House Targaryen

House Targaryen is a noble family of Valyrian descent who has ruled the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros for over three-hundred years. The Targaryen sigil is a three-headed dragon breathing flames, red on black. The house words are "Fire and Blood". It eventually became the first royal house of the Seven Kingdoms, as House Targaryen of King's Landing.

The only family of dragonlords who survived the Doom of Valyria, the Targaryens left the Valyrian Freehold twelve years before the Doom. They resided for more than a century at Dragonstone on the island of the same name, until Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, began the first of the Wars of Conquest in 2 BC.

During Aegon's Conquest, the family built the Aegonfort in the new capital city of King's Landing. The Aegonfort was later torn down and replaced by the Red Keep, which remained their main seat for the duration of their dynasty, and which housed the Iron Throne. Their original castle was almost always given to the heir to the throne, the Prince of Dragonstone. The Targaryens eventually built the summer residence Summerhall, which has been given to several younger sons of the family over time.

House Targaryen ruled as the Kings of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Great House of the crownlands for nearly three hundred years. Seventeen male Targaryens ruled from the Iron Throne.

History
''For history preceding the Great Council of 233 AC, see the House Targaryen wikia page. For any history of, and after, the Great Council of 233 AC, reference the below information only.''

The Great Council of 233 AC
By some, it is thought that the Great Council, following the Peake Uprising and the death of King Maekar I in defending his realm, was the most important of the Great Councils. Lords gathered from throughout the realm, meeting at King's Landing, to select who would inherit in this tumultuous and difficult time. Dozens of candidates rose and dozens more were dismissed, leaving only those who Maekar himself had sired. Daeron, called the Drunkard, was his eldest son, but he had already passed from the lover's pox a few years earlier. Daeron's trueborn daughter, Vaella, was dismissed for both being a woman and being a child. Then would have come Aerion Brightflame, second son of King Maekar, but only a year earlier Aerion drank wildfire, in an attempt to make himself a dragon, before hideously dying. The claim should have then passed to his only son, an infant named Maegor, but the lords feared that the boy was as mad as his father and would lead to a long regency. After an hour of discussion, the boy's claim was dismissed. That left Maekar's two youngest sons: Aemon and Aegon.

By rights, it should have been Aegon, the younger son, as Aemon had sworn his oaths to the Citadel, but Aegon was much disliked by the realm for his time as a hedge knight's squire in his youth. Aemon was asked to set aside his vows, but refused, stating that his younger brother should have been heir. Only through the convincing of Bloodraven (and, some say, through sorcerous interference) did Aemon consider to set aside his vows, meeting with his brother to discuss the idea. After Aemon and Aegon discussed the succession, Aegon retracted his claim and Aemon surrendered his oath, being named King, to the raucous celebration of the realm and the relief of those Aegon had spited in his many travels.

But this was not the only event. Aenys Blackfyre, another claimant, was promised safe conduct to Westeros, but found himself on the edge of a pike. Brynden Rivers executed him, warning those that still held sympathies for the Black Dragon.

Rulers
''For history of rulers preceding the Great Council of 233 AC, see the House Targaryen wikia page. For any history of, and after, the Great Council of 233 AC, reference the below information only.''

King Aemon I Targaryen
Reign: 233 AC - 302 AC

Generations were born, lived, and died in the long reign of King Aemon the First. Oft called the Old King, it is not as fair to say that his reign was as content or as peaceful as his namesake. Three Blackfyre Rebellions occurred in the course of his kingship and, though he never rode against the Blackfyres, each was trounced by his able servants. Peace, though, was a fair trade for prosperity, with the coffers of the realm kept full and the learning of the people madeparamount. Excavations and explorations became common things, with the Citadel being of themost importance in its history.

Bloodraven is often said to have been the man behind the crown in Aemon's early years, before his death in the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion, slain by the hand of his rival, Bittersteel. After that however, Aemon ruled as his own king, keeping the realm in relative serenity. That was not to say he was entirely beloved - many despised their bookish king, leading to the strengthening of the rebels in the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion and the treasonous assassination attempt that comprised the Sixth Rebellion, which killed his son, Maekar. However, by the time of his death, mass sorrow filled the streets and taverns of Westeros, who knew they would never see his like again.

King Viserys III Targaryen
Reign: 302 AC - Present

Viserys was never expected to take the throne. At his birth, he was third in line, the son of Prince Maekar Targaryen and Aenora of House Velaryon. His brother, Daeron, was expected to have his own children and put Viserys even further back in succession. He married his brother's widow, Rhaenys, who also happened to be his cousin. His brother's death, drowned in the Blackwater Bay in an autumn storm, made the realm realize that Viserys, the Red Dragon, would actually come to power. He fulfilled that fear in 302 AC, upon his grandfather's death. Despite his queer beliefs, Viserys has sworn to follow the oaths set out by his ancestors as a protector of the Faith.

This has done little to ease the qualms of his subjects. Viserys is many things: reviled, feared, and, among the few who have followed their liege lord in conversion, worshipped. Some believe that King Viserys III is the Prince that was Promised, an obscure prophecy that was once followed by Prince Aegon of Summerhall before his untimely. Most believe that is a crazed fool's rambling, supported by the king only to make himself stronger.

Otherwise, Viserys has proven himself a competent ruler, in his dispatching of the bandits that haunted the roads and keeping close eyes on the threats across the sea, which he is said to despise more than anything, thanks to the murder of his father.