Aerion Targaryen

Aerion Targaryen is the Prince of Summerhall and the second son of King Rhaegar II Targaryen and his sister-wife, Queen Rhaenys. Aerion rides the dragon, Vhaegon, known as the Black Scourge. Willful and passionate, Aerion is known equally for his proclivity for violence and easy charms. What doesn't bend before the Prince of Summerhall, he is more than happy to break.

Appearance and Character
A head taller than most men and with shoulders like an ox, Prince Aerion was blessed with a build akin to Maegor the Cruel or Robert Baratheon. Such is his physicality, he nearly killed his mother Rhaenys upon entering the world. Despite his impressive physique, Aerion chooses to clad himself silk and soft fabrics, oft dressing in a style of eastern and Dornish influence. The Prince of Summerhall prefers loose tunics and flowing robes that leave little and less to the imagination, but can quickly transform into a mountain of steel when he dons his black plate.

Aerion wears his wealth with pride. Gemstones and rare metals litter his body in the shape of rings, chains and necklaces. Most treasured of all, on his right hand he wears a ring of Valyrian steel, a remnant of the old world left behind by his mother Rhaenys. Two gold bands depicting Valyrian runes wrap around the thickest part of each of his arms.

Altogether, Prince Aerion looks as though he hails from a different age. He presents as a lost warrior of Valyria, living in a culture ruled by Andal ideals and appearances. His dissonance with the modern world is reflected in his dominant personality. Might makes right, and for Aerion, raw power is the ultimate equalizer in any situation. He's a man who loves as fiercely as he hates, and finds strength in his wild passions.

While not outwardly pious, Aerion is a deeply superstitious man. In Dorne, and on trips to Essos he claims to have witnessed sorcery and the waning power of the Red Faith. Princess Naerys confiding her dragon-dreams with Aerion and Queen Rhaenys' blackened hand stroking his brow seems to have left an a profound on the man's belief system.

Early Life (412 A.C. - 422 A.C.)
Aerion's first day alive was nearly a tragedy. Queen Rhaenys fought her way to the Stranger's doorstep to deliver her second son, but in a stroke of beautiful irony, the harrowing labor would forever bond them. So too would the event hang a shadow of violence over Aerion's entire life. But as they so often are for children of royal blood, Aerion's earliest days left him without want. He was spared nothing, not even a mother's love. The genuine affection Rhaenys showered him with left Aerion feeling secure, and more importantly, endlessly confident.

As time passed, Aerion's confidence grew exponentially, and so too did he. At four, he ran the halls of the Red Keep like a wild little beast, chasing cats and the other children. By five, Aerion could lift a practice sword and a tiny wooden shield. By six, he learned to love striking with it, and by his seventh year, his exceptional strength had grown to the degree he could wrestle with boys three years his senior and spar with the pages and squires littering King's Landing.

It seemed predestined that Prince Aerion should grow up to be a warrior. However, it wasn't the stories of Aemon the Dragonknight or Ser Arthur Dayne that Aerion begged to hear at night, but those of Aegon the Conqueror, Daenerys Stormborn and most of all, his own Grandmother, Queen Visaera. He cared not for chivalry, but instead, his young mind yearned for tales of fire and blood.

By his tenth year, Aerion's boldness manifested in increasingly violent ways. His prodigious strength and size coupled with his untouchable status as prince of the blood was the perfect storm to create a proper bully. Terrorizing his peers became a pleasant pass time. None received Aerion's juvenile wrath more than his baby brother Baelor, who fancied himself a young knight and regularly stood up to Aerion in defense of the other boys roaming the Red Keep. Perhaps in spite of his proclivity for violence, Aerion developed many softer, 'feminine' habits throughout his early years. None so prevalent as his adoration for poetry and music. When in a fit, it's said only a melody sung by the Queen mother herself could sooth Aerion in his most turbulent moments. It was often to his half-sister Visenya Silvermoon that he would express himself away from the tourney yard, for his bastard sister was instrumental in teaching Prince Aerion the Valyrian tongue and of the literature of their fallen forebearers.

Dornish Nights (423 - 428 A.C.)
Much to the reluctance of Queen Rhaenys, by his eleventh year, it became increasingly apparent that Aerion could do with time away capital. The decision ultimately came to King Rhaegar that Aerion should be fostered in Sunspear by none other than Morgan Martell. Again, Aerion would be thrust into a perfect storm. Being the most willful and passionate of the royal children, it seemed terribly fitting that he should spend the most formative years of his life in a land where these characteristics reigned paramount above all else.

