House Velaryon

House Velaryon of King's Landing is the ruling family of the Seven Kingdoms ever since the death of Rhaenrya Targaryen after the Dance of the Dragons. Their line was founded by King Jacaerys Velaryon, the son of Queen Rhaenyra, who successfully claimed the Iron Throne following the Black victory in the Dance. Since their ascension to the throne they have adopted the traditional blade of Kingship of House Targaryen, the Valyrian Steel bastard sword Blackfyre.

Appearance and Traits
Traditionally sharing the Valyrian characteristic of their Targaryen lieges, since the birth of Jacaerys and his siblings the appearance of House Velaryon has shifted to be more Andal in character often possessing brown hair and eyes with pug noses.

Though Valyrian in origin, culturally they have better integrated in their new Andal homeland losing some of their traditional Valyrian customs in the process. There have been little to no known cases of Velaryon sibling marriages or polygamy and with it cases of the so called "Targaryen madness". It is further unknown if any Velaryon can "dream" similarly to that of some Targaryens. Though Andalized the house does maintain a fluency in the old tongue of High Valyrian albeit used as a secondary language in practice.

Origins and Conquest
House Velaryon is an ancient house of Valyria having emigrated to Westeros even before the more famous Targaryens. According to legend the Velaryons raised their castle of Driftmark on Driftwood Island, making a pact with the Merling King in the process granting them their famous seat of the Driftwood Throne.

When the Targaryens emigrated to Dragonstone the Velaryons became fast allies providing the naval arm of the Targaryen military as exemplified during the conquest as many of Aegon's levies and mercenaries were ferried to the mainland by Driftmark vessels. Their long service in this role earned them a near monopoly as Master of Ships.

The Dance of the Dragons
With the union of Laenor Velaryon and Rhaenyra Targaryen having born three children: Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey Velaryon, House Velaryon under the leadership of Lord Corly "The Sea Snake" Velaryon became one of the strongest pillars of support for Rhaenyra's claim to the throne. Throughout the war they served their Queen faithfully and scored a decisive victory at the Battle of the Gullet both preserving the blockade of King's Landing and causing the Triarchy to collapse in the process. The Velaryon bastard Addam Waters became a legendary within the ranks of the Blacks for his sacrifice during the Second Battle of Tumbleton where he and his steed Seasmoke died routing the Greens forces and even nearly killing Prince Daeron Targaryen forcing the great blue dragon Tessarion to flee to Lys for survival.

Recent History
When Rhaenyra Targaryen passed in 135 A.C. the throne fell to her son Jacaerys thus ending the Targaryen domination of the Seven Kingdoms, beginning the age of the Velaryons. Much like his mother's reign, his would not be an easy one, with the embers of civil war ever present after the Dance only fanned by the growing threat of the line of Daeron Targaryen, the last prince of the Green cause. Though exiled the Targaryens had rebuilt their power on the island of Lys atop the great dragon Tessarion, though no longer masters of their own kingdom the threat of a second Targaryen conquest loomed. With the death of Daeron and ascension of his son, Aegon, the court at King's Landing learned through their agents that war would be coming sooner than they thought.

It came as a shock to the court that it was not their own domains that were first on the Targaryen's list but that of the still independent Principality of Dorne whose capitol of Sunspear fell quickly to the Targaryen advance. Shrewdly, Jacaerys took the opportunity of collapsing Dornish resistance to negotiate a peaceful annexation and alliance with the Principality which prevailed in repulsing Aegon's advance forcing with withdrawal albeit at the cost of the last dragon in the Seven Kingdoms, Moringstar. Jacaerys' remaining reign was spent reconstructing Dorne and arranging marriages between his family and that of Dorne to ensure Dorne would remain even after his death. After a long reign the king would pass in 165 A.C. leaving the kingdom in the hands of his son, Monterys. He would go down in the histories as "Jacaerys the Brilliant".

The reign of Monterys would be the most peaceful reign since Viserys Targaryen, with few conflicts within the kingdom breaking out during his reign. Despite this mirage of peace, Monterys was not the king his father was, and it showed to anyone even vaguely aware of the events of the court. Though married with a Rowan Queen, Monterys spent long nights with the bottle and in the arms of numerous paramours, even leaving bastards with many of them. It was whispered that the only reason he survived his reign at all was the legacy of his illustrious father, a legacy he so spit on that by his death from syphilis in 184 A.C. he had become known by the humiliating epitaph of "Monterys the Ruin."

The Reign of King Maelor Velaryon was wrought with mass unrest caused by a myriad of reasons, many relating to his fathers misdeeds. This culminated in the realm wide civil war known as Darklyn's Rebellion. Under his reign the Regency Council was formed.