Great Council of 303 AC

The **Great Council of 303 AC** was a great council held in the wake of King Tommen I Baratheon's death in the year 303 AC. With the line of succession unclear, the council had been called to determine who would be the next King or Queen of Westeros, with lords and ladies from across the realm travelling to King's Landing to present their cases and cast their votes.

The vote would end with Lord Petyr Baelish, commonly known as 'Littlefinger', winning and beginning the royal line of House Baelish of King's Landing.

## Prelude

Those considered for the Iron Throne would be;

* Myrcella Baratheon
* Petyr Baelish
* Euron Greyjoy
* Edric Storm

Daenerys Targaryen was invited from Braavos, but refused to be considered as Queen of Westeros and chose to remain in the Free City instead. Jaime Lannister would attend from his now-halted campaign in the Riverlands, alongside the warrior Brienne of Tarth. An already unstable former Queen Cersei would be noticeably heartbroken by the duo’s appearance, and would retreat away from the council. Those who crossed her chambers would find a lion’s den of destroyed furniture and carnal rage.

## Outcome

The easiest candidates to eliminate were Myrcella and Euron. The former, despite believed to be the only legitimate offspring of Robert left alive, was a girl, and a young one at that, even though Dorne backed her enthusiastically. The latter was Ironborn and managed to only hurt his chances instead of help them. With neither holding enough votes to be crowned, the true choices came down to Edric Storm, royal bastard, and Petyr Baelish, Littlefinger.

Lord Baelish had the lion’s share of supporters. He was wed to Sansa Stark and had helped reclaim Winterfell from the Boltons, even fighting through the Long Night against creatures of myth, which made him very popular among the Northmen who had come to vote. In the south, he had served well as Master of Coin before and after King Robert’s rule, and had successfully eliminated the Faith Militant, earning favour with many for this act. This, plus his long-standing friendship with House Tyrell, made him an enticing and supported candidate for Kingship, though many still questioned his suitability on account of his barely noble blood.

Edric Storm was equally as popular but by right of blood rather than actions. As a highborn bastard of Robert Baratheon, one even acknowledged, many more noble houses saw the worth of his lineage over any other quality. He reminded many Reachmen of Renly and Stormlanders of Robert with his charm and pride, thus swaying some houses that might have originally supported Petyr to instead side with him. However, Edric had spent the years of his prime in Essos, not Westeros, and his baseborn nature was not easily forgotten by some.

The vote between the two was close, close enough that neither held a true majority. With the council called to reassemble in reflection of these results, Littlefinger made Edric an offer, to grant the bastard Storm’s End and the Stormlands in return for supporting Petyr as King. With Edric seeing his popularity among the houses of the Stormlands in particular, he accepted Littlefinger’s offer, and his supporters would then back Petyr just in time for the revote. With an overwhelming landslide majority in this second round, Petyr Baelish was dubbed King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm.

## Consequence

The result of the Great Council of 303 AC would go on to shape Westeros for decades. With House Baelish now the royal family, House Baratheon would see themselves reduced back to mere Lord Paramounts, and House Targaryen mere forgotten rulers.