Blood of Dragons

The war that King Aegon launched has ended before it began. The aftermath of the wildfire disaster in the kingswood -- hundreds dead, supplies destroyed -- was bad enough, but the news of the fleet preparing to attack Dorne having been shattered by a great storm that howled up through the narrow sea finally made King Aegon pause. With his chief vassals and captains urging him to call off the war, Aegon at last agreed to do so, allowing many of the lords and levies to go back to whence they came. The remaining forces, returning to the crownlands or the riverlands for the most part, would follow…

The kingswood is aflame. The king's host, that marched so bravely from the city weeks earlier, is shattered. His "dragons", the seven engines designed to spew the wildfire of the pyromancer's at the king's foes, have all gone up in green flames. The war is done before it began. Or so some claim, as ravens arrived in King's Landing with such messages... and others arrived with milder messages: yes, the dragons are destroyed; yes, the kingswood burns with lambent green fire that consumes all before it; but the king's host is not shattered, indeed, it marches on under brave King Aegon's banner.…

The pavilions have swelled in number around King's Landing, as banners from across much of the Seven Kingdoms have arrived led by proud knights and lords eager to fulfill their duty to King Aegon and more eager still for the glory of conquest in Dorne. The city is bursting to the seams with men-at-arms and sellswords, causing great trouble for the gold cloaks at times as wherever soldiers gather camp followers are sure to follow. The day soon approaches for the march on Dorne, it's widely rumored, and across the Blackwater the last of the king's wooden "dragons" even now nears completion under…

"Dark wings, dark words," some say, and though often enough the ravens that bear messages across the Seven Kingdoms bring glad tidings -- of weddings, of births, of tourneys, of victories -- from time to time that old saw proves to be true. So it was when a raven arrived at the rookery at Sunspear, the message tied to its leg opened and examined by the Old Palace's maester. What followed was a hasty relay, from the rookery to the chambers of the Prince of Dorne, followed by the captain of guards being called for, and household knights being sent out to find Prince Maron's councillors and…

Rumors, always rumors. The king's meetings with councillors, with high lords, with knights. Doings at the docks where royal galleys come and go, and Lord Corlys Velaryon visiting all of them lending credence to other rumors about the empty office of Master of Ships. Even a rumor that the king had several times visited the Guildhall of the Alchemists, where the pyromancers practice their arcane arts to control fire and make the substance called wildfire. And arguments, always arguments with Prince Daeron -- the tension between father and son had only grown in recent weeks. There were other…

The white ravens have flown from the Citadel, following the long debate of the Conclave. Summer has arrived, ending the long Spring of seven years. Why did the debate take so long? The proceedings of the Conclave are said to be closely-held secrets, yet rumors followed on those white wings, rumors that claimed that one faction of maesters believed it a false Summer, and others argued in fact that the signs suggested a very short Summer season. Regardless of the truth, in much of the realm the news of Summer's arrival was meant with some cheer, and expectations of festivities. Would the king…

A royal masquerade was an event rarely heard of in the reign of Baelor, blessed be his memory, and that of the late Viserys who had so wisely steered the realm. But the reign of Aegon, Fourth of His Name, is a different one... not least because it was not his queen and sister, Naerys, who organized the event. By all reports, it was Missy Blackwood, the king's latest mistress, who originated and arranged the event. Despite this, the involvement of the Red Keep's master of feasts showed that the king himself had given the event his approval, and rumors swirled that Lady Melissa and he would make…

The Kingswood is a hard beast to tame, a green vastness where all sorts of secrets and dangers nestle persistently. The Wardenry sees to maintaining order by dotting it with outposts where from troop spills into the wood to uproot poachers, thieves and other ruffians yet. Alerted by an outrider, a small column marched out on this day for such purposes, for apparently some wretched lot of peasants or the other had forgotten their place and were seen preying on supplies meant for the feeding of the King's men. No more than five or six troop were dispatched, as how could more be needed to deal…

The court of King Aegon, Fourth of His Name, carries on with relative calm despite the lesser and greater turmoils its ruler has been known to cause with his endeavors, amorous and otherwise. Prince Daeron has returned to Dragonstone for a time following the birth of his latest child, leaving the small council to manage the affairs of the realm while the king was distracted by his own personal affairs. In the meantime, the court has enjoyed itself, with small feasts and social gatherings, and a running rumor that some great tourney and contests will soon be called. Princess Daena, the king's…

King's Landing is the greatest port on the western side of the narrow sea, a destination for ships from throughout the Seven Kingdoms, from the Free Cities on the opposite side of the sea, and sometimes even from further afield. Yet some ships at sea are famous, at least among sailors, and when one puts in to the port the word spreads. Thus, when a lean galley with purple sails pulled into port, a few dismissed it as another Braavosi merchanter... but others knew it for what she was: the Widow Wind, a merchant ship, aye... and a smuggling ship, and sometimes (it was rumored) a pirate ship. Its…

While the realm has been calm since the ascension of Aegon, the Fourth of his Name, many would say that this has little enough to do with him: it has been his small council and the other office-holders of the Crown who have done the work. What has Aegon done, then? Enjoyed the fruits of wearing the crown, largely in commanding entertainments to please him, and all the while desporting with his mistress, the Lady Melissa Blackwood. The King's Hand, Lord Bracken, has proved capable enough at holding meetings and delegating to others, but there has been a slow creep of kinsmen (by blood and by…

A moon and more since the whispers first began, and now it has come to pass: Prince Daeron and Princess Mariah have taken ship to Dragonstone, moving their household there to take up the rule of the ancient Targaryen stronghold. Their leaving did not go unmarked by the court, nor by the kingslanders, as an event was made of their leaving the city. Queen Naerys herself was there to see her son off (as well as her infant daughter Daenerys, who she entrusted to the prince to foster on Dragonstone), carried down in a palanquin escorted by Prince Aemon the Dragonknight and others of the Kingsguard.…

As the weeks and moons have passed, the court of King's Landing was heartened as Queen Naerys recovered from her harrowing delivery. Having been much-missed, especially by those ladies and lords who had piously remembered her in their prayers to the Seven. Chief of all these were her brother Prince Aemon, and her son Prince Daeron, who with his wife Princess Mariah of Dorne had been often at her bedside to read from _The Seven-Pointed Star_ or to bring her grandsons to her so that they might cheer her. When at last Princess Naerys was strong enough to leave her chambers to walk in the fresh…

The aftermath of the dismissal of Lady Barba Bracken, sent back to Stone Hedge with her royal bastard Aegor Rivers, was not entirely what some expected. There were members of the court who expected King Aegon to explode with anger at them, especially the members of the small council. Others thought the king would instead unleash his outrage at the Prince of Dragonstone, Daeron, and mayhaps his own brother Prince Aemon the Dragonknight for having led the intervention. But that is not what happened. Oh, the king did sulk, and assuaged himself with his usual recourses: wine and women. But as the…

Queen Naerys lingered still near death, her surviving infant Daenerys was cared for by wetnurses, Lady Barba enjoyed all the king's favors with her infant son at her breast, and the court continued to fret over the situation. Matters came to a head when rumors ran rife that the Hand, Lady Barba's father Lord Kennoth, had openly spoken of Barba becoming queen when (not if) Naerys succumbed to the weakness that had gripped her since the delivery of her daughter and her stillborn son. Who was angriest among the great names at court was hard to judge: Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who had…