Naerys Targaryen (daughter of Aenar)

Naerys, otherwise known as Septa Naerys, Princess Naerys, or Naerys Targaryen, is the lastborn child of King Aenar I Targaryen and Queen Patrice Hightower. Though she is a Baelorian Septa of the Most Devout, she chooses to sit among her Starrite peers at the Starry Sept.

Since Aenar’s passing in 407 AC, Naerys, aged 54, has become the eldest living member of House Targaryen.

Appearance
Naerys appears ten years younger than her real age, and is considered beautiful by her generation’s standards. She has her mother’s blonde hair, her father’s knowing, purple eyes, and her own deceptively aging complexion. She is tall for a woman, standing at 5’11, and boasts a surprisingly willowy figure.

Naerys is known to wear a lot of makeup for a Septa.

History
Naerys was auspiciously born on the 7th day of the 7th moon in 353 AC. Both King Aenar I Targaryen and Queen Patrice Hightower took the occasion of their youngest’s birth as a sign from the Gods, and swore holy vows to raise her as a Septa-to-be. She was blessed at birth in the Great Sept of Baelor by the Northern One, and was mentored by him until his passing in 368 AC.

With a Baelorian for a father, a Starrite for a mother, and a reconciler of both schools of thought for a mentor, Naerys developed an evenhanded approach to learning the dogma and theology of her faith. She consumed knowledge from both sides of the schism, and was passionate about dissecting their divergent opinions. It was only under the guidance of her father, who took guardianship over her after the Northern One’s passing, that she began to openly identify as a Baelorian. From his intrusction, she not only embraced Baelorian principles (also derisively called the “Baelorian Obediences“), but also familiarized herself with the complexities of court.

Officially handed over to the faith at the age of 17, Naerys noviced for three years at the motherhouse in King’s Landing. She swore her vows as a Septa after completing her education, and opted to continue her service to the faith in White Harbour, the home of her late mentor. She made a pilgrimage out of the decision, and visited many of the towns and holdings she had seen with her brother, Aenys Targaryen, during his royal tour 13 years prior. She distinguished herself for almost a decade in White Harbour, rejuvenating the Faith’s presence in the region, before returning south on the invitation of the Portly One.

For her stalwart allegiance to Baelorian principles, for her royal bloodline and connections at court, for her decade’s service to the Faith in the North, and for her evenhanded and diplomatic disposition, Naerys was elevated in 382 AC by the Portly One to the ranks of the Most Devout. It was an ambivalent experience for her. Her new position dramatically altered the relationships she had yet to rekindle with her family, for neither the interests of the Faith nor the interests of the Crown were as concomitant as they were in her youth. Her relationship with her father largely turned political, and with her mother mainly turned theological. The Portly One even tasked Naerys with keeping a close eye on her nephew, Prince Maekar Targaryen, so that her mother’s influence on him could be stymied and eventually overturned. Navigating these issues and the many others like them proved taxing for Naerys despite her diplomatic demeanour, for she could never fully normalize choosing duty over love.

Naerys earned her kingdom-wide renown in the aftermath of the Hammer Uprising. As the then Starry Septon manipulated the circumstances of Brynden Hammer’s uprising to galvanize popular dissent against her peers, her family, and her father, Naerys boldly declared that she alone would shoulder the penance for their alleged crimes of excess. From King’s Landing all the way to Oldtown, she carried out a walk of atonement, barefooted and bare-bodied. She was accosted countless times along the Roseroad, and, on a number of occasions, almost killed. Her efforts, however, managed to quell the flames of rebellion across the kingdom’s central countryside, bringing peace to an otherwise fractured region. When she arrived at Oldtown, she famously declared, “The Seven Who Are One have lead me here, and so here is where I shall stay.” As a result, she became the first Baelorian of the Most Devout since the Southern Schism to opt for a seat at the Starry Sept, where she has remained to this day.

At first, living in Oldtown as a Targaryen and a Baelorian was extremely difficult for Naerys. Prejudice and exclusion took its toll on her, especially in light of her recent penance. It was thanks to her mother’s intervention with her kin, the Hightowers, that she was able to finally gain traction within the city, and ultimately find a place within it. She started from the bottom, tending to the sick, the orphaned, and the undesirables. Eventually, they became her people: her supporters, her informants, her facilitators. She wielded them very much in the favour of the Hightowers, whom she came to consider her second family especially after her mother and siblings’ passings. She wielded them also for herself and her faith, however, and over the course of a decade built a small, reformist Baelorian foothold in the heart of Starry territory.

Naerys