Vaemond Velaryon is the only son of Lord Aurane Velaryon and Princess Baela Targaryen, and the lord of Driftmark since his father's recent passing. He rides the dragon Garnet.

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Appearance and Character

With a cherub's face, rosy cheeks, and an irresistible pout, Vaemond was the sort of child one is intrinsically drawn to protect. Today, the lord of Driftmark is a handsome and vibrant man, in good physical form; he avidly hikes and swims, despite a lack of great interest in martial pursuits. His silver-blonde hair and pale celadon eyes are much like his father's, but he lacks all of Aurane's stubbornness or spirit. Instead, he is harmless, generous, and eager to please. His smile is open and warm, and he is a very fond of physical affection, eagerly sweeping his children up on to his shoulders or embracing those he counts as friends. His gaze is usually vacant, lost in the clouds, and he pays little attention to the way he dresses or whether his hair is combed or not. He is frequently barefoot, with the dirt of his garden under his fingernails.

With a thousand whims and interests, Vaemond is often found tending his many gardens at High Tide, sitting with flocks of sheep in the inland hills, cavorting with his dragon in the skies over the Blackwater, or holding open court in the taverns and winesinks of Hull. He is an empathetic and gentle man who loves to nurture plants, animals, and children alike, and never hesitates to offer aid or sympathy to those who reside on his island.

A popular figure among his people precisely because of this, Vaemond is a surprisingly effective administrator who has delighted in introducing new breeds of livestock and varieties of crops to Driftmark, boosting productivity more than has been seen in centuries. Still, he is just as eager to enjoy the fruits of that labor, whether they be hops or grapes, in the spectacular revels he often throws in his seaside castle. He is also an avid poet, though a truly terrible one - writing heartfelt and maudlin hymns to the beauty of nature, the nobility of animals, and the crisp taste of a fine autumn mead. Even his children are unable to stifle their giggles if he begins reciting his works aloud, which he does frequently.

History

A Long-Awaited Heir (409 AC - 418 AC)

After six sisters and decades of frustration, little Vaemond Velaryon came into the world as heir to Driftmark, squalling his lungs out and pink as salmon. Only days later, his mother's dragon egg hatched in his cradle, and out crawled a round and toothless creature who refused to leave its master's side, bonded to him at first sight.

The first parent Vaemond truly remembers is his elder sister Aelora, who was herself a teenager when he was born. With his mother utterly unable to care for him and his father clueless about babes, it fell on the girl to make certain that her baby brother came to no harm. Their eldest living sister, Valaena, felt far less in the way of duty - once even dangling him from his heel out the window of High Tide before Aelora, appalled, snatched him away. He and his sister Daena, little more than a year apart in age, cried ceaselessly when at last their guardian wed and moved away to Oldtown, leaving them at the mercy of Aurane Velaryon alone.

Their childhood on Driftmark was wild and largely unsupervised, spent barefoot and bruised exploring the cliffs, beaches, and moors of the rugged island. Garnet, as Vaemond's dragon came to be called, kept up best as it could, even as it grew enormous and hulking, an eager puppy in the body of monster. Though Daena envied her brother for his status as a dragon's master - and for the mere chance to hatch an egg, which she never received - she learned young that Vaemond was quite like a puppy himself, always willing to follow a powerful master. Through taunts and tender words alike, she won her brother's fear and loyalty, forming a tight-knit bond between them which lasts even now.

Sheltered from the outside world and the excesses of King's Landing, Vaemond grew up hopelessly naive and occasionally quite self-centered, failing to understand that elsewhere, people might not have his best interests at heart. He was often absent minded in his studies, preferring to take to the skies on Garnet's back or while away lazy hours in the surf, frolicking and splashing back and forth.

