27 AC
Vengeance and Misfortune
The Crownlands
Jonquil Darke was brought to Dragonstone to be trained under the guidance of Prince Daerion Targaryen. Her arrival was noted quietly, without ceremony, yet it did not go unnoticed among the court and household of the island fortress.
Under the prince’s tutelage, Jonquil Darke began her instruction in arms and discipline, her presence at Dragonstone remarked upon by those who observed her progress. That such training was undertaken at the seat of the Targaryens themselves was taken by some as a mark of particular favor, by others as an indication that Prince Daerion saw in her a purpose yet unspoken.
Thus did Jonquil Darke’s path turn toward Dragonstone, her future bound, in some measure, to the designs of the prince who took her into his care.
The Riverlands
Lady Ariyana Tully Nee Blackwood is killed during a riding incident, her mare, known to be spirited was bitten by a snake and the Lady was thrown from her back. When the mare returned to Riverrun several hours later a party was put together to hunt for the lady alas it was too late, she had succumbed to her injuries. There is some speculation that this was perhaps not an accident at all as the guards who were meant to go riding with her were not present and had not returned to Riverrun, they have not been seen since.
Dorne
Wyl of Wyl is killed by the bastard son of Alys Oakheart. The boy accomplishes such revenge at the age of six and ten.
28 AC
Triumphs and Expeditions
The Crownlands
Prince Daerion once again earns great acclaim when he not only won the melee but also unseated three Kingsguard in succession during a tourney. His valor and skill are rewarded when he is knighted at the age of only six and ten, making him the youngest knight in the realm at the time.
The Lady of House Velaryon and her children attend this tourney, she and her sister are once again seen in close conversation.
Over the next two years, Prince Daerion leads an expedition to the Stepstones, joined by Ser Osmund Strong, Moryn Tyrell and Aethan Velaryon, to root out the Lysene pirate King, Sargoso Saan, who had established his dominion over the islands.
Made brave by Prince Daerions absence a sudden and violent uprising in the Crownlands brought the sons of House Darklyn to the forefront of peril and renown. Along the coastal trade paths near Duskendale, lawless levies and bands of disbanded sellswords spurred by ambition and greed threatened to overwhelm the local levies and disrupt the lifeblood of commerce that fed the realm.
Lord Rolland Darklyn rode forth with his banners unfurled, leading his household guard into the heart of the fray. At his side rode his sons: Robin, only six and ten, and Davos, scarcely older, both untested in the harsh reckoning of war. Yet when the clash came, both displayed a courage that startled even veteran men-at-arms. Robin held a faltering line beneath a hail of stones and arrows, refusing to yield even as seasoned soldiers wavered, while Davos rallied broken men with fierce command, pressing the fight forward when despair threatened to overwhelm them. By the time the rebels were scattered and the trade path secured, Robin and Davos were knighted on the field by the assembled lords and men-at-arms of the Crownlands, their spurs earned by blood, steel, and unwavering resolve.
News of their heroism spread quickly, reaching King Aegon and Queen Valaena, who were said to have been greatly impressed by the courage and skill shown by the two young Darklyns. Though the Crown did not decree the knighthood, the acknowledgment of their deeds by the King and Queen lent the honor a weight beyond the ordinary, marking Ser Robin and Ser Davos as men of note and promise in the eyes of the realm. Tales of their valor spread swiftly through the Crownlands, carried by ravens and whispered from holdfast to holdfast, and it was said that Ser Robin and Ser Davos rode henceforth not as boys, but as knights whose names would echo alongside the deeds of the great and storied of the realm.
The Reach
Two years into his marriage to Princess XX Targaryen, Lord Moryn Tyrell met a violent and infamous end, one that shook both the Reach and the Targaryen court, and deepened the wound that Dorne’s defiance had carved into the Seven Kingdoms.
The couple had returned to the Highgarden for the midsummer festival, a celebration of music, feasting, and the first harvest’s promise. Lanterns hung in the bowers like fireflies caught upon strings. Musicians played beneath trellises heavy with blossoms, and the great hall was overflowing with nobles from the proud oak seated marcher lords to the perfumed ladies of the vineyards.
Princess XX was radiant, laughing amid her husband’s kin, her hand resting on Moryn’s arm as they moved through the garden paths. Few women of the Reach had been welcomed so swiftly as she, and in those short two years the commons had come to adore her.
