Dragonstone

Dragonstone is a castle on the island of the same name at the entrance to Blackwater Bay, below the Dragonmont. It was the seat of House Targaryen in Westeros, and had been colonized and fortified as the westernmost outpost of the Valyrian Freehold. Shaped from stone to look like dragons, the castle has a dark reputation.

Geography
Dragonstone is a volcanic island at the mouth of Blackwater Bay, created by the active volcano, Dragonmont. Damp and dreary, it smells of sulfur and brimstone.The island often suffers strong winds and storms in autumn.

Within the tunnels of the Dragonmont are rich chunks of dragonglass, often in boulders and ledges. Most of the obsidian is black, but there are also deposits of green, purple, and red dragonglass.

Farmers and fishermen live in villages below the Dragonmont, with the islanders depending on the sea for sustenance. The castle of Dragonstone is a small fortress located on the face of the volcano. Its nearby port contains taverns, inn, and whorehouses, including a weathered little inn at the end of a stone pier. Standing before the inn is an eroded waist-high gargoyle.

Through the dalliances of many Targaryen lords and princes over the years, many of the smallfolk of the island are descendants of that dynasty, and are known as dragonseeds.

Layout
A grim place, the castle of Dragonstone was built by Valyrians with arcane arts, fire, and sorcery. Capable of liquefying and reshaping stone with dragonflame, the dragonlords used their magic to shape Dragonstone to look like multiple dragons.

Dragon architecture can be found throughout the castle, such as small dragons framing gates and dragon claws holding torches. A pair of great wings cover the armory and smithy, and dragon tails form archways and staircases. The citadel of Dragonstone is wrought all of black stone. Doors can be set in the mouths of stone dragons. Instead of merlons, gargoyles and grotesques serve as brooding crenellations along the three curtain walls. Designs include basilisks, cockatrices, demons, griffins, hellhounds, manticores, minotaurs, wyverns, and other creatures. Statues in the shape of dragons can be found all over the castle. Dragonstone has a castle yard and a library. There is a fishing village with a port beneath the curtain walls.

History
The isle of Dragonstone was settled two centuries before the Doom by Valyrians who defeated local lords of the narrow sea. They used magic to shape the castle of Dragonstone. When the maiden Daenys Targaryen had visions of the Doom, her father Aenar relocated his family, their five dragons, and all their wealth from the Valyrian peninsula to Dragonstone.

House Targaryen became powerful by controlling the Gullet and growing dragons in Dragonstone's hatcheries and firepits; the dragons Vhagar and Meraxes were born on their island, for instance. Although the Targaryens were sovereign, their island "kingdom" was not considered one of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros