilded wood. Their tall backs are carved in the shape of dragons. He chose the right-hand throne for himself, leaving the vacant left-hand throne for Daenerys. In case she returns. Selmy thinks of the new throne as the "dragon throne". Selmy eventually deposed Hizdahr in a coup d'etat and was proclaimed Mão da Rainha, ruling in the name of the missing Daenerys. He decided to keep both the ebony bench and the dragon thrones out of the hall. Replacing them with his own new seat: a large round table. The table has been placed in the center of the wall, surrounded by tall chairs. Selmy intends for the men seated at the table, the ruling council of Meereen, to discuss as peers. Selmy refuses to hold court or accept petitioners until Daenerys returns.

Os trinta e três andares

A Grande Pirâmide boasts three-and-thirty levels, a number sacred to the Gods of Ghis.

As befits his rank Quentyn Martell is given quarters within the Grande Pirâmide, two levels down from the apex, a handsome suite of rooms with its own privy and walled terrace. His companions Gerris Drinkwater and Archibald Yronwood might have shared the rooms with him. At least Drinkwater mentions them as "our apartments", and points that their weapons, armor, and most of their coin are in these rooms. When Barristan Selmy noted Hizdahr frowning at Quentyn and whispering in the ear of Marghaz zo Loraq, he feared for the life of the young prince. Warning the Dornishmen to flee the Pyramid in haste, avoiding a return to their quarters. The Dornishmen were still living in the Pyramid when they started conspiring with their former comrades in the Windblown. Though Drinkwater was in favor of listening to Selmy's warning. "When Barristan the Bold tells you to run, a wise man laces up his boots". Denzo D'han delivered a message at the door of Quentyn's quarters. The Dornishmen left the Grande Pirâmide before the sunset, heading for the Purple Lotus. It is unclear if the trio continued living in the Pyramid when they attempted to tame Rhaegal and Viserion. Prior to the mission, Yronwood looked on the rain falling at the terrace of their room. But the text does not specify if said room and terrace were the ones in the Pyramid.

Reznak mo Reznak’s chambers are on the second level. According to the plans of Selmy and Skahaz mo Kandaq, Reznak will remain in custody until they can be certain of his loyalty. It is not stated whether he is to be confined in his quarters, or transferred to a cell. The armory is also on the second level, there are racks of spears, sheaves of quarrels, and the walls are hung with trophies from forgotten battles. Skahaz mo Kandaq and Ser Barristan Selmy meet there before arresting Hizdahr.

On the third level, there is the training hall where Ser Barristan works with his boys, teaching them the art of the sword and shield, horse and lance and chivalry. All current trainees are between the ages of 8 and 20-years-old. Selmy started out with more than 60 trainees. Less than half of them managed to pass through the rigorous training.

Coração

Massive brick walls surround a suite of rooms buried in the very heart of the pyramid on the sixteenth and seventeenth levels. Hizdahr zo Loraq and the copeiros de Daenerys take up residence here during Daenerys' absence. The king’s chambers are dark and windowless, surrounded on all sides by brick walls eight feet thick (2, 44 meters). Great beams of black oak support the high ceilings.

The king's chambers have carved hardwood doors with a slidehole, they are barred on the inside. The floors are covered with silk carpets out of Qarth. On the walls are priceless tapestries, ancient and much faded, depicting the glory of the Império Ghiscari. The largest of them show the last survivors of a defeated Valyrian army passing beneath the yoke and being chained. The archway leading to the royal bedchamber is guarded by a pair of sandalwood lovers, shaped and smoothed and oiled, Ser Barristan Selmy finds them distasteful.

When Selmy entered the royal quarters to arrest Hizdahr, an iron brazier gave the only light. There is a bench intended for waiting visitor at a short distance from the bedchamber. An archway connects the bedchamber with the location intended for the copeiros and various visitors. A thin and nearly-transparent silk curtain stands at the entrance of the archway. It allows a person standing in the archway to examine visitors without stepping outside to meet them. But offers little protection from prying eyes. The night of the arrest, Selmy noted an unnamed woman observing him from the curtain, naked.

