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The One-Eye’s Victory

Above the God’s Eye, Aemond One-Eye and Daemon the Rogue Prince clashed atop Vhagar and Caraxes, when the battle was done, Vhagar and Aemond emerged triumphant, but did not rest. Rushing to Tumbleton on the word of Alys Rivers, Aemond arrived in time to aid the loyal Greens, and was joined by his brother Daeron in the skies as they slew Addam of Hull, Seasmoke, and even mighty Vermithor before returning to Kings Landing and their king, Aegon, with victory secured.

Shortly after their arrival, Aegon the Elder temporarily named Jaehaera, his daughter, as heir, and then had Aegon the Younger executed. Fully confident in his ability to sire another heir in spite of his wounds, King Aegon Targaryen, Second of His Name, died thinking the future was bright. Poisoned by Corlys Velaryon and other conspirators who were swiftly punished. However, instead of crowning himself, Aemond was confined to his bed due to accumulated injuries, and Daeron saw Jaehaera crowned instead. Rather than usurp his niece upon his recovery, Aemond angrily resumed his role as Prince Protector.

Answering controversy with controversy, Aemond then brought Alys Rivers to court and named her his bride, with the son in her belly set to marry Jaehaera when the time came. Then, he took Cassandra Baratheon, intended for Aegon before his death, as a second wife to the shock and dismay of all. His brother, Daeron, now forced to wed Baela Targaryen, was among his loudest critics when the One-Eye was rumored to be considering to take a third wife in the form of the Lady Rhaena. Rather than fully relent, Aemond made his brother complicit in his sin by making him take Rhaena to wife instead.

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A Realm in Ruins

Where others might have sought to heal the realm, Aemond sought vengeance, stripping lands, taking hostages, and executing any who dare speak against him or his decisions. Most harshly punished were the likes of House Bracken, and other Greens who had dared to go over to the Blacks.

Time and time again, the faithful and the vengeful alike tried to slay Aemond Targaryen for his transgressions, and though a total of 24 Knights of the Queensguard died during his life, not one of the dozens of attempted assassinations ever succeeded.

Across the realm, petty squabbles and defiant lords were answered with dragonfire, none more fiercely than Dalton Greyjoy, the Red Kraken, who saw House Greyjoy and the Iron Island’s status as a kingdom destroyed entirely as punishment for his continued defiance. The Vale too descended into conflict, and was given fire for its petulance.

In Lys, word of House Rogare’s fall reached Westeros, along with whispers that the last of Rhaenyra’s sons, Viserys had been among them, though he and all his children reportedly died during the riots that burned the city for a moon's turn.

After Jaehaera reached her majority, many hoped desperately that Aemond would step down, but no such thing happened. It was not until the Night of the Emerald Sun, when the Cannibal, struck by a sudden madness, eradicated House Celtigar. Riding out to meet the beast atop Vhagar alone, the One-Eye once again triumphed. Badly wounded, Aemond languished for days before dying.

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Rulers of the Seven Kingdoms

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Jaehaera I Targaryen

Coming into her throne fully in the wake of her uncle’s death, now wed to his son, Aenar, the two faced a host of expectations. Many expected the Green Queen to be shy, soft, and easily swayed on account of her quiet manner and her sex, but found themselves deeply mistaken.

Cunning and headstrong, Jaehaera outmaneuvered many of her detractors, and set her husband upon those she could not. Atop Morning, claimed after Rhaena Targaryen’s death, Aenar would frequently descend upon the keeps of troublesome lords on dragonback, and forced their compliance with his wife’s policies.

After the birth of her first child, Jaehaera left from Kings Landing with the babe and sought out Silverwing in Red Lake, and claimed the great she-dragon as a show of strength.

Though not spiteful of her father’s enemies, Jaehaera focused all efforts towards reconciliation inward, seeing her heir wed to a daughter of Daeron and Baela, and promising a future match to the children descended from Aemond and his Baratheon bride.

The queen would die in 184 AC of a wasting sickness, shortly followed by her husband.

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Jaehaerys II Targaryen

Mere days after taking the throne, Jaehaerys set out plans for a series of progresses across the realm whilst his son, Aegon, took the seat of Dragonstone. Many wondered if he would name his eldest child, Alyssa as his heir given his descent from a queen, but he often avoided the subject, though he did allow the wild-hearted woman to wield Dark Sister as she pleased.

