The year 177 AC was shaped by uncertainty in House Plumm after Lord Ossifer’s death, Prince Daeron’s northern progress to White Harbor, the failed return of a claimant to Starfall, and King Aegon’s increasing public favor toward Lady Bethany Bracken and her circle. White Harbor hosted royal guests, a great wedding, a tourney, a melee, and the Night’s Watch, while Dorne heard and dismissed the claim of Lyonel Dayne. In King’s Landing, public sport, appointments, deaths, and open court revealed the political weight of Bracken favor, the King’s quarrels with Blackwood and Lannister, and the cost of accusations carried into the realm’s sight.
Day 15: Lady Beranda Sarsfield was married at Brownhollow, though not to Ser Osney Brune as expected. Ser Lothar Brune, the Knight of Brownhollow, claimed the match for himself before his household, displacing his son Osney in public and changing the settlement of Lady Beranda’s scandal.
Day 22: After Lord Ossifer Plumm died following his wedding to Princess Elaena Targaryen, Ser Alfryn Plumm claimed the lordship. King Aegon delayed judgment until Princess Elaena’s possible pregnancy could be known, leaving the Plumm succession unsettled. Prince Daeron and Prince Aemon were both said to have opposed the public humiliation of Princess Elaena and the handling of the succession, sharpening tensions within the royal household before the northern voyage.
Day 28: Prince Daeron Targaryen sailed from King’s Landing for White Harbor with Prince Aemon, Princess Daena, and a large courtly company. King Aegon did not attend his son’s departure, while Princess Daena joined the voyage despite reports that she had been forbidden to go.
Day 12: Prince Daeron’s fleet reached Gulltown and was received by House Grafton. The stop marked the royal party’s passage through the Vale on the way to White Harbor.
Day 15: At Breakwater Castle in Sisterton, Prince Daeron sat with Lord Gelion Sunderland and Lord Borrell to hear judgment on the pirates captured after the attack on the Royal Spear. Brandt of Sisterton and the worst of the sellsails were offered the Wall instead of the rope, while Cobbin, a local fisherman said to have been forced into service, was spared hanging but branded for bearing arms with pirates.
Day 16: Prince Daeron’s company arrived at White Harbor for the marriage of Ser Wyman Manderly and Dancy Royce. Lord Borian Manderly received the royal party, the Royces of Runestone, and many northern and southron guests.
Day 23: Lord Cregan Stark arrived at White Harbor with his sons and a large northern retinue. His meeting with Prince Daeron and Prince Aemon became one of the principal political moments of the northern progress.
Day 25: Ser Wyman Manderly and Dancy Royce were wed at White Harbor. The tourney that followed was won by Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who defeated Ser Aidan Dayne in the final; Ser Aidan received second prize.
Day 26: White Harbor’s great melee was won by the northern company. Ser Boren Manderly, Ser Halys Manderly, and Ser Yohn Mooton were declared champions, while Jonnel Stark suffered a grave eye wound during the fighting.
Day 30: Three galleys of the Night’s Watch came to White Harbor under Ser Adron Mooton, First Ranger. Their visit sought supplies, men, and continued lordly support for the Wall.
Day 3: Princess Daena held a horse race through White Harbor. Lady Kera Manderly won, with Princess Daena second, bringing House Manderly further notice before the assembled northern and royal company.
Day 18: Lord Borian Manderly hosted a hunt and farewell feast before the royal company departed White Harbor. Talk of a Stark-Targaryen marriage pact followed private discussions between Lord Cregan Stark and Prince Daeron, while Lady Kera Manderly, winner of Princess Daena’s race, entered the princess’s service as a lady-in-waiting. Ser Adron Mooton, First Ranger of the Night’s Watch, publicly praised Prince Daeron but warned that promises made to the Watch should not be forgotten in the south.
Day 19: The White Harbor gathering broke apart as the Night’s Watch departed with supplies and new recruits, and Prince Daeron’s company sailed south aboard the Prince Daemon and its escort. Ser Derren Corbray was said to be among those taking the black after a public quarrel in White Harbor between Ser Dermett Corbray and Ser Artos Royce, while the Royal Spear under Ser Orbert Farman sailed among the royal ships.
Day 25: The royal fleet was struck by a severe storm in the Narrow Sea. The Royal Spear was badly damaged and driven from the rest of the fleet toward Braavos.
Day 13: The Royal Spear reached Braavos in need of repair. Ser Orbert Farman’s company secured aid enough to make the ship seaworthy and continue home.
