House Velaryon

House Velaryon of Driftmark rules the island of Driftmark, the largest island of Blackwater Bay in The Crownlands. Their castles include Driftmark andHigh Tide. The head of House Velaryon is titled Lord of the Tides and Master of Driftmark. The Velaryons are sworn to Dragonstone. House Velaryon is of Valyrian descent, and its members often have Valyrian features, such as silver hair, purple eyes, and pale skin.

## History

### Origins

House Velaryon is an ancient and proud house, with the blood of old Valyria in its veins. The Velaryons left Valyria before the Targaryens and settled on the island of Driftmark in The Narrow Sea. The castle of Driftmark housed their ancient high seat, the Driftwood Throne, which according to legend had been given to them by the Merling King to conclude a pact.

Their close proximity to the Gullet enabled the Velaryons to fill their coffers from trade in The Narrow Sea and Blackwater Bay. They allied with House Targaryen from Dragonstone and House Celtigar from Claw Isle, both houses of Valyrian descent; While the Velaryons and Celtigars dominated the middle reaches of The Narrow Sea with their ships, the Targaryens ruled the skies with their dragons.

### Aegon's Conquest

The close relations between Houses Velaryon and Targaryen resulted in multiple marriages between the houses, both before and after the Wars of Conquest. From one such marriage was born Valaena Velaryon. She married Aerion Targaryen, the Lord of Dragonstone, with whom she had three children: Visenya, Lord Aegon, and Rhaenys.

House Velaryon allied with the Targaryens at the start of Aegon's Conquest. Lord Daemon Velaryon was made master of ships by Aegon the Conqueror after the mouth of the Blackwater Rush had been secured. Daemon died fighting for Aegon I in the battle in the waters off Gulltown, however.

### Early Targaryen reign

House Velaryon kept an influential position at the court of the Targaryen kings during the first two centuries of the Targaryen reign. In 10 AC Ser Corlys Velaryon became the first Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Lord Aethon Velaryon had a Targaryen wife, and became master of ships for Aegon I. He fought against Sargasso Saan, a pirate-lord, in the Stepstones.

Aethon's daughter, Alyssa, was married to Prince Aenys Targaryen, heir to the throne, in 22 AC, with whom she had six children (Rhaena, Aegon, Viserys, Jaehaerys, Alysanne, and Vaella). Alyssa became queen at her husband's coronation. She outlived Aenys I and became a prisoner of his brother, Maegor I Targaryen, on Dragonstone, when Maegor claimed the throne over Aenys' sons by Alyssa. In 44 AC Alyssa fled in the confusion that followed the death of Dowager Queen Visenya Targaryen. Her last surviving son by Aenys, Jaehaerys, put forward his claim for the throne. Lord Daemon Velaryon, Maegor's admiral of the fleet, who had previously supported Maegor, turned against the cruel king, and many of the great houses of Westeros joined with him.

Alyssa's son Jaehaerys became king at the age of fourteen, and Alyssa ruled as his regent, aided by Lord Robar Baratheon. After Jaehaerys reached the age of majority, the regency ended, and Alyssa married Robar, giving birth to two more children: Boremund and Jocelyn Baratheon. The Velaryons of the Old King's reign were a house even more influential than House Lannister.

### The Sea Snake

Rule of Driftmark was eventually inherited by Lord Corlys Velaryon, also known as the Sea Snake, who rose to fame with his many voyages across the seas of the world. He accumulated so much wealth that House Velaryon became the richest house in the realm, and himself the wealthiest man in the Seven Kingdoms. Because their ancestral castle, Driftmark, was damp and crowded, Corlys constructed a new seat for the Velaryons, High Tide.

Alyssa's daughter Jocelyn was eventually wed to Alyssa's grandson, Prince Aemon Targaryen, at the time the heir to the throne. Their child, Princess Rhaenys, was in turn wed to Lord Corlys, and gave birth to two children by him: Laena and Laenor, both of whom became dragonriders. During the Great Council of 101 AC, Laenor's claim to the throne was presented before the lords of the Seven Kingdoms. Although primogeniture favored him, and his father's wealth, fame and reputation resulted is much support for Laenor, but in the end, he lost to Prince Viserys Targaryen, causing a rift between the Velaryons and the Iron Throne. After Queen Aemma Arryn died, King Viserys I's Grand Maester, Runciter, suggested Corlys's twelve-year-old daughter Laena as a new bride, but House Velaryon was passed over once more. In response, Corlys and his family shunned Viserys' wedding to Alicent Hightower.

Corlys eventually befriended Prince Daemon Targaryen, with whom he invaded the Stepstones in 106 AC. When Daemon's wife, Rhea Royce, died in 115 AC, Corlys happily agreed to wed Laena to Daemon, following the death of Laena's betrothed. Laena's brother, Laenor, had married Rhaenyra Targaryen, the Princess of Dragonstone, the year before. Although that marriage resulted in three sons, it was rumored that all three boys were bastards of Ser Harwin Strong, as they looked nothing like Rhaenyra and Laenor. Laena gave birth to twin girls for Daemon, but died in childbirth several years later, in early 120 AC. Laenor was killed shortly after by Ser Qarl Correy.