Chapter 1: Viserys I
This is an alternate-timeline work inspired by GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire world
Viserys I "the Peaceful" (77-118AC, r.103-118AC)
"There is a part of me that wishes I'd been tested. I often think that in the crucible, I may have been forged a different man." ―Viserys I Targaryen, private writings
King Viserys Targaryen was the fifth king of the Seven Kingdoms to reign from the Iron Throne, as the immediate successor of his grandfather Jaehaerys "the Old". A man renowned for being nice and gentle, many men considered Viserys a weak and unfit king, especially since he had no dragon throughout his reign. Nevertheless, he was also a man who made responsible and committed decisions, some say which led to his untimely death.
Appearance and Character
Viserys, unlike his parents, was not the most athletic of men. Plump in figure, even running and horse-riding for short distances exhausts the king, quite contrary to what the nickname he gained at ascension - "the Young" - implies. He had a fair amount of hair, sported a bushy, silver-gold mustache and wore the crown of his grandfather, Jaehaerys I Targaryen.
Outwardly speaking, septons of the period have called Viserys "the gentle king", "soft-spoken king" and even "the Conciliator walks-again". Small council minutes have cemented Viserys' notoriety regarding 2 aspects of his character: his indecision, and his absolute commitment to decisions, even if the situation may be better solved by overturning past decisions. Indeed, many great lords of the realm consider Queen Aemma Arryn's death the only chance to make the king take a new wife, as he would never set a wife aside. It was also for this reason many lords consider Viserys the best match for their daughters both on prestige and personal relationship considerations.
Popular among the nobility for the lavish amounts of money he was willing to spend on public events such as tournaments, the "fair towns" that grew up around such events also made the king well-liked by smallfolk who gain exotic trading opportunities during said events. There is a notable exception to be made: it would be generations before the king's image as a decadent merrymaker was salvaged within the upper echelons of the Faith of the Seven.
However, as one of the few Targaryen kings whose personal writings were preserved, we see a different man when analyzing what Viserys wrote down in the privacy of his study. The king held a fascination (some say obsession) for Old Valyria, and really wanted to become an active, conquering king - ambitions countered only by his desire to maintain the peace which was his grandfather's legacy. While Viserys would go down in history as a peaceful king, the notorious Order of the Dragonmages would regard him as their forerunner, because of the Valyrian lore the king collected and stored in multiple backup copies.
Records seem to indicate Viserys' health taking a drastic downturn since his first queen's death in 105 AC. In addition to his joint-aching and breathing troubles worsening, the king began to suffer from "puffy fingers", perhaps indicating edema of the fingers. It may be due to the onset of some inherited disease, no doubt caused by the inbreeding rampant in the Targaryen family.
History
Youth
King Viserys was born Prince Viserys Targaryen, eldest son of Prince Baelon and Princess Alyssa Targaryen, 77 years after his ancestor Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros. His younger brother Daemon would be born 4 years later.
At age 16, Viserys claimed the elderly dragon Balerion "the Black Dread" as his mount. However, Balerion died in the year after, leaving Viserys mount-less ever since.
Also in the year 93, which was when Viserys was 16, he married his cousin Aemma Arryn. The couple would suffer from many miscarriages, because Aemma was only 11 when they married. When Aemma turned 15, the couple finally saw their only child who would grow to adulthood - Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.
In the year 101, when Viserys turned 24, his father tragically passed away from a burst belly, leaving the question of succession undecided once again. Factions were forming between Viserys and those calling for his cousin Rhaenys' unborn child, citing the claims of Prince Baelon and Rhaenys' father Prince Aemon respectively. With tensions brewing, King Jaehaerys would call for a Great Council to resolve the dispute, and in the final vote Viserys would win by a large margin.
Early Reign
Ascending the throne at the young age of 26, Viserys' position was not precarious, but obviously threatened by the seething Corlys Velaryon - the master of High Tide nearly sparked a war with the king's brother Prince Daemon in the round of threats and counter-threats of hiring mercenaries before the Great Council was called. It was a problem Viserys probably decided would solve itself, since he took no action.
Of course, there was much reason for Viseys to roll his rule out without regard for Corlys. He was the inheritor of his grandfather's legacy, a king of flush coffers and many family members. House Targaryen had at least 10 combat-capable dragons, enough to restart the Wars of Conquest again should the king so wish. With such might at his back, Viserys turned his attention to dealing with the most urgent problem on his list: his glaring lack of a male heir.
The Queen would become pregnant again in 105, and the overjoyed King Viserys would organize a tournament in his prospective heir's name. Tragedy would strike Aemma one last time: she was unable to give birth to the child. Forced to choose between losing both his beloved wife and his child or at least keeping the child, the king would agree to cut her open. Queen Aemma would die from the operation at age 23, the baby lasting barely more than a day.
