While the continent of Westeros sees a certain degree of centralized authority, the same cannot be said about Essos, which is located in its east, across the Narrow Sea. Essos is the cradle of civilization and was once far richer in culture, arts, crafts, history, and religion. It is the place of origin of dragons, and the homeland of the Targaryens. However, by the timeline of Game of Thrones, nine independent city-states lie on the Western coast of Essos, the great city of Qarth thrives on its southern coast, the ruins of Valyria are far too dangerous to travel through and the Dothraki hordes range freely about the grasslands of the Dothraki Sea.