Prince Trystane Nymeros Martell is the Lord of Sunspear and the Prince of Dorne. He is the first fraternal twin child of Prince Laenor Targaryen and Princess Meria Martell, his fraternal twin sister being Princess Rhaena Martell. Soon after birth, Trystane was thrust into his princely birthright, though his uncle, Prince Morgan Martell, ruled as his regent until he came of age.

Trystane lead his armies in the War of Stone and Sky, during which he married his longtime lover, Jynessa Uller, in a quiet ceremony. With her, he has had two children, Nymeria and Aerion Martell. He lost both Jynessa and Aerion to a bloody flux outbreak in 439 AC.

Trystane is close friends with his cousin, Prince Aerion Targaryen, who had spent much of his youth at Sunspear with Trystane.

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Appearance and Character

Trystane bears the hallmark Nymeros Martell traits: onyx hair, olive kissed skin, clean and handsome features. The exceptions to his Martell heritage are his Targaryen eyes, which smoulder deep lavender like his father’s before him. He keeps his hair short but he is prone to grow out his beard. Dornish doublets are his prefered vestments for his lean build and average stature. That build has recently perished due to his difficult bout with the bloody flux, leaving only skin and bone.

Born without parents, the authority figures in his life were his uncle, Morgan Martell, aunt, Samira Martell, and half-siblings’ mother, Nymeria Uller. Having been influenced by the latter two, Trystane bears an unwavering sympathy for the followers of the Red God. Having been put straight by the former, he remains a believer of the Seven.

In private, he is relaxed and quick to laugh, always loving a good story; while attending matters of court, however, he projects a sober, serious demeanour. Despite having put a civil war to rest, he is known throughout his holdings for tolerating minor infractions and voiced dissention, having disavowed the politically sinister tactics of his late parents. Instead, he pursues a more considerate and evenhanded approach to rule.

He had dreamed his entire childhood of becoming a warrior of prowess, but after the War of Stone and Sky, he matured into a veteran commander. On the field, he is attentive, resourceful, and strategic, but loathe to dispatch other men.

History

Trystane was the first of two frathermal twins born of the union between Princess Meria and Prince Laenor. Meria would die after her second failed attempt to tame Sunburst while Laenor, in an unrelated incident, would pass away at around the same time. Before Trystane had learned his first words, the fresh prince was put in the care of his half-siblings’ mother, Nymeria, for five years. His time was spent in the kind of careless bliss all children deserve, though when Nymeria eventually returned to Hellholt, he was saddled with his uncle Morgan, who wasted no time in building a man out of his infant nephew.

Trystane took an early interest in becoming a fierce fighter. The fabled duel between the Mountain and the Red Viper occupied his favourite dreams. Before he was ready to use a spear, he spent most of his days beneath the blistering sun with a wooden sword, pacticing against his sister, cousins, and uncle – they were all better than him. Outside the training ring, he was usually under the care of Samira, who, in tandem with Maester Axell, taught Trystane his words. If he performed well, he was rewarded with a lesson in the histories of Dorne, Westeros, and beyond. He lived for such lessons, for within them he found a limitless source of unique, unfathomable stories that featured soldiers, heroes, and notable figures he wished to become.

At the age of ten, Trystane met his cousin, Prince Aerion, for the first time when he was sent to Dorne for tutelage. The two boys were like fire and ice, and yet they stuck together like salt and water in the Narrow Sea, inseparable throughout their adolescence. They broke laws, snuck into brothels, escaped into the countryside, and fought pirates on the high seas. There were the stories Trystane marvelled over as a child, and then the were the adventures he went on with Aerion. Though Aerion’s stay in Dorne ended after six years, he came back often to visit, and Trystane was always there to welcome him with open arms.

It was also during Trystane’s youth that he met the love of his life, Jynessa Uller. While he had known her for some time, he had not known her heart until one of his escapades with Aerion brought him to her doorstep. At first, their relationship was nothing more than an endless spree of lustful encounters, but the War of Stone and Sky changed that outlook. Life fast turned fragile for Trystane, with paranoia of the inevitable overcoming him, so he decided to marry her in a silent ceremony, making her his and him hers for the time they felt they had left.

