EricRP

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - [Openly Recruiting]

The Dragons of Westeros: 129AC

King Aegon II's Dragons

Sunfyre- King Aegon II Targaryen's dragon



A young, yet splendid dragon, Archmaester Gyldayn decreed that Sunfyre was the most beautiful dragon ever to fly in the skies. He has gleaming gold scales and pale pink wing membranes. In the sunlight his scales shine like beaten gold.

Vhagar- Prince Aemond (One-Eye)'s dragon - the last of Aegon the Conqueror's Dragons.



The oldest (probably) living dragon at this point in history; huge but not so quick as once he was.

Dreamfyre- Queen Helaena's Dragon



Dreamfyre was once Rhaena Targaryen's (b. 23AC) dragon she is fully grown and two centuries old. Her scales gleam a fiery red/orange to match her flame.

Tessarion- Prince Daeron's Dragon



With wings of bluest cobalt and underscales of beaten copper, Tessarion is a striking looking beast. Her fire burns a deep blue to match her colouring; her wings are black as pitch. A young and nimble dragon only a third of the size of Vermithor.

Morghul & Shrykos The dragons of Princess Jaehaera & Prince Jaehaerys respectively



Too young for war. These dragons hatched in the cribs of the young royals but are too small to be ridden yet

Princess Rhaenyra's Dragons

Syrax- Princess Rhaenyra's Dragon



A huge and formidable beast, yelow-scaled and kept chained and well-fed. Syrax hasn't hunted in years and lacks the experience of Caraxes.

Caraxes- Prince Daemon's dragon



The Red Wyrm. Caraxes is strong, large and experienced in war having lain waste to the Stepstones over decades past. Daemon and he are a formidable duo in battle. He is the OG. About half Vhagar's size.

Vermax- Prince Jacaerys' Dragon



Vermax's egg hatched in the crib of the Prince Jacaerys, much to the chagrin of Queen Alicent who alleged Rhaenyra's sons by Laenor Valeryon to actually be the bastard progeny of Ser Harwin Strong. By 129AC, Vermax is big enough to ride though, naturally, small and inexperienced. His scales are a murky green.

Arrax- Prince Lucerys' dragon



Best believe Arrax was a small, jade green dragon. Nimble and young (only fourteen like the Prince) Arrax hatched in Lucerys' cradle where his egg had been commanded to be placed by King Viserys I. A fifth of the size of Vhagar, Arrax is agile and fast for his lack of experience.

Tyraxes- Prince Joffrey's Dragon



Small in 129AC, Tyraxes is only 12 like rider Joffrey and has only now begun to bear a rider. Able to fly shorter distances but not ready for war, Tyraxes' scales are a golden-brown colour and his eyes are a verdant green.

Stormcloud- Prince Aegon (the Younger)'s dragon



Young and unridden at this point in 129AC, Stormcloud is a pale-blue dragon belonging to the young prince Aegon (the Younger) Targaryen- Rhaenyra & Daemon's eldest son. The boy & dragon are yet to reach their ninth nameday yet Stormcloud is a strong flier, Aegon hopes he will be able to ride before long. His mother was riding Syrax at seven, lest we forget.

Meleys- Princess Rhaenys's dragon



The Red Queen. Cunning and old, though lazy- Meleys is fearsome if roused. Of a size with Caraxes, still half as big as Vhagar. Her scales are scarlet and the membranes of her wings, pink. Her crest, horns, and claws are bright as copper. If any dragon could be said to prove a test for Vhagar, Meleys is believed to be the stiffest.

Moondancer- Lady Baela's dragon



Baela is of age (13) but her dragon, Moondancer - a pale green- is no larger than a warhorse. Hatched from a clutch of eggs produced by Syrax, Moondancer is quick and nimble- she goes crazy when she hears a cymbal and a hi-hat with a souped-up tempo- I'm on a roll! It's time to go solo...

...sorry... anyway, Moondancer is large enough to bear Baela's weight but she's hardly like to turn the tide of battle... is she?

Riderless & Wild Dragons

Silverwing- formerly Queen Alysanne's dragon - currently riderless



Alysanne Targaryen died in 100AC so Silverwing has been riderless near thirty years. Large as Vermithor in whom she found a mate, Silverwing is a dark green colour with silvery underwings as the name would suggest. It is said that dragons that have accepted riders in the past are more like to do so again...

Seasmoke- formerly Prince Leanor Velaryon's dragon



Grown to adulthood yet still comparatively young, Seasmoke is a dragon of House Velaryon and belonged to Princess Rhenyra's murdered first husband, Leanor Velaryon. Seasmoke has been riderless 9 years now. A pale silver/grey dragon, beautiful to behold and favours flying low over water, close to the sea.

Vermithor- formerly King Jaehaerys I's dragon



The Bronze Fury is already a century old and second in size only to Vhagar (despite Meleys being almost 200). Vermithor has bronze scales with tan wings and underbelly. Vermithor has been riderless for six and twenty years since the death of the current King's grandfather. He is old and, boy, is he hoary.

Sheepstealer- Wild dragon



A dirty mud-brown wild dragon, Sheepstealer enjoys his mutton and lives behind Dragonmont. His range seems to be between Driftmark and Wendwater. He has never been ridden. Wild and savage.

Grey Ghost- Wild Dragon



Grey Ghost is silvery white/grey with a deep scarlet crown. Reclusive and shy of people, this dragon has never been ridden or tamed as few can lay claim to ever have him come close enough. He also resides on Dragonmont like Sheepstealer, making his lair somewhere on the eastern edge. He flies across the sea, feeding mainly on fish.

The Cannibal- Wild Dragon



Large, savage and black as coal, Cannibal is likely one of the oldest living dragons given his size. Untamed and never ridden, one school of thought has it that the Cannibal lived on Dragonstone even before the Targaryens and is almost certainly of a different lineage entirely. Mayhaps this explains his enmity towards the other living dragons; feeding on dragon eggs and hatchlings at times. It is said his lair is littered with the bones of those that have tried to tame him, though who has truly lived to see the sight I couldn't guess.

Lady Rhaena and Prince Viserys both have dragon eggs as yet unhatched at this time...

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - [Openly Recruiting]

The Death of Lucerys and Arrax

The King is Dead
King Viserys, the first of his name, had ascended to the throne at a time of unrivalled prosperity for the Targaryen name. Never had there been more blood-relatives of the household nor as many dragons since the Doom of Valyria. With his daring and rash brother, Prince Daemon, at his side he presided over a Kingdom that had enjoyed five decades of peace and prosperity. The gallant Ser Otto Hightower provided wise counsel in his role as Hand of the King and once Daemon was appointed head of the City Watch- crime plummeted in King's Landing too...

It was heard that Daemon's support of his brother was, in part, motivated by a belief that he would be favoured as Viserys' preferred heir. This, if true, proved misfounded, however, as Viserys long had an heir in mind; his daughter Rhaenyra- ofttimes called 'The Realm's Delight', whom he sired upon his cousin, Queen Aemma of House Arryn.


Rhaenyra - The Realm's Delight

Since her childhood, Viserys had doted on his daughter, even taking her along to council meetings and encouraging her to listen, to watch and to learn. As he doted upon her, so came the court to do likewise; she was a precocious and bright child of uncommon beauty- even for one of Targaryen blood- already a dragonrider by her eighth nameday, she could be often seen circling the Red Keep and then off across the Blackwater on the back of Syrax- her she-dragon named for some old God.

