Aegon Targaryen

A young Aegon, ca. 98 AC

Aegon after 30 years of service, ca. 130 AC

Vaelys Targaryen

Aurion Targaryen

Alysella Targaryen

Valerion Targaryen

Aegon Targaryen is the eldest son of Aemon Targaryen, the twin brother of Helaena Targaryen, father of Aemma, Vaelys, and Aurion Targaryen, and the cousin and Hand of King Viserys I.

## Appearance and Character

Tall and sturdily-built, Aegon grew from an athletic, if somewhat awkward youth, into a strapping and powerful knight. Old age has not diminished his impressive physique either: his silver-white hair, though the streaks of gold have faded, is still worn long, and the prince still sports his characteristic beard, now white as fresh snow. His dusky violet eyes remain sharp and keen as ever, and his face forever wears a sort of knowing, if melancholic, smile.

Though he and his sister often quarreled and competed fiercely, Aegon is and always has been utterly devoted to his family. He idolized his father, Prince Aemon, dogging his footsteps as a child and later serving as his page and squire during Prince Aemon's tenure as Hand of the King. Aegon has given more than half his life to the service of the Crown and the House Targaryen, and is proud to have done so.

Age and experience have tempered these virtues, albeit not without enacting changes. Thirty years in the office of Hand of the King - standing by Viserys through good times and lean - have vested in Aegon a certain shrewdness and cunning that is at odds with his compassionate and generous personality. Indeed, those that know him best sometimes remark that though Prince Aegon and the Hand of the King look identical, they are two distinct individuals.

## Biography

### Early Life (76 - 88 AC)

Aegon was born in 76 AC to Aemon Targaryen and Mereya Darklyn, only a matter of minutes after his twin sister Helaena. A somewhat-sickly child, his survival past youth was not assured, but he also possessed a strong fighting spirit which manifested even as an infant: despite his intermittent infirmity, Aegon was alert, energetic, and curious.

In his youth, Aegon's wild and rambunctious spirit was exceeded only by that of his twin sister. Excitable and fiery, he was known for his pride and candor, as well as his drive to succeed and impress in all he did. He competed with his sister in every regard and at every juncture: riding, archery, dancing, music, swordplay, and other arts besides. Loyal and honest, Aegon's youthful excitability gradually matured into a genuine courtesy, knightly valour, and steadfast dedication to his friends and companions.

During Prince Aemon's tenure as Hand of the King, Aegon served as his page and attendant, and so was introduced at a young age to the rigors and intricacies of courtly life. Though he learned little about administration (little that stuck, in any case), he developed a knack for diplomacy and debate, and was frequently remarked-upon for his worldly attitude (despite his youth), openness, honesty, and penchant for conversation.

This did not preclude his martial studies, however, and at this he truly excelled. Favoring the two-handed longsword, Aemon is a terror on the dueling ground, and a competent commander and leader of men. His favorite sparring partner as a child was his sister, Helaena, and the twins frequently ended bouts of sparring with an abundance of bruises and no clear victor. Also among his early boon companions were Roy Baratheon, Aegon's cousins Tristifer and Arys Darklyn, and Ser Daemion Velaryon (Prince Aemon's closest friend and companion), to whom the young Aegon immediately gravitated and formed a strong fraternal affection.

### Young Adulthood and the Rosegold Rebellion (88 - 93 AC)

As a teenager, Aegon squired for his father, alongside numerous other youth from across the Seven Kingdoms, including Roy Baratheon, his cousin Daemon Targaryen, and Osmund Tyrell, forming fast friendships with many of these other young men.