Second Marriage
Queen Aemma's death devastated the young king. Despite his public grief, starting with Grand Maester Runciter many people kept urging the 28-year-old king to marry again. Perhaps agitated by having his mourning repeatedly disturbed, the king began to grow more reclusive, an opportunity Hand of the King Otto Hightower did not miss to try and thrust his daughter Alicent into the king's embrace. While developing an amicable relationship with the girl, Viserys remained reluctant to consider the prospect of remarriage. His emotional state was not helped by news Daemon held celebrations while laughing about "the heir for a day"; in turbulent rage, he exiled his brother and named his daughter Princess Rhaenyra as heir, demanding oaths of fealty to his daughter from his vassals.
Still, reluctance meant he was considering it - and in this great matter, he called on the advice of a man he believed to be neutral: his Master of Laws, Lord Lyonel Strong. The two men engaged in a secret conversation, the contents of which mostly lost to secrecy.
If you intend to keep Princess Rhaenyra as your heir, Your Grace, you must bear in mind she is a toothless dragon before any sons born from this marriage. - Lyonel Strong's advice, taken from Viserys' private writings. Various marks appear to indicate the king ruminated while scratching a quill over the sentence.
3 days after this conversation, the king would lead his courtiers to the bier where Aemma's body was burned, announcing that in honor of Aemma's memory, he shall swear an oath to marry only descendants of an Arryn. Before the assembled party could react, King Viserys proceeded to announce his betrothal to his own daughter, the 8-year-old Rhaenyra Targaryen. From that day onward, the princess was constantly by her father's side learning how to rule, even signing papers Viserys decided she could handle.
The announcement was terribly received, especially by the Faith, and among them especially by the High Septon, who declared this a step too far "even for a Targaryen, even for a king". Still the king remained adamant. Things boiled over to the point where King's Landing nearly erupted into riots, only the timely arrival of Princess Rhaenys and her dragon Meleys - here to officiate the blood-bonding rites - preventing the worst. Princess Rhaenys was impressed by her cousin's determination to keep his only living child in line for the throne, but more importantly recognized her cousin's strategy could lead to the best results for House Targaryen in this unique situation. Could, if the whole realm does not rise up in rebellion against such an unorthodox decision.
House Stark was the first to recognize the union as a potential legal marriage, in a proclamation bearing the name of Lord Rickon Stark, who was not yet an adult. It was not known why: some cited Northern cliches about honoring oaths, some claim the king agreed to divert some of King's Landing's trade to White Harbor. Whatever the reason, the example set by one of the most powerful temporal lords in the Seven Kingdoms eased opposition against King Viserys' radical announcement, and many lords North and South soon followed their example.
The mission to placate the Eyrie would reasonably be given to Prince Daemon, if he could deal with the matter reasonably, but he cannot and was an exile on top of that. The mission was instead given to Princess Rhaenyra herself, riding Syrax, and the girl was recognized by her mother's family as their lawful queen. House Baratheon gave their assent to the betrothal after a visit from the king himself. Later in the year, on his way to bargain with the Lannisters, House Tully and the lords of the Riverlands re-affirmed their oaths to the King and Queen-to-be, and the same process would be repeated with the Lannisters and the Tyrells.
After a year of effort, in 106 the High Septon stood as the last major figure against the father-daughter betrothal. He was finally mollified by further land grants from the crown, ornamental work on the Starry Sept, and a not-so-subtle letter from the Tyrells demanding him to mind where to draw the line.
Drums of war were heard in the Narrow Sea while Viserys worked to secure peace in the Seven Kingdoms: in exile, Daemon allied with Corlys, launching a private war into the Stepstones without asking for permission from their king. That Viserys let this direct challenge to the crown's authority slide showed how much trouble his betrothal caused.
The king would officially marry his daughter in the year 113, after her 16th name-day. Viserys kept a close eye on her before and after the marriage, oftentimes clashing with the hot-headed, pleasure-seeking young princess. Years of drilling a sense of duty and repute did finally pay off: while it was no secret the princess fancied men other than her ailing, balding father-husband, no precise rumors of a lover and bastard(s) ever sprang up. Imprecise rumors were dealt with by precisely cutting out the tongues of the rumormongers by the King's Justice.
In an effort to check his dangerous younger brother, Viserys also brought his brother back from exile in 110, instating him as captain of the City Watch and giving him a seat at the small council. Princess Rhaenyra was said to have questioned the wisdom of granting command of one thousand armed men to such a dangerous figure, to which the king was said to have replied "he is at least now less dangerous than as a free man running around in the Free Cities".