A boisterous man, more inclined towards revelry than politics, many expected his reign to be financially costly, but otherwise uneventful, an expectation he was more than happy to meet.

Though lacking in ambition, when Alyssa was murdered by Dornish raiders outside Nightsong, and Dark Sister stolen from her desecrated corpse, the realm quickly learned he did not lack for wrath.

Launching a full invasion of Dorne more than thrice the dragons fielded by the Three Conquerors, Jaehaerys brought fire and blood to Dorne like never before. Though his campaign was a great success, when the Martells were nearly beaten, he found his bed filled with vipers, and was bitten to death inside his pavillion.

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Aegon III Targaryen

Crowned at his father’s pyre, Aegon saw his father’s campaign to its end, subjugating Dorne and breaking her to the will of the Iron Throne. Taking hostages in droves, and betrothing the last Martell of the ruling line to his young uncle, Vaegon.

Returning to his throne, Aegon began his reign in earnest, wedding his squire and eldest son of the line of Daeron to his sister, and granting the line of Aemond and Cassandra, kin to his wife Lyra Lannister, a plot of land in the marches to raise up a keep of their own.

Studious, brave, and merciful, there were high hopes for Aegon’s reign, but they crumbled two years after when Aemon Targaryen, son of Viserys, grandson of Rhaenyra, arrived in Westeros with a great sellsword army with Dark Sister in his hand, and the dragon Sheepstealer, who had been thought lost. Dorne rose with the pretender, as well as a few minor lordlings and a few vengeful Ironborn.

Hunting the pretender across the south, Aegon was outmaneuvered at every turn, Aemon’s forces constantly evading him and his kin whilst claiming and burning castles far and wide. Eventually, Aegon was ambushed by Aemon, and killed in a vicious dragon duel.

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Aegon IV Targaryen

With his father dead, his heir and namesake, only 12, evaded his guards and fled to the dragonpit to claim mighty Vhagar and seek revenge. Only Vhagar had not flown in decades, and though she accepted him she would not, or rather could not fly for him. Wrathful and indignant, the boy demanded he be brought the pretender’s head.

Though it cost another dragon, eventually his demand was met, and Aemon Targaryen was slain along with his dragon, and Dark Sister recovered. The remaining rebels were routed, and one by one Aemon’s kin were slain as well. The young king ensured his regents had every Martell bar the one wed to his uncle slain, and installed the man in Sunspear to rule.

Aegon’s regency has been long, and he has oft chafed against it. It is said on some days he is as cruel as Maegor, and on others as shy is Aenys, sometimes swinging between the two extremes in the span of a minute.

His court is a cautious place, and oft on the move, as the young King enjoys nothing more than forcing Lords to make their home his own. Now rapidly approaching his majority, many clamor for him to have a match arranged, and to name an heir until such time as he produces one of his own. He only wishes for a party befitting of starting his last year of boyhood.

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The Stepstones Conflicts

With the execution of his ‘grandfather’ Corlys Velaryon, Alyn of Hull, whose legitimization was deemed invalid by the crown, fled with a number of the Velaryon ships to the south. Over the years, he eventually claimed all the Stepstones for himself, named himself king, fathered sons and daughters, and smashed all those who opposed him for rule.

His greatest opponents, the tongueless sons of Vaemond Velaryon, given Driftmark after his flight, deemed the bastard king a stain on the honor of their house, and swore to oppose him. On five different occasions they sailed out to face Alyn, and five times they failed.

Tired of the humiliations, the Lord of Driftmark beseeched Queen Jaehaera to lend dragons to the effort in 176 AC, and called for any man seeking to win glory to join them. Many did, as did several dragons, and Alyn’s kingdom was smashed to splinters, though his line maintains their rule over bloodstone to this day.

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The Dornish Conquest

In 186 AC, Prince Vorian Martell was a vain and lazy ruler with more lovers than sense. When he permitted the father of his newest paramour, Coryanne Manwoody, to seek revenge on House Caron for a dispute along the Prince’s Pass, he’d never expected that the raiders would arrive when Princess Alyssa Targaryen was guesting at Nightsong. Nor could he have guessed that the raiders would murder the Princess, her retinue, and steal the blade Dark Sister from her corpse, but the Prince was sure Dornish valor could weather the storm.