When the Rosegold Rebellion erupted in 93 AC, Aegon joined the Royal Host at his father's side. He fought in the van during the Slaughter at Bitterbridge, earning more battle experience in a single day than most men do in a lifetime, though it nearly cost him his life. An Ashford halberdier struck Aegon in the neck with his weapon, opening a long gash from Aegon's jaw to his clavicle. Aegon survived only because his father, fighting nearby, literally carried his son from the field while continuing to cut down foe after foe with his Valyrian steel blade *Dark Sister.*

It was also at Bitterbridge that Aegon's childhood friend and mentor Ser Daemion Velaryon was killed, along with Lord Raymont Baratheon, the father of Aegon's friend and fellow squire Roy Baratheon. In the aftermath of the carnage, Aegon was knighted by his father, though it was a hollow honor in light of the butchery all around. It was then and there that Aegon's martial disposition was tempered by a reluctance to shed blood unnecessarily, and he came to firmly believe that the best way to win a battle was to avoid it altogether.

### A Place in the Royal Court (93 - 98 AC)

Aegon had always spent much of his life in King's Landing and the Red Keep, save for occasional excursions to visit his mother's family in Duskendale or to hunt with his fellow squires in the Kingswood. As a man newly-returned from the rebellion, he dedicated himself to learning the ins-and-outs of the Red Keep, knowing who was whom and what could be achieved with the right word at the right time. He kept his martial skills sharp and sharpened his tongue to match.

Aegon traveled more extensively at this time, undertaking personal journeys to the places most affected by recent wars and rebellions: he spent two moons touring the Crownlands, and then another moon's turn in the Stormlands as the guest of his boyhood friend Lord Roy Baratheon.

Aegon strengthened his relations with his kin during this time as well. Though he was distressed to learn of his sister Helaena's affair with their cousin, the King Viserys, he did his best to keep the secret and prevent a scandal. He took to looking out for his bastard cousin and adopted brother Matarys as well, having been icy toward the lad when younger but warming to him now, and frequently providing advice or support as it was needed. Though he and his cousin the king were never exceptionally close, Aegon was loyal and always made himself available for his kin.

In 96 AC, Prince Aemon contracted and quickly succumbed to the Dragonblight. The loss of his father was a crushing blow to Aegon, and he fell into a deep melancholy. His relief from this eventually came in the arms of a woman: Valena Celtigar, the prospective heir to Claw Isle, with whom he formed a friendship that quickly blossomed into romance. The relationship never progressed to genuine courtship, but the affection between the two softened the loss that Aegon had suffered, and the relationship continued until Valena returned to Claw Isle in early 98 AC.

### A Time of Troubles (98 - 99 AC)

Aegon participated in the tourney held for the funeral of Balerion the Black Dread in 98 AC, and though he did not distinguish himself he was a frequent sight at the various parties and events. Often, he was close at-hand for his cousin and siblings, offering advice and aid as he was able. The actions of Gunthor Arryn, Devan Baratheon, Lucien Hightower, Gwayne Tyrell, and Miriam Blackwood troubled him deeply even as they sent ripples of discontent through the realm, but Aegon did his best to stand by his family and his king despite his disagreements with Viserys.

Around this time, Aegon also announced and began making plans for a royal progress to be conducted later in 98 AC, which would see a royal delegation led by him and including his sisters visit every realm currently under the rule of the Targaryens and their bannermen. However, the arrest and trial of Gwayne Tyrell placed the progress on indefinite hiatus, and thus Aegon was forced to idle in King's Landing awaiting a resolution of the issue. During this time he also reconnected with his former lover Valena Celtigar, and a brief romance reignited between the two before Valena once again departed the capital.

The coming days would provide little rest or respite for Aegon, however. While he hunted in the Kingswood with his cousins and siblings, and did his best to forget recent troubles, events unfolded which would draw the realm back into the terrible calamity of war. Gwayne Tyrell, the Lord of Highgarden and Lord Paramount of the Reach, illegally arrested a royal justiciar, and after being arrested and tried for treason, his kinsmen Gareth and Garth Tyrell raised the flag of rebellion in the Reach. Around this same time, Valena Celtigar returned to King's Landing and revealed that she was pregnant with Aegon's child. Though he would attempt to secure permission to marry Valena and thus spare both her and the child the shame of a bastard birth, Viserys would not consent to the marriage: the Celtigars were too minor a house, and loyal to the Crown already. Aegon nonetheless promised that he would acknowledge the child and take personal responsibility for its upbringing and the financial security of Valena.

