Blood of Dragons

In the annals of Westerosi history, few events have captured the essence of chivalry and deception quite like the Tourney of the Setting Sun. Set against the backdrop of an unruly king's machinations and personal vendettas, this grand spectacle unfolded amidst rumors that ran like wildfire, painting a portrait of King Aegon IV's clandestine designs. Forbidding the Kingsguard from participating in the event, the king sought to manipulate the tourney to honor his mistress, Melissa Blackwood, as the Queen of Love and Beauty; knights indebted to him, friendly to him, or seeking his favor had…

In the heart of the realm, the royal city of King's Landing, a strange omen (or not, depending on how you ask) has come to pass. Missy Blackwood, the royal mistress to King Aegon IV, has given birth to a son, whom she named Brynden. However, joy was tempered by the babe's fragile health -- an albino with a conspicuous red birthmark across his cheek. His two elder sisters were both more robust at birth and thrived. Maesters express doubts about his longevity, citing his feeble constitution. Despite this, Lady Melissa is resolute in her determination to nurture him. She has been frequently seen…

The Conclave has met in the Citadel of Oldtown, the measurements and testaments of maesters across the Seven Kingdoms collated and examined by the wise archmaesters... and on white wings, the word that summer has ended and autumn has begun spreads across the realm. The white raven's arrival in the Red Keep found the castle already in a festive mood, hard on the announcement of not one, but two women in the royal circle being with child. One was Princess Mariah, now carrying her fourth child for the Prince of Dragonstone, Daeron. The news of that would be celebrated as far as Sunspear, but…

In King's Landing, an air of unease blankets the city, as its inhabitants navigate the aftermath of King Aegon the Unworthy's failed assault on Dorne. There have been fairs for the failed invasion's widows to find husbands, pyromancers consorting with bankers and lords to find desperately-needed funds and support, knights dreaming of white cloaks, and more. The return from Dragonstone of the king's heir Prince Daeron, married to Princess Mariah of Dorne and an outspoken opponent of his father's ill-conceived campaign, has cast a chill over the Red Keep. Their chilly relationship hangs like a…

A month has passed since the return of King Aegon, Fourth of His Name, with the remnant of his great army that had so boldly marched but two months earlier for Dorne and a renewed attempt to conquer it. All the realm now knows of the debacle that followed, the news writ in the jade green flames of wildfire that set the kingswood alight and left thousands dead and a third of the forest turned to ash. That the king escaped with his life had been chance, and the valiant efforts of his loyal knights and men-at-arms, though some paid the greatest price that could be paid to see their king live. The…

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…