HBO has aired the first promo for its upcoming ten-episode action fantasy series Game of Thrones. The cast includes Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Harry Lloyd, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jennifer Ehle and Peter Dinklage and is scheduled to premiere sometime in early 2011. Check out the first teaser promo below.

Based on the George R.R. Martin novels, the new series centers on seven noble families who fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Robert Baratheon, King of Westeros, asks his old friend Eddard Stark to serve as his chief advisor. Eddard, suspecting that his predecessor had been murdered, accepts so that he can investigate further. It turns out more than one family is plotting to take the throne. The conflict between these families leads to war. Meanwhile, in the north, an ancient evil awakens. Amidst war and the political confusion, a brotherhood of misfits, The Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and the horrors beyond.