When the royal host marched forth to put down the rebellion in the Reach, Aegon was bid to remain in the capital, should fortunes in the field take a turn for the worst. During this time, Aegon began building up a pet project he had been working on after his sister Alysella turned him onto the idea: the old Dragonkeepers, long the protectors and caretakers of the dragons of House Targaryen, had been idle since the death of Balerion. Aegon gave many of these disenfranchised servants of the Crown a new purpose, forming (with the king's permission) a small corps of skilled warriors dubbed the Dragonguard.

Functionally, the role of the new Dragonguard was similar to that of the old Kingsguard: they were the protectors and stewards of the royal family. Yet while the Kingsguard would be freed to care for the safety of the *king*, the Dragonguard were explicitly tasked with the protection of the rest of House Targaryen, especially the line of Jaehaerys. Aegon staffed the Dragonguard with skilled knights and minor nobles whose loyalties to the House Targaryen could be assured, and enlisted the aid of Ser Alyn Crane to help him organize the new household guard force.

### Handship and Hardship (99 - 100 AC)

After the actions of Lord Gunthor Arryn - including a threat on the king's life after Viserys announced his intent to renounce his betrothal to Gunthor's daughter Lady Zhoe - led to a crisis in King's Landing, Aegon and Viserys rushed to the Arryn manse to find that they were too late. After attacking a group of City Watch sent to ensure he did not flee the city, Lord Gunthor was killed and Lady Zhoe taken prisoner. That very same night, shaken by the experience and knowing that the worst was yet to come, Viserys offered the position of Hand of the King - vacant since the removal of Roy Baratheon a few weeks earlier - to Aegon. The prince initially refused, but upon Viserys' insistence he reluctantly adopted the mantle, becoming the youngest Hand of the King in the history of the Iron Throne. He would also, in time, earn the distinction of being the longest-serving.

Aegon threw himself into his new work with characteristic zeal, containing news of Lord Gunthor's death until a narrative which painted the Crown in a fabourable light could be promulgated. He saw to it that Lady Zhoe and her men-at-arms were kept in comfortable confinement, and even arranged that they be allowed to roam the Red Keep's grounds so long as they remained under escort. He arranged for the remains of Lord Gunthor to be returned to the Vale for burial, and gradually released the information of Lord Gunthor's treachery and unfortunate death to the lords of the realm.

Despite his best efforts, tensions rose. In the Riverlands, Edmyn Tully launched an unsanctioned invasion of the North despite the objections of the Crown. Although initially conciliatory in his letters to Lady Agnes Tully, Aegon quickly became convinced that the matriarch had lost her mind, and that if peace was to be assured then her grandson must be disavowed and declared in violation of the King's Peace. Though Edmyn Tully would never leave the North and Lady Agnes would soon be deposed (after declaring herself queen and calling upon the High Septon to rally to her cause, no less), the Riverlands remained a flashpoint for years to come.

Meanwhile, Lady Ysilla Arryn, capitalizing on the death of her father at the hands of agents of the Crown, began to marshal her forces. Aegon wrote to Lady Ysilla, recognizing her claim as Lady of the Eyrie and offering a chance to parlay and arrange reparations for Lord Gunthor's unfortunate death. He received no response, and was preparing to take a more aggressive stance when Viserys informed him that a deal had been reached. Against his Hand's strong objections, Viserys would go ahead with the marriage to Zhoe Arryn, as well as agreeing to pay an indemnity of 10,000 gold dragons to House Arryn. Even more egregious, the Bay of Crabs - including Maidenpool and several surrounding keeps and villages - would be stripped from the domain of House Tully and given over to the lordship of House Arryn.

Aegon was furious: in his eyes, traitors to the Crown were being rewarded with far greater boons than they had even had the gall to ask for. This marked the beginning of a long and slow divide between the king and his Hand which would only grow over the coming years, only alleviated somewhat by Viserys' agreement to allow Aegon and Valena to wed. Less than a week after their marriage, Valena gave birth to their first child: a daughter whom Aegon named Aemma in honour of his father.

