John Snow was nearing the ruins of the old city of Yinishar, and he was following rumors about Drogon. Everyone in King's Landing thought John had gone back to the Wall and had gone north into the wildling lands. But as soon as he left sight of King's Landing, he had turned northeast and ridden across country to Duskendale. He sold his horse there and bartered a ride with a fisherman to take him across the Narrow Sea to Essos. The fisherman had dropped him off in Pentos, and John took work as a guard for a caravan heading to Volantis. In Volantis, his caravan captain helped him get a job guarding another caravan to Mantarys. From Mantarys, he rode to near Elyria and hired a guide and boat to explore the ruins of the islands south of old Valyria. He spent a year searching for rumors of Drogon or the dragon himself. His old guide taught him Valyrian speech and began to understand this man from Westeros. He did his best to question his friends, when he found them about the dragon that John was seeking. Having searched high and low for the dragon, John exhausted his funds and returned to Elyria. As he was bidding his old guide goodbye, a man the guide knew approached them at the docks. The man said, "Sir, there was a rumor that a dragon fitting the description you gave my friend, whom you seek, was seen flying towards the Bone Mountains. This was only a few weeks ago." John hugged the startled man and thanked the old guide. He caught a ride back to Mantarys, where he again took a job as a caravan guard, heading east towards Mereen along the demon road.
This caravan was especially opulent, owned by a rich man from Mereen. While waiting for the caravan to leave, John spent some time in a bar frequented by traders, where he began to hear stories of giant foreigners from a land far to the west. He asked more about the stories, and another trader told him that Arya of the Black Hand had sailed west and found a land populated by many strange peoples. These giants were a race that was conquering that land, and they had followed Arya home to learn the secret of the explosive powder that had been created by one of her crew there. The trader told him that Arya had married that man when they got home, and that all of Westeros was under attack from these invaders. John tried asking others, but little more could be learned.
The caravan left for Mereen, and all went well the first few days. At camp on the third night, they were attacked by what seemed to be a very powerful group of brigands. The guards stood well in the face of this battle; few were killed or wounded, but John noticed a group of three strangely dressed enemies running towards the owner's tent. John rushed after them, killing one with a vicious swipe of his sword, but two made it inside the tent. The owner's slave killed one of the two, but the last one threw a poison dart at the owner's chest. John just managed to throw himself between the assassin and the owner, deflecting the dart away. The owner's slave bludgeoned the man with the flat of his sword, and the owner shrieked, "Who hired you!" But the man managed to swallow some poison, and only foam came from his mouth.
The caravan owner bade them search the three bodies, and when he got some papers they had found, he snarled, "This wasn't a robbery, this was an assassination attempt paid for by a rival of mine." He asked John his name and thanked him genuinely for saving his life. The owner ordered a meal and bade John to sit and talk with him, and slowly the story of John's life came out. When the owner asked what John was doing so far from home, John explained that he was searching for a dragon, Drogon. And that rumor had Drogon heading towards the Bone Mountains. The owner looked thoughtful while considering John's story. He told John that when they made it back to Merren, he would reward John handsomely and expedite his quest. He introduced him to Qotho, his Dothraki slave, the one who had defended him with John.
The caravan had no more issues and arrived safely in Mereen. The owner was good to his word; at their parting, he gifted John two magnificent horses, a bag of gold, and his slave Qotho. John argued, saying, "This is way too much." But the magnanimous owner would not hear a word of it. Qotho bent a knee, saying, " Master." But John laughed, saying, "Not in this lifetime will I ever own someone!" He took Qotho to a blacksmith and had his collar removed. He told Qotho that he was a free man, free to come with John on his quest or to go where he would. Qotho bowed to John and said, "The Dothraki believe that a life must be repaid with a life. You have given me a life again, and so I swear to follow you always and to save your life, so that my debt might be repaid." John and Qotho went to buy supplies for their trip to Vaes Jini, as Qotho knew the ruins there and explained to John that the former city of Yinishar was now called the city of goats by the Dothraki.