After the Queen birthed a son who died within a day, a day longer than the Queen herself, Viserys was heartsick and past his last whit of patience with questions upon the issue of succession. He named Rhaenyra Princess of Dragonstone- the ancient seat of the Targaryens- and insisted that she succeed him and not Daemon, his brother. Prince Daemon did not attend the ceremony.

Four years passed and we come to the induction of one Ser Criston Cole into the Kingsguard. A mere Steward's son in the service of House Dondarrion at one time, Cole caught the eyes of the Realm at a Tourney in Maidenpool to celebrate Viserys' ascension- winning the melee and reaching the final of the Joust. The princess took a childish fancy to him and had Viserys name him her sworn shield. He rarely left her side. The King went on to remarry; taking Lady Alicent (Otto Hightower's daughter) to wife. Princess Rhaenyra welcomed the union, less so Daemon who had the messenger whipped upon hearing the news. Not wont to wait upon a crown that seemed ever more distant, Daemon decided he might carve out a kingdom of his own. Making common cause with the Sea-Dragons of house Velaryon- Daemon and Corlys Velaryon warred with the Triarchy Kingdom of Lys, Myr and Tyrosh. The Velaryon fleet supported by Daemon and Caraxes- his monstrous dragon- Viserys supported the endeavour with coin. The feud was old- The Triarchy had warred upon old Volantis.

Over the next few years, Daemon and Corlyss won many victories and when his brother defeated the Myrish Prince in single combat- known as the Crabfeeder- and declared himself King of the Narrow Sea, Viserys was content for Daemon to keep his crown "so long as it kept him out of trouble." But the Triarchy dispatched a new fleet and when the Kingdom of Dorne allied their strength to their oars, Daemon's fragile kingdom sank with little trace (metaphorically).

Back in King's Landing, Viserys and Queen Alicent had a son; Aegon. Aegon was followed by Helaena - his sister he would go on to wed- and finally his younger brother, Aemond. Whilst happy news, it once more threw the question of succession into the melting pot. The eldest son should inherit- Queen Alicent and her father, Otto Hightower- hand of the King were keen to see Aegon named heir rather than Rhaenyra, who was not of Hightower blood. Otto overstepped in this and Viserys replaced him with Lord Lyonel Strong. The King didn't want to hear of it; he'd long made clear his preference for his daughter and was keen to disregard the ruling of the Great Council of 101AC that decreed the Man should always go before the Woman.

A schism developed, of sorts. At a Tourney in 111AC, Queen Alicent wore a dress of deep green- Hightower colours whereas the Princess underlined her position in garments of black embellished with red for the banners of House Targaryen. People began to speak of those close to the royal parties as 'Greens' or 'Blacks' depending of which potential heir they were thought to favour; Rhaenyra or the boy Aegon. At this tourney, Daemon returned from his wars and held his crown up to Viserys in a show of fealty to his brother. The king - who loved Daemon well despite his frequent volatile mood swings- kissed him on both cheeks and let him keep the empty crown.


Daemon offers his 'King of the Narrow Sea' Crown up to his brother, Viserys.

None cheered more at this reunion than Princess Rhaenyra, who also loved her dashing uncle well. Perhaps, if tales are to be believed, more well than a niece ought to love an uncle...

Be that as it may (or may not), within days of this public show of fealty, Daemon was exiled. Some sources suggest he and the princess were caught abed together whereas others maintain Daemon was tutoring her in ways to make Criston Cole break his kingsguard oaths by teaching her in the art of love. Were you Viserys, would it matter which account rang true? The Princess was still a child. Chastened, Daemon made for the Stepstones to continue his war. Rumour has it that he had offered to wed the Princess in return for the King anulling his estranged and barren marriage with his own wife, Rhea whom he had wed in 97AC.

Ser Criston Cole kept his vows. He was named Lord Commander of the Kingsguard in 112AC, the year before Princess Rhaenyra came of age. In the years preceding this she had had no shortage of potential suitors; Harwin Strong, heir to Harrenhal (purported to be the strongest knight in the Realm); Twins Ser Jason and Ser Tyland Lannister who showered her with gifts; Lord Bracken and Lord Blackwood who had duelled for her honour. The Queen and her father were keen to see Aegon betrothed to his beautiful half sister, perhaps conceding that Viserys was unlikely to change his mind over the boy's position in the line of succession. Indeed, the Targaryens had wed brother to sister for generations in order to keep the bloodline pure but Viserys was dismayed the motives of his wife and Ser Otto were simply to have Aegon King by hook or by crook and he declined. In any case, Aegon was still very young and he and Rhaenyra had never really gotten along.

Enter the Sea Snake. The Velaryon House had dragon's blood on both sides and Laenor Valeryon even had a dragon of his own, Seasmoke- a splendid Grey and White beast. The problem was that Laenor seemed to prefer the company of young squires his own age (19) to the company of women and it was even mooted he'd never known a woman intimately, having sired no bastards. Presented with this news, Grand Maestor Mellos is said to have remarked, "What of that? I am not fond of fish but if fish is served, I eat it." Rhaenyra was not pleased with this proposal, perhaps she would prefer to wed Daemon or see Ser Cole released from his vows to crawl between her thighs at last but Viserys was resolute. "If you deny me this, mayhaps I must needs reconsider the issue of succession after all!" He warned.

So she wed Laenor in 114AC and a Tourney was held. Rumours surfaced that prior to the wedding, the princess had (again) been found abed with another. Suitor Ser Harwin Strong had allegedly taken Rhaenyra's maidenhead (if indeed she even still had it) and Criston Cole had been said to have shunned her forever. At the Tourney he wore Queen Alicent's favour (declaring himself a 'Green') and fought in a black fury. When he faced Strong in the lists, he shattered his elbow and collarbone for Rhaenyra to witness before facing the Knight Laenor was said to 'favour'- Ser Joffrey Lonmouth- the Knight of Kisses. Ser Joffrey was stretchered away senseless and bloody and did not die for six days. Laenor wept bitter tears of grief.

After this the newlyweds split; not officially but whilst she stayed on at Dragonstone, her husband returned to Driftmark. Had the marriage even been consummated? It would seem so when Prince Jacaerys was born, though some remarked whilst Rhaenyra and Leonas had the silver hair and aquiline features of Volantis, Jacaerys was brown-haired and pugnosed much like Ser Harwin Strong, ever the Queen's companion and Captain of the Blacks - her personal guard. She had two more sons; Lucerys and Joffrey (both looking like their brother and neither parent); healthy, strapping lads.

The Greens put it about that the children were obviously Strong's issue and challenged that if they were unable to become dragonriders, it would prove the question of their parentage. However, Viserys commanded each lad have a dragon's egg placed in his cradle and each egg hatched. Vermax, Arrax and Tyraxes issued forth in turn. The King ignored any rumours thereafter, determined Rhaenyra still succeed.

In 120AC- known now as the Year of the Red Spring- four things happened... Laenor's sister died. After Daemon's wife had passed in a hunting accident five years previous, the Prince had wed Laena and thye'd had two daughters; Baela and Rhaena. Viserys had been angered by this marriage (he hadn't given his blessing) in the outset, he allowed Daemon to present his daughters at court in 117AC. Perhaps he hoped fatherhood might temper his brother. In 120AC she gave Daemon the son he'd always wanted but what was drawn from her womb was a twisted deformity and died with the mother shortly after birth.

