House Vunatis

The House of Vunatis is one of the ancestral families of Lys. Once a wealthy family, the Vunatis were connected through marriage to nobility from several of the Free Cities, like Volantis, Tyrosh, Myr and Pentos. The House of Vunatis was founded before the Doom of Valyria, and possess an ancestral Valyrian Steel blade named Seafoam.

The sigil of the Vunatis is a black sea dragon delineated silver, breathing flame silver on dark blue.

The current Matriarch of House Vunatis is Aemma Vunatis, the Lady of Sunstone, although she's exiled from Lys. The current Patriarch of the family at Lys is Khorane Vunatis.

Origins
The House of Vunatis was founded back on the First Century before the Doom. Their family was founded by an exiled cadet branch of another family of Valyrian dragonlords. Exiled to the colonies after losing their power, titles and dragons back in Vayria, their line however would settle and prosper in Lys as long distance merchants and naval officers. The Vunatis have a history of service to the Lysene navy, and were once amongst some of the wealthiest houses of Lys during their glory days. Their power and wealth, however, had been on a decline that would eventually culminate on their current minor role amongst the Lyseni aristocracy.

History
The Vunatis were once amongst the families of the Conclave of Magisters of the Free City of Lys. Their last sitting member was Silvario Vunatis, Vice-Admiral of the Lysene Fleet, but lost their seat after their failed battle against pirate queen Shiera Vunatis and subsequent exile of Aemma Vunatis.

Silvario was against the autocratic desires of the Sathmanntes and the Rogares, voting against Phaedrus Sathmantes' proposal to be raised to a position of great executive power. The Vice-Admiral would later fight against Aeryn Targaryen's invasion of Lys. At Aeryn's side, was another Vunatis: Shiera, one of his principal followers and paramour.

After the battle, the Vunatis were discontent to the Rogares moves to fill the void of power the Sathmantes had left, declaring themselves protectors of the city. They had not, however, enough political influence to oppose them and bent to the Rogare gold.

Silvario would keep a low profile, focusing on his business instead of politics, as the Rogares plotted in Myr to stablish a new Prince-Admiral. Following the stablishment of the Alliance of the Narrows, he would again fight his niece Shiera when Aeryn Targaryen attacked the combined might of the Three Daughters, finally defeating the dragonrider decisively.

The following chaos that ensued at the Stepstones would eventually boil to a breaking point. Shiera had launched a campaign to claim her lover's crown, which disrupted the trade between the Narrow and Summer seas. The noblemen of Lys started to blame the Vunatis for Shiera's actions, citing their inaction as a reason Shiera could strenghen herself so much, posing the family as complacent to the situation, and that their rogue daughter had to be dealt with by them. Silvario would then mount an expedition to clean his house's name and defeat Shiera. He built a large dromon and gathered all his ships, sailing to Sunstone on 428 AC. He would lose this battle, however, as his daughter Aemma Vunatis abandoned his side, refusing to engage Shiera and taking much of his fleet with her. Both Shiera and Silvario would die from this battle, and so would the House of Vunatis power on Lys. Aemma was already the known heir to Silvario, and even though she returned to Lys after the battle, the news quickly began to run around that she was to be either exiled or executed due to her desertion. She stole her family's ancient Valyrian Steel blade, Poison, and fled the cityto the east. Aemma was later exiled from Lys by the Conclave, and the Vunatis lost their position on the Conclave. The House of Vunatis has since then fallen from wealth and power, dealing with smaller trade with the neighbouring Free Cities. The lost of their fleet meant they could no longer support to venture east. Aemma would a decade later resurface from the east, taking over the very same island she had refused to battle for years ago: Sunstone. Now, the Vunatis are divided amongst those in support to Aemma and those against her, having the family split between two branches on Lys and Sunstone.

Family Tree

 * Lucerys Vunatis b. 310 d. 371 (natural)
 * m. Kiera of Lys b. 343 d. 422 (natural)
 * Lysandro VunatisLys b. 360
 * Silvario Vunatis b. 363 d. 432 (died sinking with his ship during his battle against Shiera Vunatis)
 * m. Samya ValysarLys b. 380
 * Aemma VunatisSunstone b. 403
 * Khorane VunatisLys b. 366
 * m. Taena VunatisLys b. 370
 * Shiera Vunatis b. 392 d. 432 (died of wounds from battle against Silvario's Expedition to Sunstone)
 * Illyrio VunatisSunstone b. 369