Moryn himself seemed at peace, content to be back in his home after a life amongst the court of King and dragons.
It was precisely this sense of peace that made what followed all the more brutal.
He came at dusk. A Dornishman, though none knew it at the time, his skin sun-browned, his dark hair bound back with a leather cord, his garments plain enough to pass as a gardener’s. The Reach is filled with such men, travelers and workers who come South for coin and summer’s ease.
He carried shears on his belt. None thought twice of it.
Maesters would later determine his true identity. A blade for hire from the sands beyond the Prince’s Pass, sent as vengeance for the death of Wyl of Wyl. A penned missive and a sack of Dornish gold confirmed as much though no name was signed.
Moryn had stepped away to fetch more wine for his wife, an easy errand, one he’d performed a dozen times that night. As he crossed the lesser rose garden, lit dimly by moonlight and a few guttering lanterns, the assassin moved from behind a hedgerow. He approached as though he meant to speak. Witnesses later recalled hearing only a soft breath “My lord.” Then came the blade. Slim and curved, the Dornishman’s dagger slid beneath Moryn’s ribs in a single precise thrust, angled upward toward the heart. The assassin’s other hand clamped over Moryn’s mouth, muffling the sound of pain. Roses shook with the force of the struggle, petals falling like quiet rain.
The Dornishman fled into the night garden, vanishing over the wall before guards even realized anything was amiss.
When Moryn did not return, Princess XX excused herself from the hall to look for him, thinking perhaps he had been waylaid by some jovial cousins.
Instead she found him beneath the weeping rose arbor, lying on his side, hand still outstretched as though reaching for her. His blood soaked the pale petals around him, creating a grotesque bloom of red and white. Witnesses say she fell to her knees in the dirt, tearing her gown, cradling his head and calling his name again and again. The sound of her cries carried through the garden, chilling every soul who heard it.
Only then did she learn she had been with child. That evening her husband and his heir were taken from her.
29 AC
Birth and Dragonfire
The Crownlands
Prince Viserys is born to Prince Mael and Lady Alyssa. A grand feast and tourney are held in honor of his birth.
Lord Daemion of House Velaryon, with his Uncles permission, brings his twins to Dragonstone so that they may attempt to bond with a dragon. Tragedy very nearly strikes when the pair of hatchlings the twins seem keen on turn on them prompting Vhagar herself to defend the hatchlings from the screaming children. It is only the swift intervention of Visenya and Daerion that spares all three Velaryon lives.
The Riverlands
At Harrenhal, tragedy strikes again. Lord Petyr Qoherys falls from his horse, breaking his neck. His widow returns to her father’s hall childless and alone.
30 AC
The Giant of the Trident
The Crownlands
King Aegon orders the Aegonfort to be torn down, and the construction of the Red Keep begins.
During King Aegon’s visit to Duskendale, an assassin struck in the dead of night, aiming to take the king’s life within the shadowed walls of the holdfast. The attacker was identified as a Lyseni, a foreign hand whose motives were unknown but whose presence raised immediate alarm throughout the castle.
It was Ser Robin Darklyn who intercepted the intruder, moving with a silence and swiftness that seemed almost unnatural. He stalked the assassin through the halls like a shadow himself, striking from the dark before the killer could reach His Grace. In the quiet corridors, the two clashed briefly, and Robin’s skill prevailed the Lyseni fell before he could harm the king.
From that night forward, Ser Robin became known as “Darkrobin,” for the way he appeared from darkness, unseen and unstoppable, a shadow protecting the Crown. Queen Valaena, witnessing the courage and precision of his actions, bestowed upon him a seat on the Kingsguard, marking him as one of the king’s most trusted and capable defenders.
The failed assassination left lingering questions about Lyseni involvement in the Crownlands, but for House Darklyn, the night became a source of lasting renown. Ser Robin Darklyn “Darkrobin” henceforth was forever known as a guardian who moved like a shadow, swift and silent, defending the king when danger struck in darkness.
The Riverlands
The Riverlands are plagued by a robber knight who menaces the Trident. Those who survive his attacks say that he is a giant of a man, larger than any seen before. Lord Tully requests aid from the Crown to find and end this menace to the Trident. Prince Daerion is sent with the group of soldiers and at the age of eight and ten he defeats and kills the Giant of the Trident.
At Riverrun there is a feast in his honor.