King Jaehaerys, wroth beyond words, rallied all his lords and his dragons, and went south with fire and blood. The campaign was long, decisive, and brutal. Stronghold after stronghold was reduced to cinder, and rather than keep to the strategies of his ancestors, Vorian sought to face his foe in the field with an army of scorpions, crossbows, and Dornish spears.

Vorian would meet his end in the one-sided slaughter that would come to be known as ‘The Fool’s Furnace’ when he faced Jaehaerys, his son Aegon, and his youngest brother Vaegon atop their dragons. The Prince, his sons, and nearly every man among the fifteen thousand he’d mustered were reduced to ash atop glassy sand by the time the day was done.

The Dornish would not go without taking blood of their own. Ser Aerys Targaryen, eldest of the line of Daeron, and rider of Tessarion, was slain when he left the safety of his camp to aid what he thought was a helpless child but in truth was a Dornish ambush. Not long after, King Jaehaerys himself was murdered in his bed when he laid down and found it full of vipers. They and thousands more would be claimed by the sands over the course of hundreds of battles and skirmishes.

Though Vorian’s eldest daughter attempted to adopt the guerilla tactics of old, she was betrayed and murdered. I nearly 190 AC King Aegon III, crowned after the death of his father, claimed Dorne for the Iron Throne, and married off the last of Vorian’s children to Vaegon.

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The Second Dance of the Dragons

Aemon Targaryen, second son of Viserys, grandson of Rhaenyra the Pretender, had not died with the rest of his family. Carried out of Lys by Moredo Rogare, the boy was raised as a sellsword in the Disputed Lands. A warrior without equal, he sought out Sheepstealer, now fled from Westeros, and claimed the beast for himself. Travelling across Essos, Aemon built himself an army of sellswords, melting away their old allegiances to forge the Iron Pact.

In 192 AC, Aemon landed on the shores of the Stormlands. With the promise of restored freedom and a marriage between Aemon’s grandson and a lady of House Allyrion, an army of vengeful Dornishmen rushes up the passes after giving Aemon Dark Sister.

Lord Fowler, Uller, Dayne, and Qorgyle are joined by a portion of Aemon’s troops, including one of his sons, in storming the Reach, sacking Horn Hill, and even claiming Oldtown. Meanwhile the other Dornish troops flooded into the Stormlands to be dispensed at Aemon’s command. In the Iron Islands, Lords hoping to restore glory to the isles also raised their banners, and declared once again for the Line of Rhaenyra.

King Aegon did not delay in answering the invader, but as he and the Lords of Westeros rode out to face the pretender, they were again and again outmaneuvered and left chasing ghosts. Full battle was rare in comparison to brutal ambushes and cruel raids. Though the crown took victory where they could find it, forces without dragons were often bested in the field, or were unlucky enough to be set upon by Sheepstealer himself.

In 191 AC, Aemon ambushed Aegon in the skies, slaying the king and his dragon, Spyraxes, in a dragon duel above a nameless village in the Stormlands.

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The Second Dance of the Dragons cont.

Just as the Blacks seized one victory, their losses began. The rebels in the Iron Islands were once again brutalized with fire and blood when [NAME] Targaryen descended upon them from dragonback. Joining with the navies of the loyalist Ironborn, the likes of the rebellious Drumms and Blacktydes were crushed by the stalwart Harlaws and Goodbrothers.

In Oldtown, the forces of the Reach stormed the walls and reclaim the city from the rebels in early 192 AC, killing Aemon’s second son, Valerion, with an arrow through the eye as he fled.

Aemon himself is ambushed by three of the crown’s dragons, one ridden by a scion of the crown, another by Ser Aegor of the Baratheon line, and the last by Ser Matarys, youngest of Daeron’s ilk. Clashing with the pretender in the skies, Ser Aegor Targaryen and his dragon were slain in the effort. Young Ser Matarys reclaims Dark Sister for himself, and is named to the Kingsguard for the effort.

Now without their dragon, Aemon’s heir, Viserys, attempts to rally the forces of the Blacks for a final gambit, but is surrounded by the loyalist forces near Haystack Hall. Viserys is slain in single combat by a Knight of the Kingsguard, and the rebel forces are all but annihilated.