With the second and final defeat of the Ironborn at the hands of Prince Daeron, peace was briefly assured in the realm. Though Aegon attempted to negotiate a diplomatic mission to Dorne to defuse possible tensions in the wake of Prince Nymor Martell's death (rumour had it at the hands of a Stormlander assassin), Daeron's presence was instead demanded at the head of the Royal Fleet, and soon enough diplomacy with the Dornish would be a foregone conclusion.

### The Fifth Dornish War and Royal Consolidation (100 - 106 AC)

While war with the Dornish raged from 100 to 103 AC, Aegon focused his efforts on patching the cracks spiderwebbing throughout the realm. The Arryn Concessions gave a new lease on power and authority to the Vale, and to Ysilla and Jasper Arryn in particular. Aegon loathed both of these two, viewing them as schemers and opportunists capitalizing on the Realm's weakness for personal gain. He helped arrange the betrothal of his younger brother Valerion to Lynesse Royce partly in an effort to check the power of the Eyrie. His sister Alysella's marriage to Tybolt Lannister similarly came on the heels of Lord Tytos Lannister's treachery, and sought to tie the fiercely-independent West to the Crown.

During these difficult and weighty times, Aegon focused his efforts on building bridges rather than burning them. While he met with success in many cases, he suffered tremendously from the pressure placed upon him by the king and by himself. His nights were restless, his days spent hunched over a desk or spending what precious few free moments he had with his wife and daughter. During times of greatest need, such as when Lady Ashlynn Toland proposed an alliance to overthrow House Martell and bring the war in Dorne to an end, Aegon would go days at a time without sleeping, nourishing himself only with what morsels of food were brought to him at his desk. Though his efforts paid dividends, they exacted a hefty toll.

### Northern Overtures and Religious Unrest (106 - 120 AC)

Beginning in 106 AC, Aegon enacted the first stages of what would become the crowning achievement of his thirty-year tenure as Hand: the diplomatic reintegration of the North into the domains of the Iron Throne. Aegon first journeyed to the North - becoming the first Targaryen to have done so since the days of his grandmother, Alysanne the Good - in mid-107 AC after a lengthy correspondence. At White Harbour he met with King Theodan Stark and several other northern lords, ostensibly to patch the divides that lingered since Edmyn Tully's failed invasion of the North in 99 AC. The talks lasted for over a fortnight and concluded with Aegon departing satisfied that the groundwork for future diplomatic endeavours had been laid.

Aegon's return to the south was a happy one, as he learned that Valena was once again with child after years of unsuccessful attempts. Aegon's joy turned to ashes however as the child - a son who bore the name Jaehaerys - died only hours after his birth. Aegon was disconsolate, especially as Valena's own health took a turn for the worst. Though she would recover, Valena could only try and ease her husband's pain, which was compounded less than a year later when his mother Lady Mereya also passed. Aegon threw himself into his work, growing sullen and morose. He would emerge from the depths of his grief only after years, and even then would carry a persistent melancholy with him for the rest of his life.

Work afforded little reprieve from the tragedy of his personal life. Religious unrest was spreading, and would culminate with the election of a new High Septon - thereafter referred to as the Righteous One - in 110 AC. The zealot's anti-Targaryen rhetoric spread across the Reach and into the West and the Riverlands, despite efforts by the Crown and loyalist houses to clamp down on the rise of this subversive new dogma.

In 112 AC, the pall that had hung over Aegon's life since the death of his son was lifted with the birth of another: a strong but mild babe named Vaelys. Aegon's lease on life was renewed by the birth of this new child, to whom he vowed to be not only a prince but also a father.

The outbreak of the Cobblist revolts in the Riverlands and Crownlands in 114 and 115 AC drew further divisions between the Crown and the Faith. Although Aegon advocated clemency for the peasants who joined the revolt, afraid of the precedent that a heavy-handed crackdown on the zealots would provoke, he supported the execution of the ringleaders of the revolts, including Marq the Cobbler himself. When riots and violence erupted in King's Landing, Aegon donned his old armour and took to the streets at the head of the Dragonguard alongside the king, the Prince of Dragonstone, and the knights of the Kingsguard.

