Maekar Targaryen (son of Baelor)

Maekar Targaryen is the Prince of Summerhall, and the son of Prince Baelor Targaryen. Born in 376 AC, Maekar inherited Summerhall when his father died in 402 AC, during the War of the Three Thieves. He would go on to defeat Alequo Silverband the next year, slaying him and his dragon and helping end the war. This propelled Maekar into following his father's reputation as a warrior of renown, serving on the Small Council for two years under his grandfather.

Maekar is married to Leona Tyrell, twin sister of Lord Lyonel Tyrell, with whom he has two daughters; Rhaena and Gael. He rides the dragon Stormsong, a swift and deadly beast of grey and blue.

Appearance and Character
When one thinks of a Targaryen Prince, one does not think of Maekar. The Prince of Summerhall is akin got Baelor Breaskpear in that his appearance carries no indication of his heritage expected. More like his mother and grandmother than his father and grandfather, Maekar's hair is a darker blonde, and his eyes a pale blue. He keeps his hair to his neck, usually tied back, and his beard short and neat - a picture of fastidiousness in how well-kept he is. A strong face with a bold nose, Maekar is quick to smile, an expression backed by a genuine kindness. He is oddly serious as well; an earnest sort of sincerity fired by the strong religious views he holds deeply.

Not the tallest of men, Maekar stands at 5'9, yet he carries the broad shoulders of his father, strengthened over time by the effort behind riding and controlling Stormsong. As expected from a man as zealous as him, much like his wife Maekar's dress lacks ostentation, and is relatively simple. Practical cuts, with an edge of militarism, Maekar dresses the part of the pious war hero. His armour is decidedly traditional for House Targaryen, perhaps one of the few aspects of him that is. Scale armour of black and red, the design is akin to the old suits of Valyrian Steel that have been lost to the ages. In battle, he wields a poleaxe primarily, a deadly weapon forged to break through armour. On dragonback, he fights with longsword in hand, the swift cutting edge much more useful.

Maekar is very much the grandson of Patrice Hightower, who heavily influenced him as he grew. While the Schism is not at the height it was in decades gone by, Maekar is an extremely strong proponent of the Starry Rites. He looks upon the incest that House Targaryen practices with disgust, seeing it as a sign of the excesses, corruption, and everything wrong with his family. While not necessarily ambitious in his own right, he genuinely increasingly sees himself as the last bastion to save his family from themselves. Maekar believes himself to be a properly pious man. He holds to the Seven Sided Star as much as possible, and has a close relationship with his Confessor, Septa Malora, as well as his equally pious wife. His religious views bond easily with his chivalric nature; Maekar takes his oaths of Knighthood just as seriously as the ones he swears to the Seven, reflected in refounding the Rainbow Guard as a knightly order.

Past that, Maekar is generally a kind and affable man. He can be merciful to the point of naivete - unless the wrong is done against his core beliefs, and then he is implacable is his response, and desire for justice. Maekar strives for perfection in himself - and strives to see it in others, as well. Maekar expects the best of everyone, and few people meet it. His wife is perhaps the only woman who does meet the high standards he sets, and this pushing of people to be the best they can be in his eyes also pushes them away. As much as Maekar is friendly, he easily isolates those who could be friends, in a misguided desire to force them into being better people.

Childhood - 376 AC to 387 AC
Maekar was born in 376 AC, the first son of Baelor Targaryen and Deana Arryn. While his older sister had been born during Baelor's tenure as Master of Laws, by the time that his wife was pregnant again, the Prince of Summerhall had grown restless. The Dragon of the East, as he would come to be known, spent much of his time fighting in Essos during this period, coming back and forth over the years, a few months at a time. Left to mostly raise their growing brood by herself, it was not unexpected that Deana would take her children to King's Landing very often in the beginning; something very much supported by the Queen, who enjoyed seeing her grandchildren. Indeed, Queen Patrice would become a major influence in the young Prince's life, and his first memories were more of her and his mother than his father. It was here, through both of them, that the spark of religion was kindled in him. it was simply a way of life; prayers before meals, attending service in the Sept, a life where the Faith was woven thickly through it in near every aspect.

Of course, Maekar had a cradle egg as well. Cyrax had recently laid a clutch at the time of his birth, and the first of those eggs was placed with him; an egg as dark as charcoal, with deep blue veins. The colours of the tempest, and when the beast was hatched when Maekar was eight, it looked like the storm. Scales of dark grey, claws, ridges, and membranes of a dark, brooding, blue; Maekar, on encouragement from his mother and grandmother, would avoid the usual Valyrian name and decide upon Stormsong. The dragon quickly proved itself to be a swift, deadly, beast, with a speed unmatched by most of its peers.

Like his father before him, Jacaerys swiftly began to prove himself a skilled fighter. If not as skilled as either his father or Aegon, he was still far above average, earning the praise of the Master-at-Arms at both King's Landing and Summerhall. However, it was not just combat the young prince concentrated on. As he grew, hatching his dragon, and serving as a page in the court of the Red Keep, Maekar became more and more well known. The young boy impressed in the Great Sept of Baelor with his quiet dedications - until he harangued the High Septon as only an eleven year old could over the Schism. For, while he was of House Targaryen, and lived with his family there, his mind had been pushed towards the Starry Rites by Queen Patrice and her own companions. It was with a surprising fervour that Maekar had adopted the Rites, and that would last through his life. As a boy, it would be a steady piety for the Faith of the Seven as a whole - it would be later in his life that the meanings of the Starry Rites truly began to impress upon him.