But it was Lord Corlyss and Princess Rhaenys Velaryon who had the greater cause to grieve. No sooner had they lost their daughter than they also lost their son. Laenor was murdered at a market in Spicetown. His friend (and alleged lover) Ser Qarl Correy and he had quarreled (potentially over Leonas' desire to set Correy aside in favour of a new lover) and blades were drawn. Leonas died and Qarl fled. He was never seen again. A darker rumour suggests the newly widowed Daemon paid Correy to murder Leonas so he might take his niece to wed after all.

Graver still was the enmity bubbling to the surface between Rhaenyra's three sons and her three stepsiblings, the progeny of Viserys and Queen Alicent. The Dragonless Aemond Targaryen, Aegon's younger brother tried to claim Vhagar, Laena's former mount, for himself. Aemond taunted Rhaenyra's boys, calling them "The Strongs" until Prince Lucerys put out Aemond's eye with a knife. He was henceforth known as Aemond One-Eye though he did manage to win Vhagar for himself. Viserys intervened and commanded his sons return to King's Landing whist Rhaenyra's boys remain on Dragonstone to distance his family from further quarrels. Ser Harwin Strong was also removed back to Harrenhal.

Lo and behold, the fourth tragedy that Spring was the fire at Harrenhal which claimed Harwin's life as well as that of his Lord father, Lyonel Strong; the serving Hand of the King. Of course there are those that suggest this was no accident; Queen Alicent or Daemon or Lord Strong's youngest son (who would inherit) all had their names whispered in connection with the conflagration but once the tongues of flame were extinguished and the stronghold gutted, who was left to say what was the cause? And so Rhaenyra lost a husband, and some would say a paramour as well as a Sister by marriage in the same year. Undoubtedly, one way or other, her boys lost a father (if not two) in name as well as blood.

The result? Viserys recalled Otto Hightower to once again serve as King and Daemon finally wed the Princess Rhaenyra, his niece. The couple quickly delivered Daemon a son who lived and was named Aegon. Queen Alicent was enraged, seeing it as a direct affront to her eldest who had also been named for the conqueror. The two became known as Aegon the Elder and Aegon the Younger. In 122AC Rhaenyra bore Daemon a second son, Viserys, named for her father. Viserys lacked the strength of his elder brother or any of his older stepsiblings and the omens were ill when he alone had a dragon egg placed in the cradle which did not hatch. Though the boy was precocious, as his mother had been in childhood.

And there things stood until, finally, in 129AC King Viserys died. By this time, Aegon (the Elder) had wed his sister Helaena and she had borne the twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera (the latter a strange child; slow to grow and never weeping nor crying as children invariably do). She also bore him Maelor in 127AC. Over in Driftmark, the Sea Snake Lord Velaryon sickened and took to his bed. King Viserys injured himself on his Iron Throne in 128AC and the wound became badly infected. He lost two fingers to cease the rot but he continued to decline afterwards. He was abed telling stories of old to his grandchildren Jaehaerys and Jaehaera before tiring and falling asleep. He never awoke.

And so began the Dance of the Dragons...
The elder Aegon, with the insistance of Ser Otto (his Grandfather and Hand of the King), his Lady Mother, the Queen Alicent and the small council- Aegon was convinced to take the throne for himself. Viserys had ever insisted Rhaenyra would inherit but Viserys was dead and by the laws of Gods and Men and the decree of the Great Council of 101AC Aegon was the rightful Heir. He was crowned Aegon II before word of Viserys' demise was sent to his daughter on Dragonstone. The Princess was heavy with child and when learning of the betrayal, she flew into such a black rage that she fell into a horrific labour a moon earlier than was her time. After three days in which she cursed the Queen, the new 'King' and all their kin foully and even cursed the child trying to 'claw' its way out of her, she brought forth a monster indeed. Blind and deformed with a hole where the heart should have been, she named the daughter Visenya and it was taken away to be burned. She had been stillborn and had a scaly tail. Rhaenyra blamed this, too on Aegon and the Queen (or Queen Mother as she had become).

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - [Openly Recruiting]

House Templeton
Seat:
Ninestars- The Vale of Arryn



Ninestars is the name of the castle that forms the seat of House Templeton. Sitting NorthEast on the Southern Edge of the Fingers, Ninestars Castle is fashioned from white-grey stone and consists of fairly short, squat battlements framed by two square towers. It lurches up from long yellow grasses with its back to the tides, ducking out of the salty winds gusting off the narrow sea.

Of huge strategic importance, Ninestars has proven invaluable in forming a defensive fortress guarding the Fingers, whilst looking out across the Narrow Sea to its rear.

Whilst hardly the Vale’s most impressive stronghold, Ninestars’ fringe position helps to facilitate it as an administrative hub for the various farming communities in the fertile peninsula. There are comfortably upwards of 2'500 men that owe fealty to the Knight of Ninestars and it is this that has enabled each Ser Templeton to command the respect of the Lordly counterparts such as Corbray, Royce and Hunter.
The centrepoint of the castle is the Sept, or ‘temple’, after which the House is named.



History:
Templeton’s history dates back as far as the Andals who are credited with the building of the Temple which became a significant waycastle for those accessing the Vale by sea. Whilst not boasting ought so grandiose as a harbour or port; over generations Ninestars grew around it and the Templeton House was given Knightly status and dominion over the castle by House Arryn many centuries ago.
Essentially the first ‘Templetons’ were required to maintain the temple and keep residence of the villages clustered in the vicinity. It is rumoured that this task was oft doled out to ‘bastards’ of the Arryn House; if true, it would provide a blood-tie to the Noble House for Templeton. Certainly their allegiance to Arryn has never wavered.
As the fortifications grew, Temple-town (from whence the name derives) was the colloquial monicker given to the almalgamated villages who eventually moved to within or beside the castle grounds. The hugely popular Templeton market and annual Fair drew more and more settlers to the vicinity. In acknowledgement of the time-honoured diligence and capable management of the temple and surrounding township, ‘House Templeton’ was formerly recognised by Lord Arryn, that same evening a meteor shower purportedly featuring ‘nine falling stars’ shone across the darkening sky- giving the castle its name, and House Templeton its sigil; the yellow of the stars representing the long grasses of the vale and the black field representing the night sky.

Members of the House:
Ser Jon Templeton- Knight of Ninestars- 30 (called the blackstar colloquially)
The Widow Ninestars- Lady Allayne Templeton- 34 (Ronnel’s Widow)
Miss Birgitte Sunderland– Daughter of Lord Sunderland and a ward sent to Ninestars to secure Sunderland’s fealty in future. - 13
Kennet Nash – Master-at-Arms – 47
Yohn Cowley – Kennelmaster – 47
Maester Corbyn – A maester – 55
Harold Stone – The late Ronnel Templeton’s bastard – 17
Gawarth Templeton– Jon’s Uncle – 55

Character Sheets:

Ser Jon Templeton

History

The second son of Ser Wyman Templeton, Jon ought to have grown up in the shadow of his older brother, Ronnel. Two years his junior, Jon and Ronnel spent everyday playing together until Ronnel was struck with a terrifying fever and brain sickness. Maester Kirwan, a young man with some radical practices, believed in ritualistic ‘bleeding’ and though painstaking, Ronnel recovered his wits though had been left perpetually weakened.

