Post by Father on Sept 30, 2017 14:31:07 GMT 1
The year 194 of the Conquest marks the tenth year of King Daeron Targaryen, the second of his name. Under his reign, the realm has seen a decade of peaceful and able rule. In the year 189 king Daeron formally brought Dorne into the seven kingdoms, accomplishing through treaty and marriage what numerous kings before him failed to do by means of conquest. However, many a lord are unhappy with the number of concessions that Sunspear managed to extract, the Prince of Dorne was allowed to retain his royal title and was given the right to collect the Red Keep's taxes, along with a majority of royal appointments being granted to Dornishmen in the past five years has added to the tension. Something that does not sit well among the Marcher Lords who has fought against the Dornish for more than a thousand years, nor the Reachmen as a whole, many having lost fathers and husbands when the Dornish rose up against the occupation by the young king. House Qorqyle breach of the guest rights by murdering Lord Lyonel Tyrell under their roof, or the treacherous attack upon the young king by betraying a peace banner has not soon been forgotten either. Many great knights have also been removed from the king's counsel, some to make room for scholars and maesters, the rest for the Dornish, and no place in Westeros does that sting harder than in the cradle of chivalry that is Highgarden.
Thus there are many who speaks in hushed tones about the rumors that King Daeron may in fact be the illegitimate offspring of Prince Aemond the Dragonknight, rumors which king Aegon IV appeared to himself believe. Many looks to King Aegon's legitimized son, Daemon Waters, taking the name of Daemon Blackfyre as he was bestowed the ancestral Targaryen blade of same name, which traditionally has been handed from king to king as a symbol of his authority. They look at King Daeron, a thin man with a pot belly, never knighted, surrounded by mystics, astronomers and Dornish, then they look at Daemon, a muscular man of broad shoulders, the very image of portraits of Aegon The Conqueror, and in his company there is Ser Quentyn Ball, by many considered as the most obvious candidate for the kingsguard, but thrice overlooked by the king, Ser Roland "Redtusk" Redwyne and Ser Robb Reyne, counted amongst the finest knights of their generation are also frequently seen in his company. There is a widespread opinion in the Reach that things would be much improved with Daemon as king, for in the end only true knights can be trusted in testing times, and the Dornish are a treasonous lot that will seep their poison deep into the roots of the Targaryen tree if honest and chivalrous men do not keep their vigilance.
However, while many look at the king and his actions with dismay, some men remember that his predecessor was many magnitudes worse in every thinkable way, and in the eyes of many honorable men, a king is still king, and that loyalty and duty is not simply a matter of preference but principle. Daemon Blackfyre himself has dismissed the notion of pressing a claim without hesitation whenever the subject has been brought up. Besides, while King Daeron allegedly might be a bastard, Daemon Blackfyre is assuredly one, and the precedence of great councils of the past would have passed over his claim even if King Daeron were proven to be illegitimate. However, there are many holding the opinion that sometimes one must take providence into one's own hands, as fate did intervene against King Maegor the cruel, King Aegon II and possibly the weakling King Aenys, the latter being offered up as the best comparison. Some are saying that King Daeron simply have yet to face any opposing force he needs to protect the realm from, not from across the narrow sea, not from the Ironborn and the Dornish he has given up all that Sunspear could hope to gain in a war and more. There are those who speculate that under the leadership of Daemon, the seven kingdoms could invade Dorne again to enforce their joining under fairer terms.
And such talk is no longer simply hearsay, or a story repeated by Bittersteel over and over again with none paying heed. Both Lord Leo Tyrell himself and Lord Gormon Peake of Starpike have both suggested that the Dornish should have been brought in under the Iron Throne by steel and flame if need be, most marcher lords would tend to agree. While very few openly challenges the king, those who for ten years have warned about the breaches of tradition and above all the abandonment of the chivalric order as the linchpin which protects the realm from enemies without and corruption and rot within seems to increasingly have their claims and concerns vindicated. A confrontation must surely follow, King Daeron and his half-brother may well find themselves trapped by events beyond the control and wishes of either of them.
Thus there are many who speaks in hushed tones about the rumors that King Daeron may in fact be the illegitimate offspring of Prince Aemond the Dragonknight, rumors which king Aegon IV appeared to himself believe. Many looks to King Aegon's legitimized son, Daemon Waters, taking the name of Daemon Blackfyre as he was bestowed the ancestral Targaryen blade of same name, which traditionally has been handed from king to king as a symbol of his authority. They look at King Daeron, a thin man with a pot belly, never knighted, surrounded by mystics, astronomers and Dornish, then they look at Daemon, a muscular man of broad shoulders, the very image of portraits of Aegon The Conqueror, and in his company there is Ser Quentyn Ball, by many considered as the most obvious candidate for the kingsguard, but thrice overlooked by the king, Ser Roland "Redtusk" Redwyne and Ser Robb Reyne, counted amongst the finest knights of their generation are also frequently seen in his company. There is a widespread opinion in the Reach that things would be much improved with Daemon as king, for in the end only true knights can be trusted in testing times, and the Dornish are a treasonous lot that will seep their poison deep into the roots of the Targaryen tree if honest and chivalrous men do not keep their vigilance.
However, while many look at the king and his actions with dismay, some men remember that his predecessor was many magnitudes worse in every thinkable way, and in the eyes of many honorable men, a king is still king, and that loyalty and duty is not simply a matter of preference but principle. Daemon Blackfyre himself has dismissed the notion of pressing a claim without hesitation whenever the subject has been brought up. Besides, while King Daeron allegedly might be a bastard, Daemon Blackfyre is assuredly one, and the precedence of great councils of the past would have passed over his claim even if King Daeron were proven to be illegitimate. However, there are many holding the opinion that sometimes one must take providence into one's own hands, as fate did intervene against King Maegor the cruel, King Aegon II and possibly the weakling King Aenys, the latter being offered up as the best comparison. Some are saying that King Daeron simply have yet to face any opposing force he needs to protect the realm from, not from across the narrow sea, not from the Ironborn and the Dornish he has given up all that Sunspear could hope to gain in a war and more. There are those who speculate that under the leadership of Daemon, the seven kingdoms could invade Dorne again to enforce their joining under fairer terms.
And such talk is no longer simply hearsay, or a story repeated by Bittersteel over and over again with none paying heed. Both Lord Leo Tyrell himself and Lord Gormon Peake of Starpike have both suggested that the Dornish should have been brought in under the Iron Throne by steel and flame if need be, most marcher lords would tend to agree. While very few openly challenges the king, those who for ten years have warned about the breaches of tradition and above all the abandonment of the chivalric order as the linchpin which protects the realm from enemies without and corruption and rot within seems to increasingly have their claims and concerns vindicated. A confrontation must surely follow, King Daeron and his half-brother may well find themselves trapped by events beyond the control and wishes of either of them.