Doran Martell

Prince **Doran Martell**, is the head of House Martell, the Prince of Dorne, and the Lord of Sunspear.

Married to Lady Mellario, of the Free City of Norvos, he has three children: Arianne, Quentyn, and Trystane. He has two siblings, his younger sister, Queen Elia Martell and his brother Prince Oberyn Martell.

## **Appearance and Character:**

Doran is a cautious, pensive, and subtle man. He is prone to think long on the matters before him, weighing every word and every action.

He has a bad case of gout which has recently left him unable to walk, instead having to rely on his wheeled chair, or a palanquin, to move around. He appears to be much older than he is in truth. His body is soft and shapeless, and the gout has swollen and reddened the joints of his knees, toes, and hands. He covers his legs and feet with a blanket, blocking the sight of his gout. Due to his gout, he only travels in a palanquin, and is rarely seen in public, as he does not want to appear weak in the eyes of his enemies.

## **History:**

Doran was the first born child of his parents, and thus heir to his mother, the Princess of Dorne. For years, he was an only child, as his mother had several miscarriages. While he would have four siblings, Mors and Olyvar, both died in the cradle. **Doran** spent several years of his childhood at The Water Gardens, and by the age of nine, he was a squire to Lord Gargalen at Salt Shore. While there, his mother gave birth to his sister, Elia. As Elia had been born one month premature, Doran was convinced that his sister too would die, as their brothers had done before, but she survived. A year later, Doran's brother Oberyn was born.

As a young man, Doran took a tour through the Free Cities. He visited Volantis and next went to Norvos, where he met his future wife, Lady Mellario. They fell in love and Mellario returned to Dorne with Doran, where they were betrothed and would soon after marry. Areo Hotah escorted Mellario and entered the service of House Martell. When his mother, her consort, and Doran's two younger siblings traveled through the south of The Seven Kingdoms on a quest to find suitable matches for Elia and Oberyn, Doran stayed behind as castellan of Sunspear, with Mellario. Although Mellario was highborn enough to become his wife, most marriages between nobles in Westeros are political. A love match is very uncommon. Doran and Mellario's first child, Arianne, was born. Doran inherited the rule of Dorne.

Doran's sister Elia Martell was betrothed to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the heir of King Aerys II Targaryen and wed him a year later. She had two young children by Rhaegar, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon. When Rhaegar disappeared with Lyanna Stark, not long after Aegon's birth, it started a chain of events leading to Robert's Rebellion, in which the north, and several houses from The Stormlands and The Vale of Arryn (later joined by several houses from The Riverlands) fought against the Iron Throne and House Targaryen. Doran was furious about the way Elia had been treated by Rhaegar, and as a consequence was slow to lend any aid to the Targaryens.

Although reluctant to help the Targaryen cause in the war, Doran feared for the safety of his sister and his niece and nephew being in the capital with The Mad King, after hearing the reports of his further descent into madness. Doran sent his brother, Prince Oberyn, to lead the Dornish army to King's Landing.

When the reports came in that The Mad King was dead and Prince Rhaegar had ended the war with Robert Baratheon, Doran had received ravens from his sister explaining the situation with Rhaegar and Lyanna, that she was aware of the plan before it happened and gave Rhaegar her blessing. Doran was unable to accept that, he was still furious with the Prince, that he had insulted his sister, House Martell and Dorne. When Oberyn returned from King's Landing, he managed to calm down Prince Doran who accepted that Elia was happy that Lyanna was married to Rhaegar and that Aegon would always remain the heir, it did enough to calm him down.

Prince Doran was invited to go to the coronation of King Rhaegar I Targaryen, he accepted the invitation and went with his wife, Lady Mellario, his daughter, Princess Arianne and his brother Prince Oberyn. He took his daughter to meet her aunt, Queen Elia Martell and her cousins, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon. During his time in the capital, King Rhaegar offered him a position on his small council, which he accepted but has his brother Prince Oberyn sat on the council in his place as the Master of Laws.

Prince Doran and Lady Mellario had two more children, two sons, Prince Quentyn and Prince Trystane. Doran also sent his son Quentyn, to serve Lord Ormond Yronwood as a page, and later squire. Quentyn's fostering was done to make peace with the Yronwoods, as enmity between the two houses had arisen after the death of Lord Edgar Yronwood. However, this caused another strain on Doran's marriage to Mellario. Although they had married out of love, their marriage had not been very happy. Mellario had not been able to get used to the Dornish customs, which were so different from the Norvoshi customs. As such, Mellario did not approve of Quentyn's fostering, which is not common in Norvoshi culture, believing her son to be much too young at the time. However, Doran and Mellario's marriage continued to deteriorate, and she would never forgive Doran for sending Quentyn away. Eventually, she went back to Norvos.

While he had planned to tell Arianne about her betrothal to the Crown Prince, Aegon Targaryen, he decided to keep the secret from her due to her spirited and willful nature. Unbeknownst to Doran, however, Arianne had read a letter Doran had been writing to Quentyn, in which he mentioned that Quentyn would inherit the rule of Dorne from Doran. Thus, she had come to believe that Doran's coolness towards her was due to the fact that he wanted to disinherit her, and name Quentyn his heir instead.