content: 
  ====Dothraki Sea ====
  The Dothraki Sea is a vast, flat grassland on Essos. It is inhabited by the Dothraki people, a copper-skinned race of warlike nomads with their own language and unique culture. The Dothraki live in hordes called khalasars, each led by a chief called a khal. Khalasars are broken into groups, called khas, which are each led by one of the khal's captains, called kos. Each khal and his khalasar owe fealty to a ruling council of royal priestesses, called the dosh khaleen, whose members are each a former khal's consort, called a khaleesi during the reign of her husband, one who became part of the dosh khaleen following his death.
  Dothraki are expert riders and their horses are of prime importance in their culture, used for food, transportation, raw materials, warfare, and establishing social standing. They regularly raid other peoples.
  George R. R. Martin said "The Dothraki were actually fashioned as an amalgam of a number of steppe and plains cultures ... Mongols and Huns, certainly, but also Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes ... seasoned with a dash of pure fantasy. So any resemblance to Arabs or Turks is coincidental. Well, except to the extent that the Turkic peoples|historic Turks were also originally horsemen of the steppes, not unlike the Alans, Huns, and the rest." However, he also noted that "In general, though, while I do draw inspiration from history, I try to avoid direct one-for-one transplants, so it would not be correct to say that the Dothraki are Mongols."
  The Dothraki have only one permanent city, called Vaes Dothrak, which serves as their capital. The dosh khaleen hold the city as their seat. It is filled with statues stolen from other cities the Dothraki conquered or raided. There is a law that no Dothraki may shed blood within the boundaries of Vaes Dothrak and that those who do are cursed. Two gigantic bronze stallions, whose hooves meet midair, form an arch above the entryway to the city. For the first season of the TV adaptation, Sandy Brae in the Mourne Mountains of northern Ireland was chosen to stand in for Vaes Dothrak; the bronze stallions making up the Horse Gate as the main entrance of Vaes Dothrak were later C.G.I.ed on two pedestals erected on location.