history of westeros pt. 2
VALEMONT is the Eastern mountain region of Westeros that is ruled by House Arryn. There are many other minor houses, which are the bannermen of House Arryn, including House Harrdyng, House Redfort, and House Royce.
The current Lord of the Vale is Jon Arryn, who is also the mentor and father figure of Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark. He aided his two surrogates in the rebellion after the execution of Ned's father and brother, and later became Robert's Hand after the younger Baratheon overthrew the Targaryens.
About 30 years later (in this universe), Lord Arryn died due to poison from the Tears of Lyse. His death was one of the many catalysts which led to the War of the Five Kings. It was later found out that Petyr Baelish a.k.a. Littlefinger convinced Lysa Arryn (Catelyn's sister) to poison her husband under the false pretenses that he and she would be together if she did this.
Lord Arryn's son is Robyn Arryn and he eventually became the lord of the Vale after his parents and Littlefinger all perished. Before that, he was easily considered to be one of the most inexperienced, naive lords in all of Westeros. He still is by all accounts.
FIORA is named for one of the ancient cities of Old Valyria where the Targaryens derived. (That was something I made up.) Fiora was later established as the Crownlands of Westeros, once the seven kingdoms were brought under one ruler. The Crownlands and Dragonstone are the seat of House Targaryen.
When Aegon the Conqueror invaded Westeros, he came with his two sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, his bannermen of Houses Velaryon and Celtigar. After the Conquest of Westeros, the years that followed during Aegon's reign were very peaceful. He and his sisters settled the Crownlands and called the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms King's Landing, and built the Red Keep.
For the next three hundred years, House Targaryen reigned over the realm until Robert's Rebellion, which subsequently ended the Targaryen dynasty and put the Baratheon house in charge. During the Targaryen rule, many significant events happened including the Dance of Dragons, the Blackfyre Rebellion, and the Destruction of Summerhall.
The Targaryens were notorious for their dragons, their ability to control them, and their ethereal beauty. Their beautiful silver-gold hair matched by their otherworldly violet eyes was renowned throughout the Seven Kingdoms. This made them the most desirable people in the realm, with many of the other houses eager to marry into the Targaryen family. However, the Targaryens were also known for intermarrying brother and sister, to keep the bloodline pure.
The only Targaryens that did not follow through with this tradition were Daeron II Targaryen, who married Princess Myriah to bring Dorne into the Seven Kingdoms. Aegon V Targaryen married his true love Betha Blackwood for love and took her on as his Queen Consort. Many years later, their youngest daughter, Rhaelle Targaryen married into House Baratheon in order to keep the peace in the Kingdoms. She is actually the grandmother of Robert Baratheon and this information was used to further Robert's claim to the throne after the rebellion.
Finally, there was Rhaegar Targaryen who took on two wives: Elia Martell of Dorne and Lyanna Stark of Winterfell. He married Elia per the "request" of his father Aerys II Targaryen (a.k.a. the Mad King) in order to politically align House Targaryen and House Martell once again, essentially tying Dorne to the Crown. This came in handy during the Rebellion. However, much like his great-grandfather Aegon, he only married one of his wives for love, and that woman was Lyanna Stark.
Of course, he still cared for Elia Martell as she was a good friend and she helped him a great deal, but he could never truly love her the way a man loves a woman. Unfortunately, his love for Lyanna was the catalyst for the civil war of Westeros and Robert's Rebellion.
In the end, Rhaegar was left for dead at the Trident, Elia Martell was murdered and raped. The Mad King was slain by Jaime Lannister when he tried to burn down King's Landing. Brandon and Rickard Stark were killed, Ned became the Lord of Winterfell, Lyanna and Arthur Dayne went into hiding in America, and Rhaella, Viserys, Aegon, and Daenerys escaped to Essos. Thus, the Targaryen dynasty ended and the reign of House Baratheon began.
To Be Continued...
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