Dragonstone

Dragonstone is a castle located on the island of the same name at the entrance to Blackwater Bay. Located below the Dragonmont and shaped from stone to look like dragons, Dragonstone was the original seat of House Targaryen in Westeros but has since been the seat for the ruling lord's heir apparent.

Currently that title is held by Rhaegar Targaryen.

Layout
Dragonstone is a grim place. The citadel of Dragonstone is wrought all of black stone, and instead of merlons, grotesques and gargoyles serve as brooding crenellations along the three curtain walls. Designs include basilisks, cockatrices, demons, griffins, hellhounds, manticores, minotaurs, wyverns, and other creatures. Further, statues in the shape of dragons can be found all over the castle.

Notable locations at Dragonstone include:
 * The Stone Drum: A massive tower which serves as the central keep of Dragonstone, named for the booming and rumbling sounds that can be heard during storms. To reach the Stone Drum from the Sea Dragon Tower, one must cross the gallery and pass through the middle and inner walls. A high stone roofed bridge arching over emptiness leads from the Stone Drum to the entrance towards the dungeons.


 * The Chamber of the Painted Table: Located on the top floor of the Stone Drum, the Chamber of the Painted Table is a round room with four tall windows, overlooking the north, south, east and west, and bare black walls. It holds a large table, the Painted Table, carved and painted in the form of a detailed map of Westeros. Here, Aegon the Conqueror planned for the invasion of Westeros. The Painted Table is more than fifty feet long: roughly twenty-five feet wide at its widest point and four feet at its thinnest. At the precise location of Dragonstone is a raised seat that allows the occupant to view the entire map.


 * The Great Hall: The Great Hall is carved in the shape of a huge dragon lying on its belly; its doors are set in the mouth and those entering pass through its mouth. The kitchens resemble a curled up dragon where the smoke and heat vented through its nostrils.


 * The Windwyrm: One of Dragonstone's towers, shaped like a dragon which seems to scream defiance.


 * The Sea Dragon Tower: One of Dragonstone's towers, shaped like a dragon gazing serenely out across the sea. The maester's chambers are located in this tower, below the rookery. The turnpike stairs of the tower are narrow and twisting.

History
After the Targaryen conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, the island in the newly created crownlands served as the seat of their heir apparent, known as the Prince of Dragonstone. After Robert Baratheon overthrew the Targaryens, he gave the island to his brother Stannis, creating House Baratheon of Dragonstone. This house went extinct in the year 300AC when Loras Tyrell took the castle, later giving it to the invading Aegon VI Targaryen.

Since then the castle and island have resumed their original function of serving as the holdfast of the heir apparent to the Iron Throne.