Day 21: The Royal Spear returned to King’s Landing with Ser Orbert Farman, Ser Omrys Baratheon, Ser Otho Royce, Ser Bryar Mooton, and others who had been feared lost. The ship’s repairs in Braavos had cost heavily and were secured through private loans, with Lady Cindria Lannister remaining in Braavos after vouching for part of the debt; her absence stirred talk that the Braavosi had kept a hostage rather than merely a guest.
Day 30: Bracken and Blackwood rivalry continued in the King’s absence through public hunt, feast, and archery. Lord Kennoth Bracken hosted the Kingswood hunt, while Lady Melissa Blackwood won notice with her bow.
Day 30: Rumor hardened at court that Princess Daena Targaryen was again with child. Her withdrawal after the White Harbor progress, and the absence of her visits to Missy Blackwood after the latter’s injury, made the matter difficult to keep from public notice.
Day 3: Lord Kermit Tully held a nameday tourney at Riverrun, drawing King Aegon and the royal progress to the Riverlands. Lady Bethany Bracken sat publicly at the King’s right hand, and Aegon named Ser Torrence Toyne of the Kingsguard as her sworn shield for the progress while Missy Blackwood was recalled from King’s Landing. House Blackwood sent only a token delegation and did not ride in the tilts, a visible sign of the King’s shifting favor.
Day 14: A youth calling himself Lyonel Dayne arrived at Planky Town aboard a Hightower galley, claiming to be the long-lost son of Lady Alia Dayne and Ser Wallace Chester. His claim was carried to Sunspear for Prince Maron’s judgment.
Day 4: Lady Alia Dayne appeared before Prince Maron Martell’s court and denied the claim of the youth calling himself Lyonel Dayne. She swore that her son by Ser Wallace Chester had died in the cradle, and when Prince Maron challenged her to swear the same before the Seven, she agreed at once. The youth then broke down and withdrew his claim; Maron declared him a misled pawn rather than a willful deceiver, placed him and Ser Malwyn Hightower under Martell protection until they left Dorne, and ended the matter without altering the succession of House Dayne.
Day 1: King Aegon returned from the Riverlands to a feast hosted by Lord Hand Kennoth Bracken. The celebration marked the King’s homecoming and Lady Bethany Bracken’s public place as royal mistress, while the King’s anger over Princess Daena’s second pregnancy and the court’s many recent births remained close to the surface.
Day 20: At a public trial of horsemanship in the Red Keep stables, Ser Joffrey Caswell mastered the sorrel courser that had thrown many other knights. He claimed the horse, named Skyfire, as his prize.
Day 2: Queen Naerys, Prince Daeron, Prince Baelor, and Prince Aemon attended games at Hayford. Ser Quentyn Ball dominated the field, defeated Ser Joffrey Caswell after three hard passes, and crowned Lady Elyse Caswell Queen of Love and Beauty. Young Robyn Hayford won notice by answering Ser Quentyn’s challenge for true knights, and Prince Daeron later knighted him after Ser Quentyn denied him spurs.
Day 2: Princess Elaena Targaryen gave birth to the posthumous son of Lord Ossifer Plumm, a boy she named Viserys. His birth settled the question of the Plumm succession in favor of the infant lord and frustrated those who had looked to claim the seat after Ossifer’s death.
Day 20: Ser Yohnen Darklyn resigned from the Crackclaw Wardenry and entered Lady Pennei Massey’s service as captain of Stonedance’s guard. The appointment publicly tied his future to service of House Massey.
Day 25: The Corbray child born at court was blessed at the Royal Sept and named Addam. Ser Dermett Corbray afterward prepared to return to Crackclaw Point and raised Ser Durance Darklyn to Deputy Warden.
Day 25: King Aegon presided over lists held for the infant Lord Plumm. Ser Quentyn Ball won the contest by defeating Lord Aimery Fell, Lord Farin Prester was revealed as the mystery knight called the Last Brother and received royal favor to join the Band of the Dragon, and the King appointed Ser Morgil Hastwyck captain of that same company while crowning Lady Bethany Bracken Queen of Love and Beauty before the field.
Day 25: In Sunspear, the orphaned daughters of Ser Garwin Toland and Ivalla Manwoody were placed in the household of Lady Iona Toland and Ser Lyron Allyrion at Godsgrace.
Day 27: Lord Mychel Piper of Pinkmaiden died. His son Ardros succeeded him, while attention turned toward Lady Flora Piper’s future and the inheritance of Pinkmaiden.
Day 2: Lady Allyria Dayne gave birth in Sunspear to a son, Alegros, after fever and difficult labor.
