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.

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 the 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.