Ser Wyman took it hard and this was doubled by the death of his Wife Myrcella Templeton and their newborn daughter in the birthing bed the same year.
It was upon Jon that Wyman came to depend, the dark-haired younger boy grew strong and tall whilst his elder brother took a year to gather strength enough to rise from his chair. However, to flout tradition and promote Jon as heir to Ninestars was beyond Wyman’s comprehension. The eldest must inherit. His brother, Gawarth came to live with them to take Jon hunting and climbing, sparring and ranging whilst Wyman managed the estate and buried himself in the heavy tedium that is the day-to-day fayre of the Knight in the Vale. Meanwhile, Kennet Nash came to Ninestars to serve as Master-at-Arms. Wyman had spotted the young warrior at a Tourney near Heart’s Home and he’d been keen to accept the position which meant he had jurisdiction over a sizeable detail of men-at-arms as well as a detachment of mounted lancers numbering over one hundred.

As the boys grew to manhood, Ronnel was at least adequate with sword in hand, his triumph over his childhood illness was remarkable but a withered sword-arm and a crooked gait meant he looked absurd in the armour specifically gilded for him by the Castle Smithy. He insisted on competing alongside Wyman in a Tourney in Gulltown but was hurt early in the mellee and cruel jibes such as ‘the cripple o’ Ninestars’ were heard being heckled from the public gallery.

Wyman may or may not have heard these jeers but he was said to have stalked to his horse for the tilt enraged. It will never be known how he truly felt that day as he was unhorsed, surprisingly, by a Corbray squire and fell awkwardly, breaking his neck and killing him outright. Ronnel blamed his own disgraceful failure for his father’s death.
Despite Uncle Gawarth’s urging that Jon, and not Ronnel, should be the new Knight o Ninestars, Ronnel accepted the title and vowed that he would do credit to the role.

In truth, he was a fair and just master to the outlying communities and in the three years he served at the Family castle, produce in the Vale increased and a period of prosperity ensued.

When Lady Arryn called the banners in 115AC when Daemon Targaryen attempted to sack Runestone to win back his late wife, Rhea's ancestral seat, Jon pleaded with his brother to allow him to go in his stead. He was faster ahorse, a better sword and a stronger lance, but whilst agreeing Jon should accompany him, Ronnel insisted that it was he, as the eldest, that should ride to war in the black cape of Ninestars. Jon had his own armour, daubed with black tar and wore a yellow cape, emblazoned with a single black star; earning him the nickname Knight of the Blackstar- a joke amongst the men as Jon hadn’t been knighted but one he liked and would later adopt as an unofficial title.



Ronnel never returned from the battle. Rumours told of how Caraxes had cooked the crippled Knight with half his host, others maintained that Daemon himself had beheaded Ronnel with ease in single combat; a notion that seems unlikely. Jon would only agree that his older brother died valiantly and would speak no more on the matter.

There are rumours in the Vale that the new Knight of Ninestars was knighted with his brother’s head in his hands but this is a misnomer. There was some 45 minutes between the incidents and it wasn’t until two weeks had passed and the Silent Sisters brought Ronnel’s remains to Ninestars that Jon took up the family shield; nine yellow stars on a midnight black field.

Personality

Make no bones about it, Jon loved his father and older brother. He vaguely remembers Ronnel’s childhood illness as a time of bewilderment and confusion and when mother died and the baby he remembers crying a lot but things moving on quickly.
He supported Ronnel’s decision to take the Knighthood and even rode to the Eyrie at his side when he formally received the Templeton ancestral title. But there are also memories that make him feel bitter; the young Corbray squire who decided to prove himself in the Joust a little too overzealously robbed him of a father and Targaryen’s beheading/Caraxes' incineration of Ronnel was a sleight he has ever found difficult to bear.

He is ambitious and relentless. Refusing to take a wife until he raises the House to a Lordship or a chronic lack of heirs demands it, he keeps Uncle Gawayne as a close advisor and sole heir to Ninestars as his father’s brother. He also has every intention of legitimizing Ronnel’s bastard, Harold Stone who was sent to foster at Ninestars after the death of his mother; a former handmaiden to Gawayne’s late wife who reputedly seduced the young Ronnel in the bleak months following Ser Wayman’s tragic death.

Jon is not quick to smile but neither is he quick to anger. Even on the bridge of Runestone, it took watching his brother slain to rile him into fury. However he is weak in the presence of Ronnel’s widow. He’d be the last to admit it to himself but the woman has a profound power over him; wed to Ronnel at 16, she soon grew frustrated with Jon’s older brother’s ‘failings’ in the bedroom; she began to bed Jon as well when he was only thirteen. Jon, to his credit, has managed to avoid siring a bastard on his conniving sister-in-law in all these years which seems to suggest the widow is barren. He is keen to foist her off on some other Knight as quickly as possible but in 17 years she has entrenched her position as the First Lady Templeton of Ninestars and it appears Jon is stuck with her. She is desperate for Jon to wed her, which would bring no opposition as in many families it is the ‘done’ thing to wed an older brother’s widow but her failure to bear a child in nigh on two decades and the appearance of Ronnel’s bastard (attesting that his seed bears fruit) has set Jon dead against the idea. Indeed, sex aside, the woman terrifies him.

Lady Allayne Templeton

Allayne Templeton (nee Waxley)
History

The Widow Allayne Templeton of Ninestars was born to Ser Ryman Waxley and Lady Daena Waxley, the fourth daughter and sixth child of a happy and lasting marriage; indeed both parents still live, well into their sixties. Allayne stood out amongst the other Waxley girls; Arda, Mowen and Bryda- more wilfull and precocious, but infinitely prettier- her raven-dark curls setting her apart from her straight-haired, mousy siblings with their high noses and brittle, high-pitched tones.

Life for Allayne was dull, never challenging and that tedium continued into her teenage years. She watched her brothers marry. Hadred, to a Meadows girl from Grassy Vale in the Reach, Haldred to a Daughter of Lord Farring in the Crownlands. Her sisters all managed to wed themselves to noble houses too; a Tarbeck, a Glover and a Hardying. All were younger sons or cousins but when a possible union to Templeton was mooted, her father was passing keen to see it done.

Allayne knew that Templeton was merely a Knightly House, like her own, but one that commanded weight and authority surpassing some lesser Lordly houses. Ronnel Templeton had been sickly in childhood but had survived and although partially disfigured by his malady, was still heir to Ninestars and a knight in the making. He was two years her junior but she liked that. Even at sixteen she knew she could mould the boy like a Wickenden candle…

The wedding was easily as lavish as any of her sisters’, although Mowen (the wife of Donal Glover) was conspicuous in her absence. The bedding… A non-event. Ronnel had been in his cups and at 14 it had taken too grave a toll on him. It was at least a week before he managed to fulfil his husbandry duties and mount her. She had to bite her lip to stop from laughing at his crooked stance and as he spent his seed within the first minute she nearly wretched as he groped at her with his withered right arm.
After twelve months of similar disappointment, she made her way along the North passage to Jon’s bed, where she taught him how a woman ought to be loved. He was a quick learner.

She doubted Ronnel knew to where she slipped late at night. She always told him it was to the Sept at the centre of the castle and he never asked any questions. Probably delighted to have such a devout and beautiful wife; praying to the Mother for a son, not stealing to the brother for a fuck.