Princes of Driftmark (418 AC - 425 AC)

While the tournament of Summerhall spelled tragedy for many, including his own sister and cousins, Vaemond remembers it as a time when his life changed in two crucial ways. The first was the negotiation of his betrothal to young Laena Baratheon, a grand-daughter of the reigning queen. The second was a blossoming friendship with his cousin Aerys Velaryon, who journeyed home from the tournament with Lord Aurane's party and came to live on the island of Driftmark under his uncle's tutelage.

In Aerys, Vaemond saw a boy he could not help but wish to impress - someone wise, and patient, a dragon rider of an age with him who bore the same sigil. He decided, perhaps against reason, that there could be no other soul in the worl that was so like his own. Yet the children were utter opposites in personality, and it took much effort on the part of Vaemond to break through his cousin's reserved exterior. Along with Daena and their dragons, in the maester's classrooms, the lanes and alleys of Hull, or the skies above the Blackwater Bay, they came to know one another as brothers, sharing pranks and jokes and a wealth of happy memories. After the untimely death of Aerys' father, Corlys, Lord Aurane made certain that the boy knew he was as good as a son to him, and that if he wished it, Driftmark would always be his home. Vaemond took that oath just as seriously - offering up his friendship and brotherhood to Aerys, so long as the both of them lived.

Long into adulthood, his fondness for Aerys has endured - an attachment that may not be wholly innocent, if he is honest with himself, but which nonetheless leaves him loyal to his cousin above most others in the world.

Two Dragons Entwined (425 AC - 432 AC)

When the time came for Vaemond to wed, it was with enthusiasm and hope. The boy could hardly be stopped from meticulously determining every detail of the ceremony - what flower garlands ought to be hung in the sept, what wines were best paired with morsels and sweetmeats, what favors the guests should receive to show the great generosity of House Velaryon. The halls of High Tide were filled with live swans, jasmine petals, and peasant girls and boys singing folksy songs - all of which was entirely too much for Lord Aurane's tastes, but the man was too weary to protest. The only thing Vaemond had not quite prepared for was the iron will and sharp tongue of his new lady wife.

Though he had known Laena Baratheon since childhood, the two properly became acquainted in the months after their marriage, when the girl charged him with a daunting task in exchange for her maidenhead. He was to help her tame Moonfyre, the lithe and lovely dragon once ridden by her mother, Princess Aelinor Targaryen. Together with Laena's brother Robar and his own sister Daena, the four teenagers ventured to the beast's lair on the island of Dragonstone. But through Daena's prodding and his own vague suspicions, Vaemond realized late in the journey that Laena was already with child and begged her not to continue. Robar, already concerned for his sister's well-being, offered no resistance, and with bitterness, Laena was forced to abandon her quest - sowing the seeds of a resentment that would last between the couple for years to come.

The young couple welcomed their babe soon after, much to Vaemond's excitement. Though she was born with a twisted, lame leg, the new father swore he could not have beheld a child more lovely - or a victory more truly won. He dubbed her Laurel, after the plant that champions' garlands were often woven from, and any of Laena's protests that such a name was hopelessly common ever reached his ears. He took to fatherhood immediately, happy to waste hours in the company of a babbling babe, even as his wife grew more and more concerned about his lack of ambition. Her hope had been his help in taming her dragon would be only the first of many courageous acts - not the aborted farce it became, a prelude of the many disappointments her marriage might hold.

Laena, more and more often, could be found in the company of Lord Aurane instead - who was married to a madwoman, bereft of any true lady of Driftmark for decades. The man took his daughter-in-law under his wing, sharing with her freely the island's ledgers and muster rolls, recognizing that her ambitions were firmer and more practical than his son's vague dreams. Though rumor circulates that more than that may have been shared between the two, Vaemond himself remains blissfully oblivious. When his estranged uncle, Lucerys Velaryon, died in a shaking fit in his cups before year's end, Vaemond thought of it as nothing more than the sad but inevitable end to an alcoholic's life and did not question whether either his wife or father might have had a hand in it.

