37 AC
The Death of a King. Long live the King
Without warning and in the midst of telling his grandchildren a tale of conquering Westeros King Aegon, First of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm suffers an Apoplectic Attack (Stroke) and breathes his last. He is on Dragonstone at the time and rather than be taken back to the Sept of Remembrance and displayed he is instead burned on Dragonstone by Balerion and Vhagar in Valyrian fashion.
Shortly after his father’s death, Prince Daerion bonded with the dragon Balerion.
Mael is crowned on Dragonstone by Grand Maester Gawen. After his crowning on Dragonstone the sword Blackfyre is given to Daerion by the now King Mael. The King tells his brother that he is no swordsman and the blade is better served by one who can wield it. Prince Daerion is named as Hand of the King.
In preparation for his brother’s inevitable crowning in King’s Landing, Prince Daerion ensures that more masons are hired to complete the Red Keep before Maels’ coronation there.
Preparations are made for King Mael, First of his name, and his immediate family to travel to Oldtown so that he might receive the blessing of the Faith of the Seven. King Mael, Queen Aneira, Prince Daerion, Lady Jaenessa, Dowager Queen Valaena, Princess Viserra, Princess Vaella, Princess Rhaelyra, Princess Rhaena, Prince Aegon, Prince Viserys, Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Alysanne begin the trek to Oldtown.
The Royal Progress travels first through the Riverlands where they are briefly hosted by House Tully at Riverrun. Dowager Queen Valaena invites the Lord Tully and his family to travel with the royal progress so that they might join them in King’s Landing for the public coronation of King Mael. Lord Tully and his bannermen travel with the royal family.
The second place the Royal Progress travels to is Casterly Rock and there they are briefly hosted by House Lannister. Dowager Queen Valaena, seeking to heal some of the strife between House Lannister and the Crown, invites them to join the Royal Progress as well. The wife of the heir convinces him that they should join them. House Lannister of Casterly Rock and their banners join the Royal Progress.
The Royal Progress travels then to Highgarden, the third Noble family to host the King and his kin. They are hosted by House Tyrell and without much in the way of persuading the Lord Paramount of the Reach agrees to join the royal household on their progress to Oldtown. Their banners join them along the way.
In Oldtown King Mael, First of his name, is crowned King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men. Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Protector of the Realm by the High Septon.
On their way back to King’s Landing a significantly larger party travels lastly to Storm’s End where they are hosted by the Lord Baratheon who, much like the Lord Tyrell, requires no sweet talking from the Dowager Queen Valaena to join them on their way back to King’s Landing. Their banners join them in the royal progress. A quick friendship is struck between House Velaryon and House Tarth and an arrangement of betrothal is sought by the Lord Tarth. The eldest granddaughter of the Lord of Tides is offered and accepted.
The Crownlands
Lady Lianna of House Velaryon is born to Lord Daemon Velaryon and the Lady Myranda Velaryon Nee Darklyn. The strange wasting sickness that has claimed the lives of others claims the Lady Myranda a few weeks after the birth of Little Lianna. The infant girl like the others before her is a tiny, sickly thing.
Osten Massey is Knighted for his valor.
The Riverlands
Following the death of the King, whispers of rebellion begin to spread throughout the realm. Chief among these rumors is word of an uprising led by an outlaw who names himself Harren, claiming to be the grandson of Harren Hoare. To confront this threat the late King’s Hand, Alyn Stokeworth, is dispatched to bring the self styled Harren the Red to justice.
The pursuit is long and bloody. Though Lord Stokeworth is slain while hunting the rebels, the insurrection ultimately comes to an end when Harren is killed by Ser Osten Massey, Alyn’s loyal squire who avenges his fallen lord.
The rebellion’s brutality is remembered most vividly in the fate of Gargon Qoherys, Lord of Harrenhal. During the uprising the father of a maid whom Gargon had deflowered granted harren the Red entry into the castle. Harren and his outlawed stormed Gargon’s chambers, dragged him from his bed and hauled him to the Godswood. There Harren severed Gargon’s genitals and fed them to a dog while the Lord bled to death at the roots of the weirwood.
With Gargon the last living member of House Qoherys, the line became extinct with his death. In the aftermath of the rebellion Harrenhal is granted to House Harroway marking the end of one dynasty and the rise of another in the shadow of the cursed castle.
