 The north coast of the mainland is separated from the polar cap by the Shivering Sea.To the south, across the Summer Sea, lies the uncharted jungle continent of Sothoryos.Much of the fictional history of Essos relates to Valyria, a city located on a peninsula in southern Essos and the origin of House Targaryen before the destruction of the Valyrian Empire in an unspecified cataclysm.