Winter Palace

The Winter Palace was a royal holding under construction upon the orders of King Rhaegar I. They say the palace, for it was not meant to be styled as a keep or castle meant to withstand onslaught or war, was to be the most expansive and beautiful holding that House Targaryen had attempted since the building of Summerhall some centuries before. The project was beset by a plethora of complications from the start, and was eventually abandoned on the advice of Prince Aenar in 344 A..C.

History
King Rhaegar the first had always been fascinated with the methods of building, and was a great student of architecture. Moreover, when he was Prince of Dragonstone, was filled with a desire to see his family’s holdings restored in their entirety. It was by his advocacy that Summerhall was rebuilt, and a greater royal presence installed in the Stormlands. The pressures and precedent put forward by his parents had ever left in him a desire to cement his own legacy.

Summerhall was completed, and was regarded as a great accomplishment by Rhaegar’s contemporaries. After succeeding his father to the throne Rhaegar had an even greater desire to expand the reach of the royals by more tangible means than those that were preferred by his Small Council. The Second Conquest had been a success, but there were still many instances of discontent that the restored dynasty had need to address.

In the end Rhaegar got his wish, and decided to place this new holding in the North. The Northern Lords, though accepting of the renewed Targaryen rule at the onset, had often been ripe for rebellion. House Stark had been an ally to the Targaryen’s in this regard, but the King was of the mind that a greater royal presence, such as they had in the Stormlands, could do much to reinforce their sovereignty.

Construction began at the confluence of the White Knife, a site settled upon by the royals and Lord of Wintefell alike, in 333 A.C.

Controversy
As time went on it became apparent that a great number of the Northern lords took exception to the placement of the castle. It was these lords who, upon seeing the layout of what was to be the lightly-fortified and expansive holding, dubbed it the Winter Palace. A name not meant to flatter, but rather note its garish, luxuriant nature. Aspects that were the antithesis of the Northern way of life.

Chief among the detractors was a young scion of House Stark, whom history now knows as Brandon the Black. Using his influence and popularity, Brandon was integral to the efforts to thwart the Winter Palace’s completion. Rhaegar’s plans seemed folly as the years passed. The North was closer to a state of open rebellion than it had been since before the fall of House Bolton.

It reached to such a point that the King’s children, Prince Aenar and Princess Helaena, were dispatched to oversee construction. An action that led to a series of events known as the Intercession in the North.

Abandonment
After the execution of Brandon the Black, and death of King Rhaegar I, Aenar decided the wisest decision he could make was to cease construction. This act proved a pacification for the Northern lords. Considerable progress had been made, despite the setbacks, but no attempts were made to revitalize the project. It remains abandoned, a constant reminder of House Targaryen’s reach and its limitations.