Many Dornish lords are executed, and House Martell is all but exterminated. Sunspear, and rule of Dorne passes to Vaegon Targaryen and his wife Allyria Martell. The regency for King Aegon’s son, Aegon the Younger, begins in earnest.

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The Kingdoms of the Realm

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The Crownlands

The seat of power in the Seven Kingdoms, the Crownlands has been a place of skin-deep peace, rife with turmoil just below the surface. With the death of House Celtigar during the Night of the Emerald Sun, Cracklaw Point has been host to hundreds of small scuffles between the Clawmen, whilst the Velaryons spent a generation warring with the spawn of Alyn Velaryon in the Stepstones.

Eager for glory, the men of the Crownlands have taken great losses in the decade of war for Dorne, then the Kingdom, and as a result a great number of castles and holdfasts are ruled by women. To some, the land is ripe with opportunity, to most, it is still all but ignored.

The Capitol itself has been recently rocked by the strange murder of Ser Darius Locke of the Kingsguard, with many wonder just how a member of the noble knightly order could fall victim to such a thing.

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The Stormlands

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The Riverlands

After the victory of the Greens, many Riverlords face punishment for their support of Rhaenyra’s faction in the Dance of the Dragons, and it is up to House Tully to keep the peace between their divided bannermen. A new House joins their ranks as House Cole is given Harrenhal as a reward for ser Criston’s support.

The following years are tumultuous, marked by quarrels, bandits, and tragedy. The most notorious of these events is the murder-suicide of the young Tristifer Tully – married to a Targaryen princess – and his lover, Willow Cole. The pair turned up dead at Harrenhal shortly after Willow’s betrothal was announced, and the murder weapon was never found. Moreover, the tragedy damaged the diplomatic ties between Houses Targaryen, Cole, and Tully for years.

During the Second Dance, the last of Kermit Tully’s line, Mad Henson Tully, is killed by his own men after proposing a suicidal battle plan. With no one left to inherit, a cousin belonging to the line of the exile Oscar Tully inherits Riverrun.

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The Westerlands

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The Iron Islands

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Dorne

Dorne thrived for decades under Princess Aliandra Martell, but her son, Vorian cost them that and their independence. After their conquest, they attempted to break free the chains of vassalage when Aemon the Pretender came to their shores. When their dragon fell, the Dornish knew that all was lost. Twice defeated, Dorne is now ruled by Prince Vaegon* Targaryen, and his wife Allyria, last scion of House Nymeros Martell.

Plagued by the remnants of Aemon’s armies who have turned robber and brigand, the Dornish lords have been blamed for these attacks and received not one sword in support. The last Vulture King, Maekar Targaryen, last of the Pretender's line, was only dealt with after he slew one of the Targaryens born of the Green lineage, and before that had raided north and south with impunity.

With so much in ruins, Dorne is a hotbed for infighting and intrigue, as some cling to the hope of independence returning, while others have forgotten that dream to reap more tangible rewards with the new regime in Sunspear.

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Quests and Adventures

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The Red Hand in the Mountain

Ser Aerion Targaryen, a son of the line of Aemond and Cassandra, was dragonless, but no less brave. Eager to prove himself after accomplishing nothing of note in the war, he saw an opportunity in the reports of Maekar Targaryen, the last of violet-eyed pretenders. The last rebel was leading the remnants of his army on brutal raids, conducting strange rituals, burning men and women along with their villages on either side of the Red Mountains. A villain out of song, which called for a hero to stop him.

Aerion and a band of loyal companions rode into the mountains to hunt down the rebel. All were slain, but for Ser Aerion’s young squire, who brought word of their burnings to all, a warning of what was to come, according to the pretender. Ser Aerion’s father, Aelor, did not take it as a warning, but a challenge.

Descending on dragonback, Aelor burned the rebels and slew the blue-eyed pretender, his Allyrion bride too, and for a time the raids ceased.

However, in the last year, they have resumed with even greater brutality and cunning. Though the rebels could never hope to rise again for the throne, there would still surely be glory in their destruction, and a sword if Aerion’s squire was to be believed before leaving to join the faith. The Valyrian Steel sword, Truth was last seen in the hands of Maekar, and the vengeful Aelor failed to recover it. Whomever puts down these rabid dogs would surely be able to keep it, and reap other great rewards.

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