Lady Alys of House Tully died of illness while traveling home to Riverrun, her strength failing only a day’s ride from the waters of the Trident. What began as a simple fever worsened as the journey wore on, each mile seeming to take more from her despite the constant attentions of her attendants and maesters.
The party slowed, then halted altogether when it became clear she could go no farther. Lady Alys passed quietly in her carriage before dawn, so near to her homeland that the rivers of the Trident might well have heard the bells tolling for her had she lived to cross them.
Her body was borne the final distance under mourning banners, and word of her death reached Riverrun almost as swiftly as the procession itself, casting a deep pall over the Riverlands.
The Vale of Arryn
Upon the death of Aegon the Conqueror and the ascension of his son King Mael Targaryen to the Iron Throne, rebellion erupted across Westeros. The Vale was plunged into chaos when Jonos Arryn, brother to Lord Ronnel Arryn, rose in defiance of both crown and kin. Ronnel was seized and imprisoned within the Eyrie, while Jonos proclaimed himself King of Mountain and Vale.
As unrest spread, Aslan Arryn, cousin to both men, acted swiftly and cautiously. Loyal to Ronnel yet mindful of the danger, he sent his pregnant wife Ionna, his young sons, and his sister to the safety of Runestone, placing them under the protection of Lord Allard Royce, whom he trusted above all others. Remaining at the Eyrie, Aslan outwardly bent the knee to Jonos, feigning allegiance in order to survive and to position himself where he might aid loyalist forces from within.
Lord Allard Royce soon raised the banners of the Vale still true to House Arryn and marched against the rebels, sweeping them aside and trapping Jonos within the Eyrie itself. Rather than surrender, Jonos committed the unforgivable sin of kinslaying, having his brother Ronnel Arryn flung through the Moon Door, condemning him to the same fate that had once claimed Aslan’s father.
The rebellion did not end until Prince Daerion Targaryen arrived astride Balerion the Black Dread. Faced with dragonfire, Jonos’s followers turned on their false king and cast him through the Moon Door in turn. Seeking mercy, the rebels surrendered, but Daerion ordered them hanged without exception, denying even highborn men the honor of the sword.
Aslan Arryn was spared punishment, his true loyalties known to Lord Royce and the crown. With both Ronnel and Jonos dead, Aslan was swiftly proclaimed Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, and Warden of the East. There was little time for mourning. After the birth of his newest son, Aslan gathered his family, refusing to leave them behind in a realm he no longer trusted, and rode south to King’s Landing to swear fealty to King Mael Targaryen, bearing the weight of a broken Vale and the burden of rule upon his shoulders.
The Iron Islands
On Mira of House Volmarks nameday she is wed to Lord Goren Greyjoy.
The Westerlands
Loren Lannister met his end while traveling with the Royal Progress, a death that gave rise to no small measure of quiet unease. Though an older man, he had long been known for his sound health and clear wits, riding with the vigor expected of a lion of the Rock.
It was only after the progress departed Storm’s End that his strength began to wane. At first it was little remarked upon, fatigue blamed on the long days of travel and the press of courtly obligations. Yet as the days wore on, his decline became unmistakable. He ate little, spoke less, and was often seen gripping the arm of his chair or the saddle horn as though the world itself had grown unsteady beneath him.
By the time the royal party neared King’s Landing, Loren Lannister could no longer ride. He passed quietly in his pavilion as the banners of the Progress advanced toward the capital, slipping into the arms of the Stranger before the city’s gates ever came into view.
No wound was found upon his body, nor any clear sickness named by the Maesters in attendance. His passing was recorded as natural, yet whispers followed the Progress into King’s Landing all the same. Some spoke of ill humors stirred by travel, others of a chill caught in the Stormlands’ damp air, but there were those who noted how sudden his decline had been, and how many cups had been raised, shared, and refilled along the road.
It was further noted that the house did not move as one in the wake of his death. Some of Loren Lannister’s kin continued on to King’s Landing with the Royal Progress, bound by duty and the unyielding expectations of court. Others turned their banners west, returning to Casterly Rock to honor the late Lord Lannister in proper mourning. The division was remarked upon in hushed tones, taken by some as prudence, by others as portent. Only later was it known that those who arrived first were oblivious to the death of their Lord. News came not by raven but on the lips of Lord Tybalt of House Lannister
Thus did Loren Lannister die far from the Rock, his end marked not by certainty, but by questions that lingered long after his body was borne home.