At a short distance from the bedchamber is a sideboard where Hizdahr keeps a flagon of wine. He has developed a taste for Arbor gold and sweet red (possibly from The Reach), dismissing Ghiscari wine as "yellow piss". He is annoyed when his copeiros leave the flagon empty.

The identity of the woman sharing Hizhadr's bed remains uncertain. Selmy suspects that Hizhahr intends to make the woman his new consort. Replacing Daenerys. Hizhahr, surprised at the accusation, claims that she is merely a bedslave trained in providing pleasure. Currently a free woman, but putting those skills to work.

Base

At ground level the pyramid is a hushed place, full of dust and shadows. Within the ground level walls, sounds echo off arches of many coloured brick, and amongst the stables, stalls, and storerooms. Horses (including Daenerys' mare the Silver), mules and donkeys are stabled in the western walls, elephants in the eastern. Currently there are only 3 elephants within the Pyramid, having "bobbed and gilded" tusks and sad eyes. Daenerys’s wedding procession formed up inside the gates. The procession headed to the Temple of the Graces, including among its members:

• Daenerys Targaryen, the bride. Seated in a sedan chair.
• Reznak mo Reznak, seneschal.
• Skahaz mo Kandaq. Commander of the Brazen Beasts, leader of the Shavepates.
• Barristan Selmy, |Lord Commander of the Queensguard. Riding on a dapple-grey horse.

When conspiring against Hizdahr, Selmy and Skahaz had a secret meeting by the stables. Missandei transferred the message between them. The location was chosen because the stables are always quiet after sunset. Barristan noted that the Silver and the elephants were at their proper places.

Fosso

The Grandes Mestres used the pit as a prison; it is 40 feet deep (12,19 meters) and large enough to hold 500 men.

To get to the pit you have to pass beneath 3 massive arches, go down a torchlit ramp into the vaults beneath the pyramid, past cisterns, dungeons, and torture chambers (where slaves had been scourged and skinned and burned with red-hot irons). Finally you arrive at an entrance with a pair of huge, forbidding iron doors with rusted hinges, closed with a length of chain whose link is as thick around as a man’s arm. The doors were initially guarded by Unsullied, and later by Brazen Beasts.

Inside the pit Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons Rhaegal and Viserion were confined and chained, the links of their chains large as a man's bound fist. Originally they were both chained to the wall and floor. Viserion was first able to snap one of his chains , and then melted the others. He started hanging from the roof of the pit, his stance resembling "some huge white bat". Rhaegal was unable to break his chains. Viserion was later able to dig himself a dragon lair in the wall. Rhaegal managed to detach his collar chain from the wall, but not remove it from his neck. He had to pull 3 feet (0,91 meters) of chain still hanging from his neck to move inside the pit. The floor chains were shattered, twisted, and partly melted. Indicating that he successfully imitated Viserion in escaping his confines. It just took him longer to achieve the deed.

The Unsullied inform Daenerys that once the iron doors glowed red-hot and no one dared touch them for a day. When attempting to steal a dragon Quentyn Martell sees that the iron doors have become dinted by the dragons trying to get out. The thick iron is cracked and splitting in three places, and the upper corner of the left hand door looks partially melted. Obviously the dragons were well aware of where the pit exit was and were attempting to break free prior to being accidentally loosed. They were,however, unable to escape the confines of the pit itself.

The two dragons have since left the Pyramid, and established their own lairs. Rhaegal has chosen the black pyramid of Yherizan, Viseryon the pyramid of the House of Uhlez.

Masmorras

There are dungeons and torture chambers in proximity to the dragon pit. Archibald Yronwood and Gerris Drinkwater were confined there due to their role in the escape of the dragons. Barristan Selmy has offered them freedom, if they carry out a mission for him. Delivering a secret message to the Tattered Prince. Other members of the Windblown, feigned deserters, are also imprisoned in the dungeons. Selmy intends to send them back to the Prince. Among the known prisoners are Orson Stone, Dick Straw, Hugh Hungerford, and Will of the Woods.

Quotes

“	Up here in her garden Dany sometimes felt like a god, living atop the highest mountain in the world. Do all gods feel so lonely?	”

- Queen Daenerys Targaryen, in contemplation, atop the Grande Pirâmide.