Upon arriving in Sunspear, Aerion seemed to forget about life in the capital all at once. Sure, King's Landing was a hotbed for exoticism, but nothing could have enticed the princling more than the silk-swathed, spice filled streets of his new home. The people were swarthy, clever and crass. The men were fierce. The women were the most beautiful he'd ever seen. He became fast friends with Trystane Martell, the heir to Sunspear, instantly. While he still carried the name Targaryen, in this wild land, he would have to earn the respect of the Dornish by merits, not by merely having the right blood. The next five years would be the ultimate test of Aerion's confidence. It wasn't long until Aerion picked up a spear and began to learn how to fight like a proper Dornishman. His first spar ended utter disaster. Not only was he swiftly defeated, but he was knocked to his arse by a little girl. Young Nymella Uller was the one to teach Aerion his first lesson of Dorne. In the scorching south, the women were far more dangerous than the men.

Aerion quickly adapted to the idiosyncrasies of his new home. Spicy food and sweltering nights became the new norm. Gone was the everlasting comfort of the royal court, for in Dorne, it seemed as though a subtle danger lurked in the undercurrent of the entire society. Aerion ever wild, ever yearning for adventure, loved every day of it. He was taught pride in place of humility, passion in place of temperance. All that was inherent to him as a child became justified under the tutelage of Morgan Martell and the courts of Dornish nobility. By his fourteenth year, Aerion stood eye to eye with most grown men and could wield a spear as well as any Dornish footman. By fifteen, he'd at long last made a name for himself as a promising young warrior. Dorne's close proximity with the Stepstones made its prosperous shores ripe for piracy. It was on a cool summer night that Morgan Martell brought his ward and a retinue of men to eliminate such a threat. Aerion killed not just his first man that night, but half a dozen more. His years of training paid off with deadly efficiency, and in the death cries of the untrained, unprepared pirates, Aerion learned yet another facet of himself: bloodlust.

Near the end of his tenure in Dorne, Aerion was not only known for his love for a proper duel, but for a much more blind lust. Of all the tenants of Dornish society, Aerion embraced its fluid promiscuity. The Prince did not discriminate between male or female. Beauty was beauty and when not listening to the sigh of a lover, Aerion embedded himself further into music and poetry.

The Prince of Summer (428 - 430 A.C.)
Aerion's wardship in Dorne ended with the Springtide celebrations and marked his true ascent to manhood. Though he oft visited the capital during his stay in Dorne, Aerion returned north significantly changed. Dorne had tempered him, and in the same stroke, emboldened his fiery passions. As a boy, he'd been raw iron, sturdy but unwieldy, but now he was steel. His newfound dress, tastes, interests and desires were all foreign to those he'd grown up alongside.

None of that mattered, however, for Aerion would soon be given lordship over Summerhall. A grand palace where his word would be law. The wedding of Aegon and Rhaenyra passed as a joyous affair and Aerion embraced the opportunity to reconnect with the family he'd spent so many years away from. Most of all, he was elated to be back in the constant company of Queen Rhaenys and young Naerys who he'd hardly known since she was a suckling babe. Genuine, brotherly love blossomed in Aerion's heart and he was quick to the take the bookish girl under his wing.

Beneath the Iron Throne and his mother's proud gaze, Aerion would take on the title of the Prince of Summerhall and all the splendor that came with it. What followed was a daze of wine and women. A celebration that stretched from King's Landing all the way to the Summerhall and lasted months. Such was the whim of a sixteen-year-old prince who'd lived a life without restraint.

Once the celebrations settled, Aerion turned his attention to ruling. Helping with this endeavor, Rhaenys oft joined the prince for prolonged stays at Summerhall, the splendid palace having been her charge not so long ago. During these years the Queen Mother's health began to decline and where once she was Aerion's primary caretaker, their roles reversed. Her sickness hung a shadow over Aerion which was only abated by the presence of his sister Naerys during the twilight of the Queen's life.

Before long came Aerion's turn to wed. It was a proper tragedy when Aerion learned he would have to curtail his whoring, but the blow was softened when he discovered exactly who he would be marrying. Elyana Dayne, a true Dornish woman, one of the most beautiful in the realm and one of the few who resisted his charms years earlier. Their wedding came and went as a predictably lavish affair with everyone of importance in attendance. Aerion found married life to be far less frightening then he'd imagined, which perhaps is more a testament to Elyana.

Waking the Dragon (431 - 434 A.C.)
Tragedy struck in early 431 A.C. The moment Aerion had dreaded for so long, the death of Queen Rhaenys. He was inconsolable after her passing and haunted Summerhall like a ghost of wrath, venting his sorrow on servants and family alike. His pain was echoed by the dragon Vhaegon, who raged across the countryside. His fires lit up the hills to the south of Summerhall like mountainous funeral pyres. One night, Aerion's dismay reached a crescendo, and without a word, he rode off alone towards the blazes in the distance.

Weeks of silence passed, and some began to wonder at the fate of Prince Aerion. Had he been lost to the wilderness? Captured by bandits? Burned alive by his own mother's dragon? When black wings again filled the skies over Summerhall, fear overtook the palace, fear, that was quickly quashed when they saw the silver-haired specter of their lord on Vhaegon's back.