A Prince's Teachings - 388 AC to 394 AC
On his twelfth birthday, spent at King's Landing, a surprise came to the young Maekar. Now twelve, Baelor saw in his son a promising swordsman, as well as a boy who was already causing trouble and rifts within the Red Keep. The Prince of Summerhall had been spending more and more years of the last few years back in Westeros. As his children grew, he realised he had a duty to be with them more, to be a father; if not a terribly good one. As someone who had never really liked his brothers anyhow, Baelor simply fought it best to withdraw Maekar fully from King's Landing, and take him under his wing as his squire, officially.

Unlike many squires that Maekar had known in King's Landing, the young Targaryen was thrust into war with his father. He was sternly told that they left their dragons in the Free Cities for the most part - Baelor disliked the idea of using such noble beasts for mercenary work. What Maekar did experience was war proper. Baelor was a skilled fighter, and a good knight. He taught his son how to fight with the sword; Prince Baelor had always been one of the most skilled swordsmen in the Seven Kingdoms, and that along with Maekar's natural talent resulted in a prince who showed more and more talent. That was not the only weapon that Maekar trained with, however. Fighting with men such as mercenaries, who knew how to kill, taught him the importance of other weapons. When a sword wouldn't do against armour, Maekar found himself just as skilled with the poleaxe - a deadly weapon and that could hammer and pierce plate with ease. He never did quite grasp the intricacies of strategy, however. Enough to pass, but not enough to be anything notable of course.

Maekar never did like Essos. The people were far too decadent for him, the mercenaries rough, the Seven rare. There were few he truly liked; Baelor's closest friends, especially the famed Nikovo of Lys. 'Uncle Nikky', as he came to be down to the boy, was a rogue that Maekar shouldn't have liked at all. Yet, against all odds, he did. When Aegon joined him a year later, he proved to be more suited to Essos than Maekar was. Certainly, by the time that Maekar was knighted at the age of ten and eight, he could not return home to Westeros permanently soon enough. Baelor Targaryen had never been the best of fathers; yet in his stoic manner, behind which shone flashes of genius and charm, Maekar found something that was familiar in himself. Father and son grew closer than either had truly expected; and, unsaid, realised how similar they were. Key amongst that a restless desire to prove themselves truly great; if for different reasons.

Father, Husband, and Warrior - 395 AC to 396 AC
Maekar returned home to Summerhall at the end of 394 AC, done with Essos - as far as he hoped, anyhow. It was good to be back in the land of the Seven, of chivalry, of tourneys. First was a visit to Oldtown, to see his brother. Jacaerys had been studying in Oldtown, in the Citadel, and when Maekar took the chance to visit the Hightower and his relatives. There, he met the young Leona Tyrell - sister to Lord Tyrell, and a woman he would meet again in the future. Maekar was charmed, to say the least.

Afterwards, was a surprising call back to Essos. Aegon had recently been knighted, and wished his brother to join him in the celebrations. While reluctant to do so with him, especially in Essos, fraternal loyalty won out, and Maekar found himself in Lys. At ten and nine, Maekar had still never been with a woman and in the city of lovers his brother was determined to fix that. He and his friend pressured Maekar into accepting the courtesan they had bought for him. A girl, a maiden like him, hired especially to match his own inexperience. Their coupling was sweet, and when Maekar awoke the next morning in shame and despair at what he had done, he immediately sought to make it right by proposing to her, offering his signet ring with the four dragons of Summerhall. The courtesan gently rejected him, but the ring was kept as a sign of favour. His father noted the ring's disappearance swiftly, and it wasn't hard to drag the truth out of the embarrassed Maekar. Baelor was gone for but one night, but on his return he was incensed. Maekar was ordered home immediately. He never would find out why, nor would he get the ring back. All he knew was a name.

Selenya.

On his return to Westeros, Maekar attended a tourney in Highgarden; one in the honour of Lady Leona Tyrell as she came of age. Maekar, already struck by her beauty, put all his effort into winning it. When he named her Queen of Love and Beauty, the connection was instant. A spark that shot through him that finalised him forgetting about the foolish endeavour in Lys. They were married surprisingly shortly, and their first child was born at the end of the year; Rhaena Targaryen. Leona Tyrell proved to be everything that Maekar sought in a wife. Beautiful, charming, and as pious as he was for the Starry Rites. As much as he wished to spend his days with her in Summerhall, it was unfortunately not meant to be. Soon after Rhaena's birth, word arrived from the Stepstones - War.

War Hero - 397 AC to 402 AC
The War of the Three Thieves, as it would be known, as Maekar's first experience at full scale warfare. His father, as expected, was one of the leading commanders of the Royal Forces - the only Targaryen with true military experience from his time in Essos. The war frustrated Maekar to know end. The sheer amount of troops, the incompetence of various leaders involved, and the luck and skill of the Three Thief Kings dragged the war on for years. Maekar returned home occasionally to see his wife. Not even he could fight every day, determined as he was to purge the Stepstones of the pirates. During one of his visits, Leona got with child again, giving birth to a daughter named Gale; as a result, Maekar misses home, his wife, and his children, even more.

Recent Events
With the announcement of the Tourney of Harrenhal, Maekar prepares Summerhall to attend - as irritated as he is by the extravagant, needless, event.