Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, The Lord of the Tides, and the Master of Driftmark. Perhaps the greatest lord that his house has ever seen. He was named for the first Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and he has more than lived up to his storied namesake. Corlys was a restless and ambitious man, even as a youth, and one who was deeply in love with the sea. No Westerosi alive has sailed more widely than the Sea Snake, so named for his famed ship in which he conducted his nine great expeditions to the East. Corlys saw and experienced much, he went where no Westerosi had gone before, and his journeys became the stuff of legend. His voyages also made him magnificently wealthy, and his treasures allowed him to build the splendid castle of High Tide and raise his family into the richest in the Seven Kingdoms, after he became the Lord of the House following the death of his grandfather. Under his rulership, Driftmark's ports saw even more custom than King's Landing at times, and Velaryon fleet became the most formidable naval force in the kingdoms.
Corlys married a dragon princess, the beautiful and brave dragonrider Rhaenys, who was the only child of the Old King Jahaerys' son and heir, Prince Aemon. Corlys was the Old King's Master of Ships, as the most able admiral that Westeros had, and was beloved at court for his charming manner, good looks, and chivalry. His fame and riches made him a favorite of the smallfolk as well. He split his time between High Tide and the Red Keep. This popularity coupled with his virility made Corlys a promiscuous man as the tales would have it, and it is said that he sired many dragonseeds on his home island. His ambition was even stronger than his rumored lust however, as Corlys hoped to be the King Consort to a Queen Rhaenys, but his ambitions were curtailed when the Old King named his second son, Prince Baelon as heir. Corlys and Rhaenys would have two children, Laena and Laenor, both dragon riders, and Corlys' dream of being the power behind the Iron Throne did not cease.
Prince Baelon died before ascending the throne and in the Great Council of 101 at Harrenhal, Corlys argued strenuously for Laenor's claim to the Iron Throne. Corlys had an impeccable reputation, was famed throughout Westeros, and had a dizzying amount of money. He charmed, bribed, and cajoled many a lord to lobby their votes, and it is rumored that he even readied the massive Velaryon fleet in preparation to press Laenor's claim by force if the vote did not go his way. But in the end, Prince Viserys, Baelon's son, was named Prince of Dragonstone and Corlys peacefully conceded and swore fealty to King Viserys when he ascended the throne.
His loyalty to the new king soured however, after the death of Queen Aemma Arryn. Corlys wished for his daughter Laena to become Viserys' Queen. She was young, but she had Targaryen blood on both sides of her bloodline, and was a dragonrider. Many thought her to be the perfect consort for the King. But Corlys' family was spurned once more when Viserys chose Alicent Hightower as his bride. Corlys had already had something of a rivalry with House Hightower as the two families were rivals in wealth, trade, influence, and naval power. But Viserys' betrothal began Corlys' personal rivalry with the Hand of the King, Ser Otto Hightower, the father of the girl who supplanted his own daughter. This rivalry and more he shared with Prince Daemon Targaryen, one of his closest friends. Both were no friends of the Hightowers, and both were angered by the marriage. Corlys and his family shunned the wedding and instead he planned the invasion of the Stepstones with his friend Daemon, in order to break the Triarchy's hold on the Stepstones and by extension the Narrow Sea, which had disrupted trade and travel between Westeros and Essos and cut into Corlys' profits with their high tolls and piracy.
Corlys raised his levies and assembled the most powerful fleet in Westeros while Daemon called sellswords, cutthroats, adventurers, and second sons to their cause. Daemon would lead their ground forces while Corlys would command their ships. They invaded the Stepstones and crushed them beneath their heel in a brutal and vicious campaign that saw all but two of the islands fall to their control. It was Corlys himself who crowned Daemon and named him King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea. Corlys persuaded the Iron Throne to financially support the small kingdom as a trade partner and buffer state against the Triarchy, and Corlys sailed home with even more plundered riches, captured ships, and martial glory. From then on he has been a fierce enemy of the Triarchy, but gained the favor of Braavos, Pentos, and even Lorath for checking the power of the Three Daughters.