Day 2: King Aegon publicly humiliated Balian Blackwood in the Red Keep godswood, allowing Tall Tom to taunt him over his dead son and ordering him to remain in Lady Halanna Bracken’s company. The same gathering also sharpened the King’s quarrel with House Lannister, as Tall Tom’s mockery of Ser Mathin Lannister and Ser Jonn Lannister spread through court and tavern with the King’s evident amusement.
Day 3: Lord Mychel Piper’s kin gathered at the Royal Sept in King’s Landing for his memorial. The rites confirmed his death before the court and renewed attention on Pinkmaiden’s succession.
Day 10: Ser Omrys Baratheon, Ser Jon Roxton, and Ser Roland Hunter judged a tavern brawl between goldcloaks and bailiffs in the Red Keep’s western outer yard. The case exposed tensions between the City Watch and the Master of Laws’s bailiffs, as well as drunkenness and dereliction among some watchmen. The guilty men were fined wages, ordered to swear to serve with honor, and sentenced to spend a week quartered together in the royal kennels to mend relations.
Day 11: Septa Andria Buckler died suddenly in King’s Landing, bringing Lord Kennald Buckler and Lady Lynesse to the city for her burial.
Day 20: The feud between House Buckler and House Fell erupted at the Three Hills Inn when Lord Aimery Fell and Lord Kennald Buckler came face to face. The confrontation ended in bloodshed and carried their Crownlands quarrel openly into King’s Landing.
Day 13: Lord Kennoth and Lady Halanna Bracken hosted the court for the showing of helms before Lady Bethany Bracken’s nameday tourney. The pageant publicly displayed the wealth of the Hand’s household and the King’s favor toward Lady Bethany.
Day 14: Lady Bethany Bracken’s nameday tourney opened with squires riding at rings, won by Raylan Bracken, and a contest of verse and pageantry won by Ser Aidan Dayne. Balian Blackwood was barred from the joust after his helm was stolen, a public slight that sharpened the Bracken-Blackwood edge of the day. Ser Morgil Hastwyck won the joust by defeating Ser Aidan in the final, received ten thousand dragons, and crowned Lady Bethany Queen of Love and Beauty; Ser Aidan received five thousand dragons as runner-up. Ser Clyve Bracken’s victories over Ser Edrick Buckler, Lord Aimery Fell, and Ser Aidan before his defeat by Ser Morgil greatly raised his reputation at court.
Day 15: Lady Bethany Bracken’s nameday contests concluded with archery and melee. Ser Orson Baratheon won the archery contest by defeating Ser Omrys Baratheon in the final round, receiving three thousand dragons to Ser Omrys’s one thousand. Ser Aidan Dayne then won the melee by defeating Balian Blackwood in the final after both men dismounted to settle the contest on foot; Ser Aidan received five thousand dragons, while Balian received two thousand for second place, to Lord Kennoth Bracken’s visible displeasure.
Day 16: Balian Blackwood and Ser Roland Hunter were both said to be unwell after the nameday festivities. Their illnesses became the subject of quiet suspicion in the aftermath of the melee. Around the same time, Ser Jon Roxton returned with officers of the City Watch and Kingswood Company after a long search for the remains of Ser Aleyn Florent, though Ser Kenric Darry of the Kingsguard could not identify the scorched bones as those of his sworn brother.
Day 22: King Aegon held open court in the throne room, confirming offices and ordering reviews of fleet, watch, household, and account matters. Queen Naerys then publicly asked to be tried for treason by adultery, declaring that the accusation against her touched her children’s blood, Prince Daeron’s succession, and the peace of the realm. Ser Omrys Baratheon and Lord Kennoth Bracken identified Ser Morgil Hastwyck as the source of the words, and the Queen demanded trial by combat with Prince Aemon as her champion. The High Septon delayed the trial for seven days, turning court business into a royal household crisis.
Day 29: Before Baelor’s unfinished sept, Prince Aemon Targaryen fights Ser Morgil Hastwyck in trial by combat for Queen Naerys’s honor. After offering mercy if Morgil will yield and withdraw his accusations, Aemon kills him with Dark Sister, and the crowd receives the result as judgment in the Queen’s favor. In the aftermath, Princess Daena’s labor begins on the royal platform, forcing the City Watch to clear a path back to the Red Keep.
Day 1: Princess Daena Targaryen dies in King’s Landing after a long and dangerous labor that began after Queen Naerys’s trial by combat. She first delivers a stillborn daughter, said to have been strangled by the birthing cord, and then succumbs to fever and blood loss before noon on the first day of the new month. Bells are rung for the princess and her dead child, ending the life of the much beloved Daena the Defiant.