House Targaryen

House Targaryen are the predominant house of the Narrow Sea, living in the fortress at Dragonstone. They are descendants of the sole survivors of the Doom of Valyria, fleeing shortly before the Valyrian Freehold was consumed by fire.

Targaryen Traits and Customs
The Targaryens have some customs that are not accepted on the mainland, owing to their lineage being traced back to the Valyrian Freehold.

Valyrian Features
Targaryens bear the traditional features of the Valyrians-- namely silver hair and violet eyes, or variations thereof. Their skin is pale, their facial features ethereal and beautiful.

Sibling Intermarriage
The Targaryens are practitioners of sibling intermarriage, with the stated goal of keeping their Valyrian blood pure. Though disgusting to much of Westeros and a grievous offense to the Faith of the Seven, it matters little to the Targaryens.

Religion
They are among the last practitioners of the Old Valyrian faith, worshipping a series of Gods after which they named several of their dragons. Among those Gods:


 * Arrax
 * Balerion
 * Caraxes
 * Meraxes
 * Syrax
 * Vhagar

Their faith is alien and hostile to the mainlanders' Faith of the Seven. In the ancient era the Valyrian Freehold oftentimes went to war with the Andals and their faith, crushing them in the field with dragons and fire. They are thus something of a pariah to much of Westeros, particularly among the faithful.

Dragons
Among the Valyrians of old were forty families of dragon riders, the only survivors of which were House Targaryen. When Daenys the Dreamer warned her father Aenar Targaryen of the upcoming doom, he and his family fled to Dragonstone with five dragons. Those five are a small breeding population, laying some number of eggs and prompting a tradition to gift a newborn child a dragon egg, and to lay it in their crib each night.

Recent History
For the century since the Doom, the Targaryens have built a great fortress on Dragonstone and begun to ally with their neighbors across the Narrow Sea, namely the Velaryons of Driftmark and the Celtigars of Claw Isle. Marriages with the strange and beautiful Targaryens are sought-after among the Narrow Sea houses, not least because of the steadily mounting power of House Targaryen. Most recently the Targaryens have been building a fleet, a dozen new ships flying the black-and-red banner of their house.