For Ronnel’s underperformance in the marital bed, he was a kind and witty young man, there were times when she was genuinely proud of his endeavour and commitment to overcoming his shortcomings and growing into the Knight House Templeton needed him to be. His uncle favoured John but the new Master-at-Arms, Kennet Nash was shaping her husband into a passable swordsman, although he still sat ahorse awkwardly.

When the Tourney at Gulltown came around, Allayne was sickened to see Ronnel’s piteous early exit from a mellee nobody thought he should join, she feigned illness and returned home early. She had already left when Ser Wyman perished.

Whilst Ronnel and Jon rode to the Eyrie for her husband’s knighthood some weeks later, Allayne realised, delightedly that her moon’s blood was late by at least a week. She had little doubt that it was more likely young Jon and not the virtually impotent Ronnel who was the father, but the seed was the same stock and what Ronnel didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. She waited patiently for all the signs of impending motherhood to begin, as she’d learned from her Septa back in Wickenden. She would tell Ronnel when she began to show, but weeks and months passed with no evidence of producing the next Templeton heir, or a dutiful daughter to provide some female companionship, something Ninestars sorely lacked.

As a year went by, Ronnel became happy as a prospering Master of the surrounding lands and realisation dawned on Allayne that the mother, or the Maid, or the crone had chosen to take her womanhood from her in payment for betraying her husband time and again for his stronger, more virile younger brother.
Well the others could take the Seven! She was the Nine! Allayne abandoned what frail attachment she had with the faith and kept a stony, politic silence about her evident barren womb.

She could always blame Ronnel for the lack of a child in the years they had been wed. After all, it stood to reason that his childhood illness may have taken his seed from him, or rendered it hollow.

Jon was wise enough to spill his seed elsewhere in their illicit sessions in any case, wary of siring a bastard on his sister-in-law which he’d no doubt have to watch Ronnel raise.

Runestone changed everything.

When Ronnel didn’t return and Ser Jon Templeton pinned her against his brother’s marriage bed and took her insistently and roughly, she realised that there was real danger her position would be broken. She was 21. She refused to go quietly into the night, her chance of raising herself in the world spent on a kindhearted but pitiful cripple; a dead one at that. She implored Jon that marriage was a natural and even expected step. They’d been lovers for five years but Jon was equal to her ambition and far less naïve; even to her charms.

He suspected something was amiss that his Sister-in-law had yet to bear a child and of course, he knew that wasn’t down solely to Ronnel.

No. Jon wanted a Lordship. He’d watched his brother shamed at Gulltown and his father killed by a mere squire. Ronnel had been slain with ease by Daemon and Jon was determined to restore some venom into the Ninestars’ reputation.

No sooner had things settled into a kind of miserable post-conflict nothingness, than two children arrived at Ninestars within months…
The first was a slap in the face. Harold Stone was a boy of 4. He was brought to Ninestars by Gawarth Templeton. He said the child was Ronnel’s bastard, sired upon his late wife’s handmaiden who had recently passed from the pox. Allayne lost it. Not that Ronnel had cheated, but that he could have performed sufficiently to beget a child, a son no less, on some pox-ridden wench when illiciting any excitement from him for her had been an increasingly futile labour.

She had her suspicions that this handmaiden had been already with child when Ronnel allegedly dishonoured his vows upon her. However Jon saw Harold as a strange blessing, a shadow of his late brother sent to restore better fortunes to the Templeton estate. Privately, she seethed and her objections to little Harold stay in the West turret near her (and Jon’s) chambers both lay were vociferous enough that it fell largely upon Gawarth to mentor the lad- as he had Jon all those years ago.
Her anger was quelled, however, when Lord Arryn requested Jon to journey to the Eyrie once more. Upon his return, he had an infant girl; Birgitte Sunderland was the youngest child to Kevan Sunderland- Arryn had insisted Sunderland pay for his support of the rebellion by sending Birgitte to be fostered in the Vale. Templeton had been chosen and from the moment Ser Jon rode home with the gold-haired child, Allayne had found a new lease of life.

In the intervening years, Birgitte has grown into a beautiful young maiden, catching the eye of most of the men at Ninestars. Allayne remains a provocative beauty but her habit of wearing a black mourning gown embroidered with nine yellow stars ‘in memory of Ronnel’ has earned her the title of the Black Widow.

Personality
Allayne has always sought to better herself and her ambition has ever been her driving force. She has a sense of entitlement that may be said to be entirely misplaced, but she has ever felt superior in wits, beauty and charm to her sisters and has ever strived to control her environs. Even early in her marriage to Ronnel, Ser Wyman kept a cynical eye on her- seeing the way she used age and sexuality to control his eldest son. Her power over Ser Jon remains strong; he still makes his regular conjugal visitations but infuriatingly, he has ever proven too wise to take his barren Sister-in-Law to wife.

However, Allayne has proved with Birgitte, to have a genuine capacity to be loving and considerate, although the Ward she has raised has certainly been done so in Allayne’s image.

The other side of the coin is the ever=present icy coldness with which she regards Harold. She is intelligent enough to realise Jon intends to legitimise the bastard should old Gawarth die until such a time as he should marry and have trueborn children of his own.

Harold Stone

History
Born in 111AC in the shadow of Ninestars, Harold’s mother had been handmaiden to Gawarth Templeton’s wife until her death and the termination of Mya’s services. In honour of her leal care of the ailing Rhona Templeton, the Templeton estate provided lodgings in the surrounding town and a retention salary that saw her want for nought. By the time she left Ninestars castle, Mya was with child. All Harold knows of this is that she always told him his father was a Templeton but that he couldn’t see him. By the time he was four, his mother had sickened and died from the pox and Harold distinctly remembers Gawarth coming for him and riding him to the castle on his dappled grey mare.

Harold was treated well by the castle staff and by Ser Jon who bid the little boy call him ‘Uncle’. Only the terrifying woman in black seemed not to fawn over the young bastard. He spent much time with Gawarth, a man nearing fifty but with a strong sense of right and wrong. He spent much of his childhood in the castle courtyard; practising with sword and (as he grew stronger) with lance. He spent long summer afternoons with Yohn Cowley, the Castle kennelmaster and the pack of friendly, bright-eyed dogs which would accompany them on hunts or treks. For days at a time, Yohn, Kennet Nash- Master at Arms, and Gawarth would take Harold out into the mountains or through the Vale of Arryn on one half-baked expedition or another. He loved riding and hawking. He would implore the men of the Castle to allow him to attend tourneys or take him on visits to the Lordly houses in the Vale.

Other than at bedtime, Harold spent his life outdoors. Anything was better than his fear of running into another witheringly hateful glare from Lady Allayne Templeton. He understood. He had been told how her husband, who’d died bravely fighting Daemon Blackfyre himself on the Redgrass Field had fallen in love with his mother, Mya. He couldn’t blame him for that; Alayne Templeton was a cold and hateful woman in Harold’s experience.

Despite arriving at Ninestars in the same period of months as Birgitte Sunderland came to foster there, Harold seldom saw the girl, four years his junior until he came of age. Then, Birgitte would oftimes be seen walking in the courtyard, with or without Lady Templeton. She loved animals and Harold showed her the dogs and they would spend afternoons together enjoying the company of one another as siblings might.
However, of late, their friendship has been soured as Birgitte has begun to distance herself from ‘the bastard’. Words she now uses but lent her by Allayne, no doubt.
Harold has noted Birgitte’s beauty as well as any but knows his station and doesn’t want to align himself nearer to Allayne; who’d have him murdered before letting him near her precious ward.