Aerion dismounted Vhaegon's bare back and commanded that a statue of his mother be erected in the gardens at once. Once her likeness had been encapsulated in granite and onyx, Aerion only ever mentioned Queen Rhaenys name in sweet remembrance.

431 A.C. continued with a scandalous bang: The Silver Wedding. At first, Aerion was simply relieved to no longer be in the spotlight of court gossip, but as the event drew ever nearer, something far darker festered in the Prince of Summerhall. The rest of the realm postured at the political consequences of the marriage, but Aerion could think only of his own jealousy. And what pitiful jealousy it was. Aerion had by his side a woman of renowned beauty and loyalty, and yet he couldn't find an ounce of happiness for his brother and half-sister's union. During the wedding, Prince Aerion was distant and irritatable and seemed to only enjoy the company of his younger brother Daemon. In the tourney field, Aerion channeled his frustrations into the tip of his lance. In the final tilt, he faced his youngest brother Baelor, a contest worthy of song. The thrill of the moment was lost to Aerion however, as the man seemed to have achieved his great victory solely out of spite, a testament to both his will and martial prowess.

Conflict, within and without, would be the tune of the next five years. The current of unrest that filled the realm reflected the discord in Aerion's own heart. The realm was the first to break with the onset of the Second Hammer Uprising. Aerion swiftly traveled to the capital and lent his assistance in the fighting that had broken out all across the Crownlands. When riots erupted in King's Landing, Aerion escorted members of the royal court to Dragonstone. Among them, his brother Daemon. Over the years the two had become ever closer, Aerion a perpetual grounding force in Daemon's life, just as Rhaenys was in his. Storms wracked the island fortress, forcing Aerion to wait on Dragonstone a spell before returning to the fighting. With his blood still hot from the war, Aerion would imbibe in dangerous decadence on those stormy nights.

Aerion continued to take part in the battles of the Second Hammer Uprising between 433 and 434, moving between Summerhall and the battlefronts when needed. For Aerion, the only thing more cathartic than taking a man's life was creating one. At the beginning of 434, Aerion learned that his wife Elyana had become pregnant. The news served as a ray of light in the darkness that gripped both Aerion and the realm.

The War of Stone and Sky (434 - 435 A.C.)
A letter from his old friend Trystane Martell called Aerion's wrath south. The war was in full swing across the realm, and not even Dorne remained united. A new Vulture King had arisen in the south, and Trystane could no longer contain the fires of rebellion without a fire of his own. Aerion arrived in Dorne just as the rebel host laid siege to Godsgrace. What followed was utter annihilation. The stony lords were caught completely unawares by the arrival of a dragon rider once the loyalist forces joined them in battle. The sky darkened with black wings as Aerion unleashed death from above. What men weren't turned to ash ran in terror from the unrelenting onslaught. Aerion showed little restraint during the battle and landed several times, allowing Vhaegon to use his fangs and claws to rend through the rebel forces in a terrifying rampage. When all was said and done, Aerion walked through the carnage to inspect his handiwork. Looking towards the smoke-choked sky, Aerion finally understood the true meaning of power.

The battle earned Vhaegon a new epithet, the Black Scourge.

The war was all but over after the decimation of the rebel host at Godsgrace, but Aerion remained in Dorne long after to oversee the capture and eventual trial of the remaining rebel lords. He saw personally to the reclamation of Starfall and ensured the ancestral home of his wife was restored to his proper status.

A Warrior Without a War (435 - 438 A.C.)
Aerion returned home expecting to find a newborn heir, but in his absence, Elyana had miscarried. For the next three years, the miscarriage and their inability to conceive again would cast a great shadow over what was often times an amicable, satisfying marriage. Aerion often pondered if the Gods cursed him for his acts during the War of Stone and Sky, and that this was his price to pay for being an agent of so much death. He would never speak such thoughts aloud, but they festered all the same and contributed to the deep sense of restlessness Aerion felt after the war.

As brutal as it was, the war had given Aerion a purpose, and more importantly, a taste of his true power. He openly blamed Aegon and the Silver Wedding as the tipping point that set the realm aflame. More and more he spoke out against his brother's policies and became disillusioned with the politics of the royal court. Rhaegar II hadn't been the greatest of kings, but Aerion remembered him more fondly after his death and would often times cite his father's 'heroic' deeds.

What started as a scandalous tryst between Daemon and Aerion evolved into a full-fledged affair in the years following the war. Not that Aerion ever cared for fidelity, but he always made a point to not publically bring shame to his marriage with Elyana. This modicum of respect he held for his marriage made the affair with his brother all the more dangerous. Ironically, Daemon and Elyana came to quickly represent the factions growing within the royal court: the Wings and the Talons. They sat as twin devils on his shoulders and rendered Aerion's best efforts to detangle himself from politics futile.

As much as Aerion wandered after the war, it was love and blood that kept him tied to the affairs of the realm.