Aemma Targaryen

Aemma Targaryen is the eldest child of Aegon Targaryen and Valena Celtigar, the wife of Osric Stark, and the lady of Winterfell.

## Appearance and Character

Aemma carries the Targaryen appearance of both her parents, with a slender and graceful build that glides as much as walks. Her silver-white hair is worn long and partially-bound, and she shares her father's affinity for dark colours of clothing, often dressing in black sable and furs as the harsh northern climate demands. Aemma is consciously aware of every aspect of her personal appearance, and whilst she is meticulous about presentation, she actively cultivates a somewhat distant, distracted persona when dealing with strangers and those from whom she seeks something.

This facade masks both her intent and her startling intelligence: indeed, there are many who wonder just who really rules the North. Osric is a capable man and an excellent administrator, but some have whispered over the years that he lacks the cunning and, at times, ruthlessness necessary to govern a land so far-famed for its independent spirit. These are not deficiencies which Aemma shares.

## Biography

### Early Life

Aemma was born in 99 AC, the result of an extramarital relationship between Prince Aegon Targaryen - the cousin of King Viserys I and, later, his Hand of the King - and Valena Celtigar. Though the two were in love, Viserys initially refused to allow Aegon and his lover to marry after it was discovered that Valena was pregnant, though he would later change his mind and allow the marriage so as to placate and foster loyalty from his cousin. Only a week after the marriage, Aemma was born after a long and difficult labour.

A precocious and intelligent child, Aemma did not share her father's martial proclivities nor her mother's mild reservedness. Growing up in the shadow of her father's duties as Hand of the King, Aemma's early life was too-often devoid of fatherly guidance or attention. Her closest family members were her aunts, Princess Helaena and Princess Alysella. The lack of paternal involvement changed in 108 AC: after years of trying, unsuccessfully, to have another child, Valena finally gave birth to a son who died only hours later. Aegon was despondent, and vowed from that day forward that he would never again neglect or take for granted the child he did have.

Before Aemma reached her sixteenth nameday, her parents would welcome two more sons into the world. The significant divide in both age and interests between Aemma and her younger siblings (twelve and fifteen years her junior, respectively) was never bridged.

### The Dragons of the North

In 119 AC, after over a decade of political negotiation, concession, and at times coercion, Aegon Targaryen succeeded in the crowning achievement of his career as Hand of the King: the peaceful reannexation of the North into the Kingdom of the Iron Throne. With the stroke of a pen and countless well-chosen words, he had succeeded in doing what his predecessors had needed dragonfire to accomplish. The pact was sealed between Aegon, King Viserys, and Theodan Stark with the agreement to wed a daughter of House Targaryen to a son of House Stark. Aemma would soon come to learn that this meant her.

The news was brought to her personally by her father. Contrary to her expectation (she had already picked up on the match from the whispering of servants and courtiers), he did not couch the matter as a great honour or the fulfillment of a long dream. Aemma, by now, had been eligible for marriage for several years, and her repeated insistence that she would not wed any of the suitors presented to her (as well as the cadre of female companions she kept closer than anyone else) was not lost on her father.

Nonetheless, after long discussion, Aemma consented to the match, despite her father had making it clear that he would respect her decision not to. Shortly thereafter, the Targaryen family traveled north to White Harbor and then on to Winterfell together. Osric Stark and Aemma Targaryen were wed in a great ceremony accompanied by an even greater feast. This was also the last time Aemma ever saw her aunt Helaena, who had been such a facet of her childhood.

### A Shard of Ice

Life in the North was a far cry from the bustle and tumult of the capital, but over time Aemma adjusted to Winterfell. As the good-daughter of the Lord Paramount of the North, Aemma's days were spent entertaining ladies from the other noble houses of the North as well as sewing (which she detested), reading (which she loved), and engaging in courtly gossip (which, though she never contributed to and publicly confessed a disdain for, never escaped her).

Aemma and Osric were never close, and even now their relationship remains a strictly professional one. Rumours have swirled for years that the two do not even share a bedchamber (not an uncommon practice in the south but a nearly unthinkable one in the North) and that Osric keeps a lover, but these are unsubstantiated and, in secret, carefully monitored and perpetuated in muted form by Aemma herself. Despite the lack of physical attraction between them, Aemma bore two daughters for her husband: Arya (born in 123 AC), and Lyanna (born shortly after Osric's ascension to his father's lordship in 128 AC).

Despite her distant relations from her Targaryen and Stark kin Aemma came to view herself as a champion for Targaryen interests in the North and loyalist Stark interests in the South, wanting to be sure that her heirs could inherit an integrated and respected North. She opted to use her extensive talents in spying and networking, as well as her old friendships in King’s Landing to establish a network of information in the capital.

Though this was a good start Aemma knew that being just another spy network would not make the cut to truly defend the North from hostile actors in the south. So she began to experiment in the extensive underworld of the city. Her early attempts to reach within failed and worried to see her name and family tarnished by working with criminals she opted to secretly establish a tavern to act as a front for future operations. So the Wolve’s Den was established with a close Northern friend of Aemma’s as its proprietor.

## Recent Events

A failed spy attempt on the King saw Aemma's confidence in her network shaken further inspiring her to begin experimenting in alternate ways of information gathering.

## Family

Stark FamilyEcho courtesy of TayCrispay.

Targaryen FamilyEcho courtesy of GreenFyre, Vierwood, and PsychoGobstopper.

## Skills and Attributes

Attribute: Sly

Skills: Deception (CHA), Encryption (INT), Espionage (INT), Commerce (STA)

mastery: cloak and dagger