After finishing with the Rhoynar the Valyrians conquered the western coast, defeating the
remaining Andals to establish many of the settlements that came to be known as the Free
Cities such as Pentos, Myr, Tyrosh, Lys, Qohor and Norvos.
A notable exception was Braavos, founded in secret, by runaway slaves, fleeing their Valyrian
masters.
Over a hundred years later they revealed themselves to the world.
In 326BC the Valyrians once Again pushed West.
This time with the annexation of a small island in the narrow sea, coming into the possession
the Valyrian Noble House Targaryen who named it Dragonstone, meant as the Westernmost Territory
to provide a port for Trade with the Andals of Westeros.
In the final centuries before Aegon’s Conquest of Westeros, the Storm Kings began an expansion
of their holdings by invading the Riverlands, while the Ironborn slowly lost the Empire
they had built Yet after years of decline, House Hoare of
the Black Blooded Kings took power on the Islands, and sent their armies to the Riverlands,
taking it from the Storm Kings, remaining in power until Aegon’s Conquest.
The various territories of Westeros were now formed into Seven Kingdoms, with the Kingdom
of the North, Kingdom of the Isles and Rives, Kingdom of the Mountain and Vale, Kingdom
of the Rock, Kingdom of the Reach, Kingdom of the Storm and Dorne.
In the Valyrian Freehold, Daenys the Dreamer, a Lady of House Targaryen saw a vision foreseeing
the Destruction of Valyria in 126BC and convinced her family to leave the city.
House Velaryon and Celtigar joined them and they made their home on Dragonstone and the
nearby Islands, taking with them 5 living Dragons including Balerion the Black Dread.
12 years later in 114 BC the Doom of Valyria shattered the Valyrian peninsula with many
believing the destruction was cause by the eruption of the 14 Fires, the chain of Volcanoes
where the Valyrians first found dragons and bonded with them.
After the loss of their homeland, Aurion, one of the few surviving Dragon Lords declared
himself First Emperor of Valyria and raising an army of 30000 soldiers in Qohor, leading
them south with the aim of retaking the peninsula.
Yet neither he, his dragon or his army were ever heard from again.
On Dragonstone, thanks to the vision of Daenys the Dreamer, House Targaryen avoided the fate
of their people and were now some of the last people in all the known world in possession
of living dragons.
After the Fall of the Valyrian Freehold, Essos became embroiled in a 100 years of war between
rival factions vying for power.
This time became known as the Bleeding years or Century of Blood most associated with the
rise of the nomadic Dothraki horse lords, who rampaged across the continent, burning
cities and forming what would become the Dothraki sea by conquering the Kingdoms of Sarnor,
the Ibbenese settlements in the Ifequevron, and many of the Qaathi city states of the
red waste.
Meanwhile the Free Cities fought amongst themselves for land and to control trade in the west.
At the Battle of Qohor, also known as the Battle of the 3 thousand, the city state of
Qohor defended against a Dothraki horde of 25000.
And while their defeat seemed all but assured, the Qohori used an army of 3000 Unsullied
warriors.
Famed slave soldiers, castrated at a young age and trained their whole lives for battle.
Although only 600 Unsullied survived the fighting, they killed over 12000 Dothraki, causing them
to retreat and halting their western migration.
After years of preparation, The Dragon Lord Aegon the Conquerer along with his sister
wives Rhaenyra and Visenya, rode their Dragons West, and with an army of only 1600 began
their invasion of Westeros.
One by one the Kingdoms that ruled the continent fell to the Targaryens.
And while they often fought with a disadvantage in numbers, their Dragons rampaged across
the land until the last remaining rulers either bent the knee or died resisting.
Under the Targaryens, House Baratheon became Lords of the Stormlands, The Starks Lords
of the North, The Tullys Lords of the Riverlands, The Greyjoys Lords of the Iron Islands, the
Tyrells Lords of the Reach, the Lannisters Lords of the Westerlands, and the Arryns Lords
of the vale.
Only Dorne was able to avoid conquest, warning the Targaryens that they would never yield.
With nearly all of the continent conquered, Aegon Targaryen was crowned King of Westeros
and Protector of the Realm.
Marking year 1 of Aegon’s Conquest.
The new monarch then created the position Hand of the King appointing his closest friend
and possible half brother Orys Baratheon to the station.
A few years later Aegon once again invaded Dorne in the First Dornish War, attempting
to unite the continent under his rule.
In 10AC Rhaenys, Queen of Westeros and wife of Aegon I, was believed to have died in battle.
The war then continued on for 3 more years until King Aegon received a mysterious letter
from Prince Nymor Martell, ruler of Dorne.
And while the contents of the letter remain unknown, some have theorized that perhaps
it stated Rhaenyra was still alive, having been captured and kept as prisoner under torture.
The letter may then have offered to end her suffering in exchange for a cessation of hostilities,
and so Aegon immediately withdrew his troops from Dorne, ending the war.
In 37AC Aegon the Conquerer, First King of Westeros died of natural causes.
In his absence, his eldest son Aenys inherited the throne.
During the reign of Aenys I, House Targaryen would continue the Valyrian tradition of Incest,
marrying his eldest daughter Rhaena to his eldest son Aegon.
However this came into conflict with the moral teaching of the Faith of the Seven.