A second daughter followed on the heels of the first. Hazel was a homely child with mousy hair, exceptional only for how quickly she seemed to grow. Behind his son's back, Aurane cautioned Laena that Driftmark must have a proper male heir, and soon - who knew what foolishness might claim Vaemond's life, after all, and babes were fragile. Resolutely, Laena bore her husband a third child.

But it was a girl, thin and sickly and blue, who lived little more than a fortnite before expiring in her mother's arms. Vaemond, frightened by the whispers of the midwives and maesters, had little to do with the birth and even less with the ailing infant. He did not force one of his common botanical names upon her, leaving Laena to choose instead: Aelinor, for the mother she still idolized, lost in her own childhood. The child forced an awkwardness between the couple that had not been there before, as Vaemond withdrew even further into doting on his daughters and seeing to the prosperity of Driftmark's villages and fields, and Laena dedicated herself to learning the art of ruling at the side of the lord of the Tides.

As the Second Hammer Uprising seized much of the south in its grip, Vaemond rode to the defense of Laena Baratheon's ancestral lands. Though his own heart yearned instead to liberate Oldtown and free his captive sister, the heir to Driftmark bent before his wife's instructions instead. He was not a warrior, in truth, and even his dragon lacked the viciousness that a beast ought to have. Duty and loyalty drove him instead - his family had been fractured and fragmented long enough, and in his lifetime, he pledged that he would offer his aid to any who shared his blood or his children's. His only regret was being forced to choose the safety of his wife's brother over his own kin.

When the time came, Garnet was a truly ominous shadow above the walls of Stonehelm - though it did not yet rival Viserion in size, no other dragon of its age was an equal. It was a fortuitous thing, perhaps, that the day did not come to flames - for even Vaemond himself was not certain that his mount would be willing to attack in battle, a fear he found himself unable to admit to his fellow commanders.

Our Own Corner of the World (432 AC - Present)

In the peace that followed, Laena at last gave Vaemond a son - precocious Sage Velaryon, an eccentric but affectionate child who the maesters supposed would make a powerful scholar some day. Though Aurane made no secret of how stupid he felt the child's name, his relief that the Velaryon line was secure was palpable, and his pride in both his son and his daughter-in-law apparent. A final daughter, Juniper, followed a handful of years later, and Vaemond fully threw himself into the joys of domestic life.

As his own lordship approached, he became more serious about learning the logistics of being a proper ruler and ensuring that his people were clothed, fed, and housed. Many nights, his hearth was occupied by those souls who had nowhere else to lay their head, or by struggling orphaned lambs who he fed hourly with ewe's milk and cheesecloth. Unafraid to dwell among even the most meager of beggars, he took on a half-mythical status among the smallfolk of Driftmark's coastal villages, who consider him both benevolent and a little mad. What else could be made of a barefoot vagrant who travels on dragonback and hums love songs under his breath?

When at last Aurane passed of a sudden spasm of the heart, he left his lands to a son who was determined to see them prosper, even if his methods might be unorthodox. So far, the island has bloomed, and its people are more healthy and hale than they have been in generations. Far from the foreboding and lonely place it was in years past, Driftmark is an agrarian paradise, its volcanic soil rich enough to reap a bounty.

Vaemond is utterly content - and utterly oblivious to the storm brewing in King's Landing.

Recent Events

Family

Despite the tensions of the past, Vaemond fancies himself a diplomat and a family man, and as such has tried to reach out to the scattered branches of House Velaryon and others who bear their blood. He has a warm relationship with his aunt Rhaella, to the chagrin of his elder sisters, and a healthy rapport with his bastard cousins Aethan and Alyn. He considers his sister Daena his closest confidant, and their eldest sister Aelora a surrogate mother. His most meaningful friendship is with his elder cousin Prince Aerys, who he considers a true brother - and perhaps more, though that possibility is one he would not dare voice aloud. Maekar, on the other hand, is a challenge Vaemond has never been able to meet - his younger cousin unnerves him, and his erratic and violent behavior is a point of contention between them.

Immediate Family