In 115 AC, Valena gave birth to Aegon's fourth child and third son, who was given the name Aurion. Now nearing forty years old, the couple resolved that the children they had would be all the children they would ever have, and though Aegon still keenly felt the loss of his first son, he took pride in all three of his progeny and even as he approached the apex of his career as Hand, he would often refer to his children as his greatest achievements.

Throughout the years following his first meeting with the King of Winter, Aegon continued a regular correspondence with a handful of northern lords, while also maintaining a small network of diplomats and informers in Winterfell and White Harbor. Because of this, he was able to keep the king and the Small Council apprised of the difficulties faced by the Northerners: wildling raids, disease outbreaks, crop failures, Essosi piracy, and harsh winters. Aegon advocated the fostering of goodwill with the North by sponsoring anti-piracy campaigns in the northern Narrow Sea and arranging food shipments to regions where famine had taken hold.

The greatest shift came with the rise of a pirate warlord called Lucerys the Sea Bear, who began raiding the Northern coast in 114 AC and would continue doing so until his defeat at the Battle of the Bite. Lucerys' ravagings helped accelerate the timeline of Aegon's master plan, and in 116 AC he traveled to White Harbor to once again meet with King Theodan Stark. Initial talks produced little tangible progress, but Aegon returned to the North the following year. His final visit to the North came in 118 AC, and this time he returned home triumphant, having secured the agreement of King Theodan to bend the knee to Viserys and bring his realm under the auspices of the Iron Throne. After nearly seventy years, Prince Aegon succeeded in doing with words what his namesake the Conqueror had only succeeded in doing with dragons.

The blow came when Aegon returned to King's Landing and discovered that Lucerys the Sea Bear was none other than Vaemond Velaryon, who had - under King Viserys' orders - undertaken a protracted campaign to weaken the North and bring them to the bargaining table. Despite the tangible benefits this had had for Aegon's diplomatic ventures, the audacity of the scheme (coupled with Aegon's being kept in the dark for years) nearly forced the Hand to resign, and he threatened to make the truth public if he did so. In an effort to maintain the lie, Viserys offered to marry Aegon's daughter Aemma to Osric Stark, Lord Theodan's eldest son and heir.

Thus, in 119 AC, Aemma Targaryen became Aemma Stark, and the North officially returned to the realm. Aegon's silence had been bought, but he would never again allow himself to trust Viserys implicitly, and he came to view his cousin Vaemond as nothing more than a blackguard willing to stoop to base roguery for personal gain. Aegon Targaryen was ascendant: he was one of the most powerful men in the realm, his bloodline tied to numerous great houses, and his deeds had ensured that his legacy would be preserved for generations to come. Why, then, did victory feel so hollow?

### A Crisis of Faith (120 - 125 AC)

The last great loss of Aegon's life came in 120 AC, when his beloved twin sister Helaena died at the age of just 43. The pain of losing a loved one was a familiar ache to Aegon by now, though the death of Helaena struck a particularly painful blow: since childhood the twins had been inseparable, relying on each other when they could rely on no one else. Despite long years and physical distance, the two had maintained a close personal companionship and exchanged frequent letters; every opportunity they could manage was spent together with their respective families. The death of his twin not only left Aegon deprived of his closest confidante and best friend, but also made him the eldest living member of his dynasty. As one of her final wishes, Helaena arranged for her husband Lyman Crane to deliver the Valyrian Steel longsword of their house, *Dark Sister*, to Aegon's hands. The blade of their father - an object which had long ago aroused such bitterness and resentment in Aegon when it passed to his sister's hands instead of his - was now all he had left of his twin.