And so many rebelled against the Targaryens.
For years the Faith Militants organized their forces and waged war against the crown.
King Aenys in turn proved poorly suited to rule, incapable of stopping the bloodshed
and dying of illness on Dragonstone only a year after the conflict started.
After the death of King Aenys, the elderly Queen Visenya, widow of Aegon the Conquerer,
flew to Pentos and brought back her son and Aenys half brother, Maegor Targaryen.
Queen Visenya then took Aenys’ children hostage, proclaiming Maegor King and issuing
an open challenge to any who disputed the claim.
This challenge was accepted by Ser Damon Morrigen called the Devout, and they fought each other
in a Trial of Seven, with Maegor emerging victorious.
King Maegor spent the years of his reign battling the Faith Militants and earning a reputation
for cruelty.
In 44AC Queen Visenya Targaryen, Mother of King Maegor, wife of Aegon I, died of natural
causes.
In 45AC THE KING completed construction of the Red Keep and Maegor’s Holdfast, creating
a vast labyrinth of hidden passages and ensuring their secrecy by killing the many craftsmen
and laborers who worked on the project.
He also went to war with Prince Aegon and later Prince Jaehaerys, the sons of Aenys,
who continued to dispute his claim to the Throne.
Maegor struggled without the guidance of his mother, and in 48AC was abandoned by his wife
and several of his Kingsguard.
King Maegor I died sitting on the Iron Throne, many believing he slit his wrists in the night.
With Maegor dead, rule fell to his nephew Jaehaerys.
King Jaeherys I went on to declare a truce, ending the war with the Faith Militants by
granting their member’s amnesty in return for their submission to Targaryen rule.
He became known as the Conciliator and had a long and prosperous reign, with many believing
he was the greatest King Westeros ever knew.
After the death of his son and heir, King Jaeherys called a great Council to decide
on the issue of inheritance.
The First Great Council of 101 AC Chose to honor a Male heir in Prince Viserys, son of
the Kings thirdborn over Princess Rhaenys daughter of the kings Secondborn, leaving
a precedent for future generations, that the Iron Throne could not pass to a woman, or
to a male descendant of a woman if a male heir existed within the family.
Two year later, King Jaeherys died of natural causes.
King Viserys I then came to power and was considered a good ruler, keeping Westeros
prosperous and peaceful.
He had three children but his two sons died young, leaving only Princess Rhaenyra as a
possible heir.
Despite the precedent of the Great Council, Viserys embraced the idea of a female heir
in order to avoid having his brother, “The Rogue Prince” Daemon Targaryen, take the
Throne.
The Kingdom united behind this arrangement and in 105AC, hundreds of Lords and Knights
swore Oaths to defend Princess Rhaenyra’s right to the throne.
After the death of his first wife, Viserys married Lady Alicent Hightower.
The King and Queen produced many sons, but Viserys insisted on keeping his eldest daughter
Rhaenyra as heir.
Queen Alicent, determined to see her first born son Aegon crowned as king, then headed
a faction that came to be known as the Greens, while Princess Rhaenyra led the Blacks.
Viserys often attempted to bring peace between them but to no avail.
In 129 AC King Viserys died of natural causes, and Queen Alicent along with her Kingsguard
Ser Criston Cole immediately set to usurping the Throne.
She proclaimed her eldest Son Aegon, King of Westeros, Second of his name and Legitimate
heir to Viserys Targaryen.
Legally she would cite the Great Council of 101AC where it was decided Females could not
inherit the throne and could not pass it down through their line.
Therefore the Crown must go to the eldest son by the king.
On Dragonstone a pregnant Rhaenyra was enraged at the betrayal of the Queen and was so upset
she went into early labor, losing the child.
Once she recovered she raised her armies and waged war against the Queen and Aegon II.
Known as the Dance of the Dragons, this was the first major civil of the Seven Kingdoms,
and saw the continent split in support of the Blacks and Greens.
While many kept the oaths taken in 105AC to Rhaenyra, others did not, and stayed neutral
or supported Aegon.
After years of fighting the war ended disastrously for House Targaryen, with both contenders
for the throne dead.
Along with a great majority of their Dragons and dragonriders.
In 131AC The Old Man of the North Cregan Stark, Lord of Winterfell, came South with a mighty
army in support of Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Even after her death, they continued to King’s Landing, eager to take revenge.
But before they arrived Aegon II was poisoned and with no more male heirs on his side of
the family, Rhaenyra’s son Aegon III was crowned king.
Lord Stark was enraged that the war ended before his army could crush the rebel forces.
And so he had young Aegon name him Hand of the King, an office he held for a single day,
in which he arrested all those suspected of poisoning the king and passed judgement on
them, sending some to the wall and others to their graves.
Afterwhich, he resigned his position and returned to the North.
Although Queen Alicent survived the war, she was arrested shortly after and died in the
prisons of King’s Landing in 133AC of Winter Fever
Following the Dance of the Dragons, King Aegon III sat the iron throne and attempted to rebuild
the kingdom.
Though his reign was largely peaceful, he was unable to breed healthy dragons, and with
so many lost in the war, the race went extinct under his rule, thus earning him the name
Dragonbane.
In 157 AC King Aegon III died of natural causes.