Harold has been approached by Ser Jon regarding the notion of being legitimised should Gawarth pass before Ser Jon marries, to secure a male heir to the Templeton line but he thinks nought of it. Whilst he would love to bear the Templeton name like his late father, the notion of losing his Great Uncle Gawarth is too painful to comprehend.

Personality

Harold is a little lacking in wit, not to comedic effect but he works hard to understand the more complex mechanics of life; he’d much sooner be out on horseback, or tending the Castle dogs with Yohn. He’s grown into a capable and dependable warrior and is genuinely well-liked (Allayne being the exception) by all at Ninestars. Maester Kirwan won’t hear a bad word said about Harold although whnever anyone likens the lad to Ronnel, the Maester only smiles faintly and returns to his duties.
Essentially, Harold is keen to help anyone, never sullen, never wan about his status as bastard born the only times he’d be known to cry as a boy were when Lady Templeton had scolded him; often as not simply for existing.

He is stubbornly loyal, almost standing as testament to his Templeton blood, and looks upon the family at Ninestars as the only family he has known and one he’d ride into the Seven Hells for.

Birgitte Sunderland

History

Birgitte’s beginnings are sorrowful indeed. The fourth child and second daughter of Kevan and Jeyne Sunderland of Sisterton, she was unusually late in birth, born the day of the battle at Runestone. Her Mother died during the birth and the child had to be dragged from her in a grim and bloody scene. Her father was fighting on the Daemon Targaryen's side and only upon his return was his defeat in battle compounded by the news of Jeyne’s death.



He couldn’t bring himself to look upon the baby girl; leaving her care to a nursemaid of just 19.

When Lord Arryn sent for Kevan Sunderland’s son, Robett aged 8, he wept and pleaded his Lord’s men to take the unnamed infant instead. Learning of his grief they showed some leniency and took the infant, though the nursemaid was required to accompany them to provide milk; her own baby son had been stillborn and she was grateful to have the little Sunderland baby in her care.

Within days of their arrival at the Eyrie, Birgitte (still nameless of course) began to sicken. Some felt it was the altitude, not being of Arryn blood left infants prone to the sharp, thin atmosphere. So Arryn wrote to Ninestars. The Templetons had suffered the death of Ronnel at Runestone and his Widow was young and childless. Ser Jon himself came to take the baby and the Nursemaid home to the Vale.

The Nursemaid was relieved of her duties formally on Birgitte’s nameday. Allayne Templeton choosing the name of her maternal grandmother. Kevan Sunderland had still never written or any of the household appealed to visit the child.

It mattered not, for Birgitte was a light in the darkness of Ninestars. Loved by all, her sweet, melodic voice could be heard as she ran, giggled and played in those narrow corridors and dusky towers. Allayne was a mother to her as caring, doting and loving as any little girl could have wished. She was taught of all the famous heroes and histories by Allayne, she studied the Seven and practised the faith with Maester Kirwan- who served as the Castle Septon. She had various teachers hired to school her in embroidery, or in music- she became an accomplished flautist.

As she matured she took more time to roam the castle on her own; she found she enjoyed the company of the staff and servants employed at Ninestars as well as those members of House Templeton to whom she owed so much; Ser Jon was dashing and handsome, she’d had a crush on him since she could remember and he always treated everybody fairly. She once dared speak of this to Allayne, whom she called ‘mother’ since she’d never known another. Allayne had found this highly amusing and Birgitte was quite cross that mother had taken her secret with such mirth!

Old Gawarth Templeton was gruffer but never unpleasant and Kennet Nash would always give her an apple if he saw her streaking across the courtyard.

Then there was Harold. Allayne never spoke of Harold but he had always been around. When she was ten or eleven, he’d taken her to Yohn Cowley and they’d spent the afternoon playing and looking after the dogs. After that they spent more and more time together but it was only ever in friendship. Allayne hadn’t liked it and had told Birgitte that Harold was nothing more than a bastard who lay with whores in town and that as a respectable lady it was unseemly that she should be seen with him.

So she had. Mother was right, she would help Birgitte to a noble marriage; she’d told her all about her sister’s weddings and Allayne’s own wedding to her late husband; Harold’s father, people said- but Birgitte would never mention that in front of Mother!

Personality

Bright and energetic, Birgitte has the license of a child still but her beauty and womanly looks belie her more naïve nature. She loves to play and hear music, to read or ride. To sing, dance, dress-up like a true Lady, something she hopes to become one day soon. Recently, she has had her first blood and she blushed a hundred times that evening as Allayne explained the ways of the adult world to her. She is a delightful and bright person to know but with Mother’s help, she is becoming wise to the ways of the world; she knows, for instance, that it is Women and not the Men that have true power. She knows that she has a gift in her beauty and that, if used correctly, that gift wields greater power than any sword.

For now, however, her first instinct is still to be charming and gay; with a light and joyous temperament and an infectious propensity to submit to lively giggles when amused- which is often. Although fast becoming an object of baser desires for men she meets, Birgitte remains largely ignorant of this and tends to take people at face value, so trusting is her nature.

Birgitte can become sad when reminded of the total lack of contact her own family on Sisterton have made since her departure as a babe-in-arms, but her resolve is that she will return to the island one day with a mightly and Lordly husband in tow and show them all what they’d missed. She had a family. House Templeton were her family now.
Birgitte is aware that Ser Jon hopes to earn enough trust from Lord Arryn that House Templeton might be raised to Lordship and this idea pleases her greatly. She has always been treated as kin to the Templetons and any successes they feel she would gladly share in. Anything to please her dear, dear mother…

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - [Openly Recruiting]

House Arryn

Seat: The Eyrie
The Vale


Lady Jeyne Arryn - Maiden of the Vale

The younger half-sister of the late Queen, Aemma Targaryen, Jeyne Arryn became Warden of the East upon the death of her Lord Father, Rodrik Arryn in 100AC, she was five years old. Her mother, Wilma Royce (younger sister to Rhea Targaryen, Prince Daemon's estranged first wife), had married Rodrik in the hope she might be able to provide the aging Lord of the Vale a male heir. Aemma was Queen and destined to diee in childbirth and her daughter Rhaenyra (b. 97AC) would be heir to the Seven Kingdoms. When Jeyne was born late in 95AC, it was hoped there was plentiful time for a younger brother who might become heir to the Eyrie but despite Wilma being young and hale (just fourteen when Jeyne was born) she suddenly sickened in 98AC and passed away. Jeyne was two years old.

So it came to pass that she came to inherit the ancestral seat whilst scarce more than a babe herself. Despite this, she had sound advisors left behind by her late father and grew swiftly into her office. Patient, wise beyond her years and savvy, the Vale prospered and she was well loved. She got along well with young Princess Rhaenyra whenever occasion brought them together, just a year and a half separated the girls in age and their shared Arryn blood meant Jeyne felt a responsibility for the Princess whilst Rhaenyra seemed to listen to Jeyne a deal more than any of the females at court, including Viserys' new queen, Alicent Hightower.

By the time her Aunt Rhea died in 115AC, advisors (now mere subjects) were keen to press upon Jeyne the idea of marriage. She was approaching her twenty-third nameday and had earned the monicker 'The Maiden of the Vale', she understood well enough that producing an heir (preferably male, though Jeyne expressed no opinion on this) was part and parcel of her duty to her office and to her name. The problem was that she simply didn't like men. Most of her court were men and she found those who weren't greybeards or sots were dullards so armed in chivalry and courtesy that she ofttimes had to bite her lip sharply to stay awake through some of their dreary monologues.

She could certainly feel pleasure of the flesh but found that the soft, porcelain caresses of Aya, a Lysene girl brought to foster at the Eyrie as a refugee from Daemon's infernal war on the Stepstones, were preferable to the notion of a man's rough, calloused hands pawing at her bare skin. Jeyne had longed for some female company in that high, lonely Citadel and would eventually raise her to the role of her personal stewardess. Aya had come to the Eyrie aged six (Jeyne was ten years her senior) and by age fourteen Lady Arryn had taken the girl into her bed. The 'search' for a husband, it seemed, was set to continue.

What she hadn't banked upon, however, was Daemon Targaryen's temerity in requesting poor Rhea's former home of Runestone for his personal seat. Here was a man who married too young and then cruelly shunned her Aunt for the rest of the marriage (and Rhea's life). He had even famously declared the Vale bored him and made scandalous accusations about the relationship her subjects had with their sheep! It gave her a real satisfaction to reject his claim and honour Rhea's nephew (her cousin) as the new Lord Royce. Daemon's reaction was predictable. He attacked and Jeyne had to call the banners to weedle him out and restore the peace. In honour of the brave men that gave their lives (including the Knight of Ninestars- a half-crippled, but brave man) Jeyne banished Daemon from the Vale forever. It was disappointing that Viserys had elected not to bestir himself to intervene in the conflict.

It has been disappointing to see how Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent have developed such a cold enmity over the years, but Rhaenyra is Jeyne's blood- half an Arryn herself- and should any presume to supplant the Princess and steal her rightful Crown, there is little doubt where her loyalties lie. The only sticking point being that Rhaenyra has wed that infernal uncle of hers, Daemon. Now, in 129AC, Jeyne is in her thirty fourth year and winter is coming. Snows already cover the slopes of the Giant's Lance as far down as Stone (one of the Eyrie's wayhouses along the treacherous approach).



History:
The Arryns can trace their history right back to the purest Andal stock. Ever since Ser Artys Arryn, the Falcon knight became the first Arryn King to rule over Mountain and Vale have the Arryns held sway over the Eastern lands of Westeros. From the day Ser Artys defeated King Robar II at the battle of the Seven Stars, the household has held a storied place in the history of the Seven Kingdoms.

When Aegon the Conqueror came, the Arryns became Wardens of the East and have staunchly stood beside the Iron Throne ever after. As well as defending Westeros from enemies across the Narrow Sea, House Arryn has kept tight controls over the savage Mountain Clans that plague the mountains of mist.

More recently, House Arryn was honoured with the distinction of being allowed marriage into the Targaryen bloodline; Lord Rodrick Arryn offered the hand of Princess Daella Targaryen and their daughter, Lady Aemma Arryn was wed to the lately passed King Viserys I. Lady Aemma is long dead now but was mother to the Princess Rhaenyra, making Viserys' preferred heiress half Arryn herself.

Rhaenyra's newest husband, however, her rash uncle Daemon is no friend in the Vale. His first wife Rhea died in 115AC and when he petitioned that he should inherit Rhea's ancestral home, Runestone. Not only did the current Lady Arryn forbid this, she expelled Daemon from the Vale altogether!

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - Interest Check/Placeholder

Can I be Dalton Greyjoy?

@Not Fishing

I can't see that being a problem friend. Nobody has staked a claim to play the Ironborn so far as I can see :)

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - Interest Check/Placeholder

Okay friends, for good or ill, the RP is up. https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/166182-the-dance-of-dragons-asoi-f-got-openly-recruiting/ic#post-4410276

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - [Openly Recruiting]

Prologue

JEYNE

As High As Honour read the engraving in the gold filigree'd falcon shield Ser Steffon Redfort had presented her in his latest bid to secure Lady Jeyne Arryn's hand in marriage. The maiden of the vale smiled wanly at the gesture and set the shield to one side to regard Ser Steffon with her typical courtesy.

"Truly, Ser Steffon, this is the work of a master-craftsman. I shall set it on the wall behind my seat in the High Hall."
"You honour me, my Lady, I was rather hoping..." Redfort began.
"You were, no doubt, hoping I'd finally accept your marriage proposal after a decade of procrastination... weren't you? Her mouth curled ever so delicately in one corner to hint at the mischief in her tone.
"My Lady, I..." the Knight blustered in surprise at Lady Jeyne's brusque riposte. He evidently was used to these advances being more like a game of cyvasse but Jeyne was in ebullient mood and decided to speak plainly so that her position was clear this time.
"Ser Steffon, you have spent ten years courting this notion that I should take you for my Lord and husband. I approach my thirty-fourth nameday before the end of the year and whilst ‘maiden of the vale’ I may be, mayhaps it’s time to be blunt…”

“My lady I only…”
“I thank you for your shield. Though the truth of it is, it’s all I expect of you, Ser.” She raised an eyebrow but he still looked befuddled and confused, he was in his fifties and widowed these past fifteen years. His small eyes withdrawn beneath huge, wiry iron-grey brows, he wore a dull chainmail jerkin and his tunic was emblazoned by the bright scarlet fort of his House. ‘As Strong as Stone’ went the Redfort words; a near complete bastardisation of the Arryn legend. “House Redfort is indeed Strong as Stone and I am grateful that your family has been our shield for centuries. I would not have you here when you do me such great service at Redfort…” Her tone was as warm as she could feign but any fool could sense his freshly-stung pride. Why does he keep coming back to hear the same sorry offer declined? She mused anew.

Ser Steffon wrung his great ham-like hands and chewed upon the inside of his cheek. For a seasoned commander on the battlefield, Jeyne mused for the dozenth time, he was appallingly nervous in her presence.

“As you will, m, my Lady… though I am heartily disappointed, I, I will continue in your noble service for the love I bear you and in honour of the bond between our great houses…”

Her ‘advisors’ would doubtless speak of the folly in this once more. The greybeards and staff that populated the huge mountain stronghold were largely her late father’s retainers and all, she knew, would be keen to remind her of her duty to marry and produce an heir. ‘Not him, though’. Thought Jeyne. In truth, she’d thought ‘not him’ of every noble Knight, honourable Lord or Eastern Prince that had stood before her in proposal over the past two decades. She’d liked plenty of them; Hugo Hardying was charming and had a trustworthy face; Darryn Upcliff was quick-witted and told fascinating tales and Prince Quorath of Lorath had wealth beyond measure, despite his ridiculous title. They’d all come and gone empty handed from her courtroom no doubt cursing her maidenhood throughout half the Vale. They’d been nice, but they’d been men. Came the unspoken truth of it unbidden to her forethoughts.

She could no more wed a woman than she could wed an aurochs, though and there were times in which Jeyne panicked that her womb would petrify from abandon at last and she would be the cause of her lineage shrivelling up once and for all. No doubt her ‘advisors’ feared as much these past twenty years.

After Ser Steffon had eaten and she had bid him a cool and courteous farewell once more, she had his shield hung in one of the guest chambers somewhere in the Maiden’s Tower (fittingly) and made her way to her solar.
Aya sat in her accustomed position in the windowseat of the room halfway up the Moon Tower, from there one could see far out across the mountains and over the Fingers to the Narrow Sea. On a clear day, one fancied it was even possible to make out the grey line of the Essos shoreline upon the horizon. Not today. The skies were the same heavy white/grey they had been all week and fat flakes of snow cascaded past the window where Aya reclined languidly.

“So when’s the wedding m’lady?” the Lyseni purred mischievously as Jeyne had already guessed she would. The frustrations of House Arryn’s increasingly fragile legacy were ever a source of mirth for the former whore-turned-handmaid. Jeyne saw the glitter of it in Aya’s cat-like eyes.
“Tomorrow!” She declared as boldly as she could without laughing. “But it’s ill-news for you my girl! He hates Lysenese and you’re to be thrown through the Moon Door as part of the ceremony. An offering to the Seven!” She spoke matter-of-factly but her lips curled at the edges and Aya just replied expressionlessly, “Oh! Well you must thank your Lord Husband for me because I’ve been meaning to take more of the mountain air of late…” Her lithe light-brown arms encircled Jeyne’s waist as she smirked.

“You can tell him yourself!” Jeyne rolled her eyes in pretend apathy though she already felt her heart beginning to race. “He awaits me, naked, in my bedchambers!” She breathed airily.
“Naked and abed and the wedding not ‘til the ‘morrow?” Aya planted a soft kiss on Jeyne’s neck. “M’lady, you shock me…” Subsequent kisses trailed up Jeyne’s jawline, porcelain cheeks until finally, without another breath they kissed, urgently, desperately.

Afterwards, Jeyne was writing at her lacquered brown-enamel varnished bureau, the Arryn Falcon embossed in sky-blue upon the front. She was relieved to hear word when Ser Redfort reached Stone, meaning the most treacherous legs of his descent were passed and, the Seven be good, the danger over. She didn’t want him for husband but she still valued him and hoped he’d live a long life free of toppling down a snowswept mountain.

The knock at the door ended her reverie. It was Maester Cowley, a handsome man of an age with Jeyne, with a short red beard patched with grey in each corner of his chin. His older brother served as kennelmaster at Ninestars for House Templeton but the maester had aimed higher and earned an apprenticeship at the Citadel despite being lowborn. He was honest and seemed utterly without agenda and though he’d been in her service only four years now, she trusted him and always heeded his counsel.

“A Raven m’lady” He still had the accent that betrayed his less prestigious heritage.
“Maester Cowley, please tell me it’s not a white one so I can hope to feel the sun's glow again before Spring!” She smiled. “I’m past my patience with these blasted snows already.”
“Would that it were so m’Lady. These tidings are from King’s Landing.” His demeanour was dark and his usual blithe warmth had frozen cold as the Giant’s Lance.

She stopped writing and bid him sit. “Tell me”
He handed her the scroll…

King Viserys of House Targaryen, the first of his name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm, is dead.
His Grace passed peaceably abed with his good wife, Queen Alicent and his first trueborn son at his side. In accordance with the decree of the Great Council of 101AC and the laws of Gods and Men, his crown has passed to Crown Prince Aegon Targaryen, the Second of his name, Rightful King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm.
Crowned in the Dragonpit, annointed in the oils of the Seven alongside his good wife Queen Helaena. May their reign be long and peaceful.

Grandmaester Orwyle

It was only when Jeyne dropped the parchment to the desk in disgust that she noted the seal; the three-headed dragon of Targaryen to be sure but gilded in gold rather than red. Aegon clearly seeing himself as special or significant in some measure.

“Dark wings, dark words…” she muttered.
“Princess Rhaenyra…” Cowley began.
“Princess Rhaenyra is heavy with child and confined upon Dragonstone as Aegon and his mother well know!” Jeyne spat. “He’s stolen her birthright before her father’s corpse is cold I’ll warrant!” Despite herself, her opinion of the message behind the letter was clear; she and Princess Rhaenyra were lifelong friends, cousins and she could recall how they’d played together as children in King’s Landing, her already Lady Arryn and how jealous the Princess had been that Jeyne had a castle to herself.

“One day I’m going to be Queen of all the Seven Kingdoms and you’ll have to call me ‘Your Grace’ and curtsey and bake me lemoncakes!” At that moment, Syrax- her dragon- had leaned over her shoulder and eaten the lemoncake clean from the Princess’ hand! They’d both collapsed in fits of giggles…

“Would you I write to Dragonstone?” Cowley probed uncertainly.
“No.” Jeyne hadn’t kept the peace so long (save that business at Runestone) by making quick decisions of the heart. “This outrage doesn’t yet concern us.” She rose, pacing slowly as though to add patience to her deliberation; the maester’s eyes never left her. “Rhaenyra is my friend and she knows that, yet she also knows my displeasure at her latest marriage. Aegon and Queen… Queen mother now, Alicent will need support lest Syrax, Caraxes and the rest descend upon them and end this nonsense swiftly.” She nodded, as though making her mind up. “No. We will not bestir ourselves. Not yet. Winter is almost here and we must needs gather the last of the harvests. If they want our aid, let them come. Let them ask!”

Maester Cowley just smiled. “The Ravens will be grateful of the rest m’Lady!” He raised his eyebrows jovially.
“Before you were Maester…” Jeyne reflected “I had a Falcon. Swiftwing I named him. The fastest creature the Seven Kingdoms e’er saw.” She resumed her seat. “I had him trained to deliver all my letters, quicker than any raven could dream.”

Cowley seemed surprised, he thought he knew everything about his Lady mistress by now. “I hadn’t heard, m’Lady. Pray, what became of Swiftwing?” He asked with a genuine enough interest.

“I sent him to Dragonstone upon the news of Rhaenyra and Daemon’s marriage” she reflected sadly. “I expressed my dismay at the union and cautioned her to note the tale of poor Rhea; Daemon’s first wife, sister to my Late Lady mother. He never came back.” She fed Grandmaester Orwyle’s parchment to the flames warming the solar. Maester Cowley didn’t react.
“Will that be all m’Lady?”
“For now, maester. That will be all for now.”

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - Interest Check/Placeholder

@EricRP hello my good sir. Is perhaps Aegon the elder upon the beautiful Dragon Sunfyre available to play? If not I will likely play. Another rider for his side of the targaryens

@agentmanatee

Aegon II is available good fellow! In that case, I may well play Daemon as he's a major player. I'll either begin an intro post or post another CS tomorrow.

Hopefully will gather some momentum this next week 👍

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - Interest Check/Placeholder

<Snipped quote by EricRP>

She's one of the few main characters in the dance I've yet to play so I'm quite up for, but I'm happy to pick another if you want her.

Would I be able to play her son alongside her as well? I like to have at least a couple of PoVs for Game of Thrones rps, fits the style of the book.

@Ezekiel

Yep, absolutely. Add whichever members you want to your sheet and myself or others will pick up the spares. 👍

The Dance of Dragons - (ASoI&F) (GoT) - Interest Check/Placeholder

Awesome sauce!

Is the Realm's Delight herself, and potentially Jacaerys free to play?

Love a bit of dragon dancing.

@Ezekiel

I had conceded that I'd probably end up playing Rhaenyra but if you want her, she's yours friend! If that's the case I might play Aegon II unless others are keen on the role.