35 AC
Loss and Rumor
The Crownlands
Lady Ceryse, wife of Prince Daerion dies in the childbed. Their son called Prince Leyton died with his mother. Lady Ceryse was honored along with her son in the Sept of Remembrance. Her body was returned to Old Town so that she might be entombed with her kin. Prince Leyton was placed on a funeral pyre on Draqgonstone with his grandmothers dragon, Vhagar, offering her flames. His ashes are entombed on Dragonstone with his ancestors.
Rumors begin that the little Prince Leyton did not in fact die with his mother but instead a few days later when the dragon egg placed in his crib hatched and the hatchling savaged the child rather than bonding with him. These rumors are never addressed by Dragonstone nor the King.
House Targaryen learns that many of the missives sent to them were intercepted.
The Vale of Arryn
Lord Alester of House Arryn is born to Lord Hubert Arryn and Lady XX Arryn Nee Royce.
The Westerlands
The most violent outbreak of banditry came late in the year, when a large band of outlaws attempted to seize a stone bridge north of Nunn’s Deep that served as a vital crossing along the inland trade path. Their intent was to exact tolls from all passing merchants. Lord Tybalt met them in force, leading the vanguard himself beneath the banners of the lion. The fighting was fierce and close quartered upon the bridge. When it ended, the river below ran dark with blood, and the bridge was partially collapsed to deny future use to raiders. Trade resumed within a fortnight under heavy escort.
36 AC
Betrothal and Dragon Flight
The Crownlands
Princess Alysanne is born to Prince Mael and Lady Alyssa. The Realm gathers once more to celebrate the birth.
House Velaryon faces challenges as their merchant vessels suffer an abnormal amount of pirate attacks. Some vessels are never accounted for.
The Maester on Dragonstone is replaced.
Prince Daerion of House Targaryen and Lady Jaenessa of House Velaryon are betrothed.
Rumors begin that the pair are married in Valyrian fashion on Dragonstone.
A stunning sight over Dragonstone. Balerion the Black Dread, The Cannibal and Laeress are seen flight. The trio of dragons seemed to have been racing one another with the pair of males close behind the smaller and much younger female. Their flight carries them near enough to King’s Landing to be seen by the folk there. The calls from the trio are deemed a song and spoken of for months to come. In the skies over Dragonstone the dragons play becomes more dangerous as they tangle together and plummet towards the sea. There is some concern that they might be in battle but in the end all three return to the caverns beneath the castle, tired, but unharmed.
Offense is given to House Velaryon when the High Septon demands that before he will marry the pair the Lady be checked for her purity, whether this is because he too has heard the rumors that the pair are already wed or because he believed that they had not waited is unclear. The Grand Maester performs the duty himself and verifies that the young woman is a maiden true. Despite this the High Septon further demands the bedding be witnessed offering further insult to House Velaryon. It is agreed that the High Septon and Aegon himself will bear witness.
During the couples wedding feast the Prince Daerion danced with his new bride several times, something remarked on by many. A few games were played including a rousing game of keep away in which the Prince had to fight his way to his bride; several of his closest companions tried their best to keep him away. Once he’d reached her someone in the crowd (some say the King himself) called for the bedding ceremony. After only a few moments of delay the Prince agreed that it was indeed time. The King and the High Septon himself were the royal couples witnesses.
On the return from the wedding festivities of Prince Daerion and Lady Jaenessa, a violent storm swept across the Crownlands. Along the well worn trade path between Duskendale and King’s Landing, high winds tore trees from the earth, casting them down across the way and forcing the noble party of House Darklyn to halt while their men worked to clear a passage.
It was during this delay that calamity struck. As axes rang and orders were shouted above the storm, another great tree was brought down by the wind. It fell without warning, crashing upon the carriage bearing the noble members of House Darklyn. Whether the Seven themselves spared the children within, or whether it was a cruel jape played by the Stranger, none could say but Ser Davos Darklyn and his sisters escaped with little more than bruises and shaken breaths.