A few years later when Princess Rhaenyra, whom Corlys believed would one day be Queen, was able to be betrothed, the Sea Snake was quick to offer the hand of his son and heir, Laenor. Corlys was well aware that Laenor was fonder of the company of men, but Corlys was determined to not have his family be slighted again and was confident he could coerce Laenor into putting an heir into Rhaenyra at least. Corlys got his wish and the two were wed, but when the babe came out brown of hair and pug-nosed, rumors abounded. The official stance was that the boy, and his siblings, simply took after their Arryn grandsires, but the whispers were that the boys were sons of Ser Harwin Strong. Corlys was fond of the boys and loved them like grandsons, but was still incensed that his son had been cuckolded and that his bloodline had been usurped. These private frustrations are what led to his siring of several bastards, two of which he sent away to the town of Hull to evade his jealous wife, as the rumors would have it.
When his old friend Daemon came to visit and got it in his head to marry Laena, Corlys was pleased. The Rogue Prince made a far better suitor than the vagabond Braavosi who had been betrothed to his daughter for nearly a decade, a fool who had squandered his family fortune and power. Corlys delayed the wedding and schemed with Daemon, who mocked the poor fool until the man called for a duel, which he lost. Laena and Daemon were wedded soon after and from their union were begat two more grandchildren, Baela and Rhaena, whom Corlys was immeasurably pleased with.
The following years saw sorrow for Corlys and his family however. Laena, the apple of his eye and favored child, succumbed to a fever after giving birth to a deformed third child. Daemon and Corlys were united in grief, but Corlys' would be even deeper for within a few months, Laenor was stabbed to death by his lover Ser Qarl Correy. Their friendship would never be quite the same after that, for while Corlys could not be sure, he suspected that Daemon had a hand in Laenor's death, as he was soon wedded to Princess Rhaenyra. Corlys' feelings towards his ally and friend have remained torn to this day, as many would suggest. Later that year, Lord Lyonel Strong and his son Ser Harwin would be killed in a fire. Various culprits have been suggested, but some whisper that it was Corlys himself who set the flames, in a vengeful rage for the cuckolding of his now dead son.
The deaths of both of his children led to a severe depression and illness, all of which caused a succession crisis in House Velaryon. By law, it would be his legal grandson Prince Jacaerys who would inherit. But as the boy was already in line to inherit the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra pressured Corlys to name Lucerys as the Heir of Driftmark. His wife insisted that he name his granddaughter Rhaena as heir. And worst of all, his nephew Vaemond insisted that he should be named heir, calling all of Laenor's sons bastards begat by Ser Harwin. His one time daughter-in-law was furious and Daemon killed his nephew, further driving a rift between the two old friends. Corlys may have been ambitious and even ruthless, but it was all for his family, and such in-fighting wore heavily on him. Corlys was enraged when King Viserys meted out severe punishments to his niece Visenya and several of his other nephews and grandnephews. The move tore a rift in House Velaryon and Corlys tried to make amends by taking his relatives back home, but many spurned Driftmark and the blacks and threw in with Queen Alicent and the Greens. Corlys, already in his seventh decade, grew even more ill. He never forgave Viserys and as soon as he recovered, sailed personally to King's Landing in order to resign and never saw King Viserys again, spurning King's Landing entirely and devoting his time entirely to Driftmark and Dragonstone.
Corlys threw in completely with Princess Rhaenyra and the Blacks, and knowing that Viserys was ill and frail and not long for the world, prepared for blood to be spilled. He had never trusted the Hightowers and though Rhaenyra was still the Princess of Dragonstone, Corlys did not put it past the Greens to crown Aegon as King. He hoped it would not come to it, but the old soldier would be damned if he was caught unprepared. As such, for the past few years, the already massive Velaryon fleet had been constructing even more ships while his army recruited and drilled, ostensibly in case of the Triarchy once more threatening Westerosi sovereignty, but actually preparing for war should the Greens commit their coup. He has been continually currying favor with the other lords of Westeros and even seeking allies in the east, should the worst happen. Corlys had already had his royal ambitions blocked several times, he would not allow it again.
Currently, Corlys and his wife and granddaughters are at court in Dragonstone awaiting the birth of Princess Rhaenyra's newest child, while his relations at home in Driftmark keep an eye on developments for him.
Chev,
Mixtape Ghost N
