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Oldtown, 83 AC
It is more than well-known that to be a Targaryen is to be a dragonrider. House Targaryen has kept many of its own customs, such as incestuous intermarriage, whilst assimilating into Westorosi culture, such as the end of polygamy following the end of the reign of Maegor I. Yet none is so special as the magic in their blood, a remnant of Old Valyria that not only allows those in the family to bond with those creatures of fire made flesh, but demands it.
After the High Septon foresaw the doom of the Faith should Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters be resisted, Oldtown and King’s Landing have had a tumultuous relationship, best evidenced by the declaration that the wedding of Aegon’s grandchildren and Aenys I’s children - Aegon (known as the Uncrowned) and Rhaena (one of the future Black Brides of Maegor I and installed at Harrenhal until her death in 73 AC) - was an abomination to the Faith. This turmoil reached its nadir in the conflict between the Iron Throne and the Faith Militant. Following Maegor I’s death however, there soon came to be a reconciliation (for a more in-depth explanation regarding the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, refer to Archmaester Gorgos’ work on the topic). The Faith would come to have to deal with an unusual situation.
In 47 AC, Maegor I took his widowed niece Rhaena Targaryen to wife along with his two other Black Brides, Ladies Elinor Costayne and Jeyne Westerling. Rhaella Targaryen, youngest daughter of Rhaena and Aegon, was given to the Faith in Oldtown whilst her sister, Aerea, was kept in King’s Landing as Princess of Dragonstone until a child of Maegor I’s blood came to be. The twins had spent their childhood outside of the traditional Targaryen holdfasts where they would be able to bond with a dragon. For some reason not yet made aware to those outside of the bloodline (though heavily speculated), it is a necessity for a Targaryen to be bonded with a dragon. The twins were denied this from their birth in 43 AC, until Maegor I’s terror came to a bloody end, and his nephew took the Iron Throne in 47 AC. In the year proceeding this, one of the many things that Jaehaerys began as part of his reconciliation was to offer his nieces their birthright as Targaryens: dragon eggs or the opportunity to bond with a dragon grown.
Whilst Aerea was content with her egg (though some speculated she sought a dragon grown, a truth given her later bonding with Balerion, the mount of her great-grandfather), it posed an issue for Rhaella, given that she was already a novice in service to the Faith, having declared that she did not want to return to King’s Landing as a member of the court, and neither was she in need of a dragon egg. Her mother, Rhaena, is alleged to have convinced her: “you may no longer bear the name Targaryen, but you are the blood of the dragon, and not even the Faith can steal that from you.” Hearsay or not, Rhaella Targaryen accepted a dragon egg the year following her uncle’s coronation, which did not hatch immediately. This was of some solace for the inhabitants of the Citadel, as dragons had never resided in Oldtown (despite rumours about the source of the Hightower’s flame). They did not have the infrastructure for a dragon: no Dragonpit, no Dragonkeepers, and not enough cattle that could be set aside for a growing drake.
In 50 AC, the dragon egg belonging to Rhaella Targaryen, posited to have petrified in years past despite its home in an eternally hot cauldron, hatched. The dragon, a pale beast with iridescent features, immediately bonded with its rider and Rhaella was said to have become as equally devoted to her dragon as she was to the Faith. The two were said to share a soul and the Citadel had a new resident: Sevenstar.
With a significant donation from King’s Landing, instigated by Good Queen Alysanne and her sister, a Dragonpit was constructed on the outskirts of Oldtown, with Dragonstone having sent a small party of Dragonkeepers to ensure the wellbeing of both Rhaella and Sevenstar. Such infrastructure became a well-planned necessity, for Sevenstar would not be the only dragon to reside amongst those of the Faith.
Maegelle Targaryen, the sixth child of Jaehaerys I and Alysanne, was promised to the Faith in 73 AC, fifteen years after Rhaella Targaryen became Septa Rhaella. Maegelle had already hatched and bonded with a dragon, a dark creature partially named after her cousin’s dragon: Sykunsȳndor, or “seven shadows” in High Valyrian.
The dragonkeepers in Oldtown grew suspicious about Sevenstar and Sykunsȳndor’s behaviour. Sevenstar was presumed female, owing to her size, and Sykunsȳndor’s gender was unknown. They were right to be suspicious, as the two dragons apparently coupled, resulting in a clutch of eggs. The eggs were taken from the nests and kept in cauldrons within the Dragonpit so that they would not petrify. It is worth noting that only Targaryens and Dragonkeepers had anything to do with either dragons or their eggs - no one else was trusted, not even the High Septon who wished to bless the clutch. Nevertheless, this clutch would prove fortuitous.
Instead of another maiden, a son would be given to the Faith. Vaegon Targaryen arrived at the Citadel in 78 AC - unusually, he was nearly a man grown and without a dragon. Rumour was that he did not care for such frivolities and contemporary writings on him were often unflattering, calling him “Vaegon the Dragonless”.
Dragon or not, male and female novices of the Faith are kept apart and some archmaesters argued that that rule ought to be more strictly enforced in regard to members of the Faith from House Targaryen - their preference for intermarriage and interbreeding are again, well-known, and some worried that not even the confines of the Faith could stop them from coupling. This did not come to fruition after Novice Vaegon assured the High Septon that though he was of Targaryen blood, he did not share Targaryen preferences, and certainly towards neither his aunt nor his sister.
Novice Vaegon was given permission to visit Oldtown’s Dragonpit with his cousin and sister during brief moments of free time, where Septa Rhaella would ride Sevenstar along the coastline and Septa Maegelle would race her with Sykunsȳndor. In 79 AC, a dragon egg in the cauldron would hatch. According to Septa Rhaella’s writings, the creature that emerged from the cracked egg plodded across the Dragonpit to where Novice Vaegon had settled himself, waiting to return with his relatives, to which the dragon promptly perched itself in his lap, having seemingly chosen its rider without said rider’s input. Oldtown’s Dragonpit had another resident, a sky-blue dragon with deeper blue streaks, whom Novice Vaegon named Skysong, for its sweet song aimed for the heavens.
As of the writing of this treatise, three dragons live away from the two major Targaryen strongholds: Sevenstar, the largest, belonging to Septa Rhaella; Sykunsȳndor, the swiftest, belonging to Septa Maegelle, and Skysong, the youngest, belonging to Acolyte Vaegon.