Daemon Targaryen

**Daemon Targaryen** was the son and heir of Prince Aegon the Usurper, and a commander during the Blackwater Rebellion. Well loved by smallfolk and lordlings alike, Daemon brought many young knights and lords to his father's cause, and won the support of commoners where ever he went. He was slain in combat during the Battle of High Heart, in 187AC.

## History

### Early Life

Daemon was a gifted child almost from birth, blessed with looks, skill, and charm. As a boy he doted upon his father as well as King Daeron, admiring both men for their skill at arms and apparent virtues.

With the passage of years Daemon himself became a gifted warrior, considered by many to be one of the greatest knights House Targaryen had ever known - after his uncle Aemon, of course, and the Daemon Targaryen of old. *This* Daemon seemed to share traits with both men - he had the same easy charm and battle prowess as his namesake, but the kindness, virtue, and swordsmanship of his uncle, the Dragonknight. Although not a skilled administrator and a terror to his tutors, Daemon was well spoken and not given to wrath; though some who knew him best called him naive.

When anger between the King and Daemon's father reached it's height, King Daeron attempted to have young Daemon fill a new-made vacancy in the Kingsguard. The act would have removed any possibility of Daemon inheriting, and kept the boy close to the King and his course, and out of the influence of his father. Both Daemon and Aegon resisted the appointment, albeit for different reasons - resulting in their banishment from the capital in early 186AC. Six months later, Aegon Targaryen would raise his banners for war.

### The Rebellion of 186AC

Though Daemon's personal views on the Rebellion are not widely known, the young Targaryen fought for his father both on and off the field. Accompanying Aegon's main host to Harrenhal, Daemon was later sent to reinforce the Brackens at Stone Hedge. Winning an early victory against the Blackwoods in the Battle of the Fork Daemon and his men managed to push their foes deep into Blackwood Vale. As loyalist reinforcements arrived, the Blacks were forced to surrender their hard-won gains, retreating back across the Red Fork after the Second Battle of the Fork.

Hoping to defeat his foes before they could unite - the Mallister host halted by the wounding of their lord - Daemon Targaryen and his allies swept down upon the Tully-Piper force to the southwest. The Battle of Riverrun proved another Red victory - Daemon and his host defeated, and forced into retreat. Spotting the unassailable seat of High Heart, the Targaryen would-be Prince chose to bunker down there, and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

### Death

Daemon's presence in the Riverlands saw many commonfolk and hedgeknights flock to him, drawn by his charisma, kindness, and generosity. These unessential personnel proved a strain on the army's supplies, and though many urged Daemon to expel them from the camp on High Heart, he refused, expecting reinforcements from Harrenhal within days. Unbeknownst to him, the maester of Harrenhal, upset by his lord's imprisonment at the hands of Aegon Targaryen, destroyed the missive calling for rebel reinforcement at High Heart.

As the siege pressed on, it became apparent that no help was coming. Supplies meant to last for months hardly lasted three weeks with the vast addition of followers; when Daemon attempted to oust these at last, the loyalist forces who had surrounded his position refused to allow them passage. Trapped and swiftly growing desperate, the common folk in Daemon's camp riot, attempting to seize the army's stores or break out of the defenses and win mercy from the besiegers. In the ensuing madness the lines are breached, and the besiegers at last advance up the hill, as darkness begins to close in. That night High Heart was alive with dancing figures, as the Battle of High Heart waged beneath the moon.

The morning dawn would see the loyalists victorious, and Daemon Targaryen slain in battle. At the order of Lord Tully, the young dragon's head was taken from his body, and mounted at the base of the hill.