Until young adulthood, his parents’ legacies were obfuscated from him - Morgan had reasoned to let Trystane live on his own terms before he came to know those of his parents. When he learned about his father‘s razing of Yronwood and his mother’s betrayal of Prince Maekar Targaryen, Trystane swelled with contempt for his idealized parents. To him, they became more than strangers: villains, of the kind he had read about all his life. When it came time to punish the lords and ladies who had rebelled against him in the war, he publicly disavowed his parents’ legacy before his gathered vassals. He swore, in turn, to forge a more merciful path forward. Though half of Dorne had rebelled against him, only two souls went on to lose their heads in the war’s aftermath.

Like the majority of Targaryen descendants, he had taken a great interest in the history of House Targaryen, from the rumours of what the House was and did before their famed first conquest to the internecine Blackfyre Rebellions – he was especially fascinated by Queen Daenerys Targaryen’s journey across Essos. As much as the Targaryens, their dragons also consumed his interest. At both his request and expense, he ordered the steward of Sunspear to travel the Narrow and Sunset Seas aboard the largest cog in the Dornish fleet, only to return once the ship had been filled with dragonlore manuscripts. As a result of this expedition, Sunspear retains one of the largest collections in the realm on the subject.

Though Trystane had already lead his loyalists to victory in the civil war, he had done so with Aerion’s indispensable aid. He remains wary of the houses that rose up in rebellion, particularly those he had spared, but also cautiously optimistic. Despite recent grumblings, his goal remains to bring peace in his time: to unify Dorne and mend the centuries’ old wounds that divide it.

Recent Events

439 AC

3rd Moon

Having poured over Sunspear’s Library, Trystane provides Alyssa Arryn with information on how to tame dragons.

4th Moon

Trystane is among the first wave of victims of the pale mare outbreak in Sunspear. He takes ill quickly, sending his uncle in his stead to the Grand Council.

5th Moon

Twenty pounds lighter, Trystane survives the pale mare. While in recovery, he implements measures to stymie the spread of the disease. His wife, children, and Martell cousins all contract the disease.

Powerless to help his family, Trystane travels to King’s Landing in search for help. He arrives on the eve of the Grand Council’s vote. In secret, Trystane voted for Queen Visenya in line with Aerion’s vote. He voted against Aelyx’s regency council for a general council instead.



6th Moon

Hosting a regional meeting for the Dornish lords and ladies in King’s Landing, Trystane and his vassals agree on several courses of action: They agree to send emissaries to Essos to avert a potential war They agree to bolster their defenses in preparation for a potential war

Trystane loses the majority of his family to the bloody flux outbreak in Sunspear. His wife, Jynessa, his baby son, Aerion, his good aunt, Valena, and his cousin, Alleras, all perish.

7th Moon

Trystane summons Lord Quentyn Yronwood to Sunspear by the 1st Day of the 8th Moon to account for his absence at the regional meeting and his deliberate isolation from Trystane. He also summons the Essos-bound emmissaries and others, including Lord Ulwyck Toland, Lord Lysander, Lady Leyla Toland, and Lord Vorian Dayne, for specific tasks.

In a bid to begin Planky Town’s expansion and Dorne’s military build up, he tasks Sarella Sand with the commissioning of new warships and the construction of shipyards and guilds.

8th Moon

With Lord Quentyn Yronwood committing himself to treason by refusing Trystane’s summons, Trystane mobilizes Lord Maron Wyl of Wyl and Lady Clarisse Fowler of Skyreach to siege Yronwood. He also raises his own banners at Sunspear and sails for Yronwood. He leaves his uncle, Prince Morgan Martell, behind at Sunspear to organize the emissaries and govern the realm.

On the 11th day of the 8th moon, Trystane sets siege to Yronwood. Over the course of the moon, Lords Maron Wyl, Clarisse Fowler, and Viserys Dayne join their men to the siege. Lord Ulwyck Toland presides with Trystane as his trusted adviser.

9th Moon

After a fortnight, Ser Yoren Yronwood attends the parley outside of Yronwood in his brother’s place. Trystane, Ulwyck, Clarisse, and Viserys attend for the loyalists.

Family

Patrilineal

Matrilineal

Household (NPCs)

Sarella Sand, Seneschal of Sunspear

Maester Axell, the senior Maester at Sunspear

Maester Wynston, the junior Maester at Sunspear

Princess Nymeria Martell, Princess and heiress apparent

Prince Morgan Martell, Prince, Castellan of Sunspear, and seniormost kinsman of House Martell

Olyvar Sand, Prince Morgan’s bastard son and Admiral of Sunspear’s Fleet

Princess Samira Martell, Princess and seniormost kinswoman of House Martell

Build (Meta)