Despite all the political achievements marked during this period, still the enemies of the Crown found new ways to turn the Crown's triumphs against them. In the eyes of the Righteous One, the deal reached with the North was the result of "Shameless bartering with a heathen people", and the marriage of a member of the royal family to a Northerner was only further evidence of Targaryen impiety. Throughout the realm, militant members of the Faith began to revive the long-abolished Poor Fellows movement.

In 125 AC, Ser Jasper Arryn - Aegon's longtime rival - arrested and executed the leader of the Poor Fellows in Gulltown. Worse, Prince Baelor had accompanied his cousin, and was present for the beheading. A few months later, Ser Jasper was ambushed and killed in reprisal, and though Aegon shed no tears for the man's death, what came next would certainly weigh heavy on him. Prince Baelor returned to the Vale and led a brutal campaign of suppression against the armed faithful. The streets of Gulltown ran red with blood, and the worst was yet to come.

It soon became an open secret in the royal court that Princess Rhaenys was with child. For years she had been living on Dragonstone with her brother, and the two had become close as a result. What began as whispered rumour soon crystallized into horrifying fact: the father of the princess' child was none other than her own brother, the Prince of Dragonstone.

The Hand was furious at the impropriety of Baelor and Rhaenys' actions, especially with tensions between the Crown and the Faith running high. Although little could be done in the wake of the ceremony (petitioning the Faith for the right to an annulment would have been political suicide given the current contention with the High Septon), Aegon registered his displeasure with the Prince of Dragonstone and, for once, he and Viserys found themselves in agreement.

### An Uneasy Peace (125 - 130 AC)

The waning years of King Viserys' reign were uncomfortably quiet after decades of quietly-seething turmoil. After his success in bringing the North back into the royal fold, and the completion of renovations to Oldstones to turn it into a royal residence for the cadet Targaryen branch, Aegon had secured permission and funds from the king to enact the restoration of the Dragonpit as well. The former roost of the dynasty's dragons would, in time, become a sweeping complex of courtyards and corridors which would house the extended Targaryen royal family as well as offices, barracks, and apartments for dignified visitors. Though the renovations are ongoing as of 130 AC, Aegon, Valena, and their sons have already moved into the complex, as has the Dragonguard.

As the king's health declined, he delegated more and more of the duties of ruling to his counselors, particularly Baelor and Aegon. In his final days he sought to mend the rifts that had long divided his family, and proposed to Aegon a plan to wed Princess Daenys to Aegon's eldest son Vaelys. This act would hopefully draw the two halves of the family together once again - a necessity, as the two men correctly surmised that unity would be crucial in the coming days - and after much debate and discussion Aegon acquiesced.

Though he could not bring himself to forgive Viserys for years of contention between them, as the king drew his final breath his Hand of thirty years could take solace in the fact that they had never allowed their conflict to harm the family or the realm. Aegon was present for the king's passing with Prince Baelor, and was the first to speak those fateful words: "The king is dead, long live the king."

## Family and Household

**FamilyEcho** courtesy of GreenFyre, Vierwood, and PsychoGobstopper.

**The Dragonguard** - Prince Aegon's personal household guard are 77 hand-picked knights of low noble and bastard birth, enfranchised by their service to the Hand and given opportunities which would otherwise be denied to them. The Dragonguard are based in the Dragonpit where their predecessors once served as the Dragonkeepers of House Targaryen, and their sole mandate is the protection of the Hand and his immediate family.

**Squires** - A martial man at heart, Aegon has had numerous squires through the years, imparting to each of them his particular brand of masculine discipline and stern, if fair, education. Some of his squires from years past included:

* **Gaemon Targaryen** (110 - 120 AC) - Aegon's nephew by his twin Helaena, the prince always had a soft spot for the boy though he never allowed their kinship to translate into coddling. Gaemon was knighted by Aegon at the age of 19, just a few short months after the death of his mother.

## Skills and Attributes

Gaemon**Attribute**: Gregarious

Mastery: Renown (CHA

Skills: Leadership (CHA), Silver Tongue (CHA), Weapon Mastery: Swords, Shields (COM), Precision (COM), Endurance (COM), Diplomacy (STA)