Lord Darklyn and his lady wife were not so fortunate. Both were grievously injured in the fall, their wounds severe enough that even the swift return to Duskendale was beyond reach. Lady Darklyn passed into the arms of the Stranger before the party could cover the short remaining distance, her death coming as the storm at last began to break.
Lord Darklyn lingered for several days thereafter. Those in attendance remarked that, with his wife gone, he seemed to lose the will to fight his own hurts. He succumbed to his injuries not long after, leaving House Darklyn bereft of both lord and lady in the span of days, a tragedy remembered as ill-timed, ill-fated, and marked by whispers of divine mercy and divine cruelty in equal measure.
Allegations of improper conduct involving Princess Viserra during Daerions wedding feast give rise to grave scandal at Dragonstone. Though the full truth of the matter has never been set down in any official record, the rumors alone proved enough to shatter standing and favor.
In a fit of fury, Prince Daerion confronted Lord Sylas of House Swann, then serving in his household as his squire. The encounter ended violently, with Prince Daerion beating the young Swann heir near to death. The prince’s wrath was such that intervention from the Lady Jaenessa was required to prevent worse.
Lord Sylas was dismissed from Dragonstone in disgrace and sent away under a cloud of shame. The incident was spoken of only in hushed tones thereafter, yet the scandal lingered, casting a long shadow over House Swann and leaving questions that neither side was eager to answer aloud.
The Stormlands
Orys Baratheon and his wife Argella perished while riding together in the Kingswood. Their mounts were found tangled and broken at the foot of a rocky ravine, the bodies of the Lord and Lady Baratheon nearby.
To most, it appeared a tragic misstep on treacherous ground. Yet whispers linger in Storm’s End: a loosened saddle strap, a slain horse, tracks swiftly scuffed out. Nothing proven… only murmured doubts and the sense that someone wished the truth buried.
Insult followed swiftly upon injury. In the same year, whispers began to circulate concerning Lady Seraphine Swann, sister to the disgraced heir. It was murmured in Stormlands halls and solar corners that the young lady had been entertaining various lordly men, receiving attentions deemed unseemly for an unmarried daughter of House Swann. No proof was ever produced, nor were any names formally spoken, yet the timing of the rumors, so close upon her brother’s fall from favor, was remarked upon with knowing glances.
Thus, in a single year, House Swann found its honor questioned on multiple fronts. Whether by truth, malice, or cruel coincidence, the damage was done, and the name of Swann was spoken thereafter with a mixture of pity, suspicion, and quiet disdain.
The Reach
House Hightower offers a significant gift to the Crown in the form of five caravels and ten thousand gold dragons.
House Redwyne sends a hoards worth of casks, Arbor Reds and Golds to the Red Keep on those gifted Caravels, some whisper that they must have emptied their own stores to send so much.
The Faith of the Seven sends a significant gift to the Crown in the name of charitable alms for the small folk of King’s Landing.
These ‘gifts’ so close together cause many to question what House Hightower, the High Septon and House Redwyne have done to offend the Crown so grievously or more to the point, what are they hoping the Crown will forget, no allegations have been forthcoming from the Red Keep.
The Vale of Arryn
Lord Willam of House Arryn is born to Lord Hubert Arryn and Lady XX Arryn Nee Royce.
The Westerlands
In a ceremony of lavish splendor, Lord Tybalt of House Lannister took to wife Lady Ayla of House Tarbeck. The wedding was held with such excess that it served as a pointed reminder to all in attendance of the immense wealth inherent to House Lannister. Gold cloth draped the halls, fountains ran with spiced wine, and the tables groaned beneath dishes brought from across the Westerlands and beyond.
Lords and ladies from every corner of the west were in attendance, each guest bearing witness not only to the joining of two noble houses, but to the unmistakable prosperity of the lion of Casterly Rock. Minstrels sang late into the night, and when the couple were finally bedded, the roar of approval from the gathered nobles echoed through the stone like thunder.