Later Reign
King Viserys' health went into further decline as he reached his late thirties, sometimes so weak he ordered Queen Rhaenyra to sit in his place at the small council. During this period, Rhaenyra gradually aligned with Otto Hightower against her uncle Prince Daemon, much to the captain of the goldcloaks' resentment. Furious at constantly being sidelined first by the king and now by the queen, Daemon resigned his small council seat in 114, becoming a free man running around in the Free Cities, going on to marry Laena Velaryon in the next year.
Queen Rhaenyra gradually built up a more solid power base, not merely befriending members of powerful houses such as Otto and the Lannister twins, but also bringing sordid figures such as imported eunuchs into her employ. While their presence in the Red Keep was secretly resented, eunuchs would begin their rise to some form of official power during what was the queen's effective regency for her father. Her network of eunuchs and handmaidens was most notably used to monopolize access to the king - according to rumor, a tactic so effective Daemon Targaryen was forced to fly directly to the king's bedchambers on Caraxes in an attempt to see his brother.
Viserys' relationship with his daughter gradually improved as he lost the strength to chastise her, bedridden for days on end, his fingers puffing up and unable to walk out of his bedchambers. The queen would read to him when she had official business dealt with and would even find time to collect and edit his writings, being his scribe when the king suddenly felt like dictating something. Legends say the queen even found it in her to finally mount her father during this period, but up to Viserys' death, Rhaenyra remained his only living child.
Death
Near the start of the year 118's hunting season, King Viserys' health abnormally surged, perhaps due to the weight loss brought about by constant nausea. Seeing this as cause for celebration, the king himself decided to organize a small-scale royal hunt into the Kingswood, inviting only close friends of the royal house. Reaction to the guest list was mixed within the royal family, especially the decision to invite Otto Hightower, which was loudly protested by Daemon Targaryen.
Despite the turbulence during preparations, the hunt set off in a generally amicable atmosphere. On the third day of the hunt, with Daemon drunk from last night's revelries, Viserys chose to form a small party of select few for a morning expedition, leaving the rest at camp. The small party, consisting of the King and Queen, Otto, and a few select others, travelled into the Kingswood escorted by Sers Rickard Thorne and Arryk Cargyll of the Kingsguard. On the road, they saw a big, beautiful wild boar, which was not deterred by the dozen odd people. Urged on by his daughter-wife, the king tried to fire an arrow to signal the start of the hunt, but he ultimately did not recover enough to pull and aim, his sweating, trembling hands lost grip, then the bowstring took out half his ear and the horrific wound would cause uncontrollable bleeding. The Queen and Kingsguards would rush the king back to camp, and from there back to the capital.
It would all be for nothing in the end: the king broke into a fever, and the wound was infected before Maester Mellos even managed to see the king. On his deathbed, Viserys would name Daemon Targaryen (absent), Otto Hightower, Corlys Velaryon (urgently summoned from High Tide) and Rickon Stark (absent) as members of Rhaenyra's small council, telling (or sending letters in case of the absent 2) them he hoped they would work together to let Westeros continue in peace and prosperity.
Despite being in great pain, Viserys passed away peacefully with Rhaenyra at his bedside and a smile on his lips. Two days later, after the silent sisters prepared the body, Syrax gave flame alone in the traditional burning funeral of a Targaryen. It was modestly attended by those who were celebrating the king's health returning less than a month ago.
Notes:
Happy first day of the year!
I really like HotD Viserys. I really like the flow of the show, once I catch up on who is who after the timeskips at least.
Then I ruminate on the entire plot and realize Viserys was the unwitting architect of the Dance of the Dragons. I decided to make him a little more prudent, and flanderize his commitment to decisions a bit, enough to make him actually work on building up Rhaenyra's supporters - which was how I got the seed for this alternate-verse project.
Per FFN rules I cannot actually make an interactive novel, but for those who are worried this might be a 'Make Targaryens Great Again' work, allow me to introduce you to the concept of "The Great Reckoning Meter" - the more dragons there are in the world, the Targaryens and the world in general would suffer a greater backlash.
I gradually developed this concept while composing my ideas for this novel. See, it is canon that the more dragons there are, the more magical the world gets. Dragons work like a sort of magic conduit, in addition to being quite magical already.
It is also canon that the absolute apex of dragon numbers was JUST BEFORE THE DOOM OF VALYRIA.
And ASOIAF magic is dangerous. Which means essentially, I have a canon ready-made counter to the potential MTGA scenario: all the magic built up by a huge number of dragons exploding spectacularly in the Targaryens' faces. The Great Reckoning.
Now, there are a lot of ways to accomplish that. The Doom of Westeros ala the Doom of Valyria, volcanoes everywhere. A winter that lasts for a hundred years and reaches all the way to the southern coast of Dorne. Magic users becoming widespread and people exploding on the streets because they can't control the magic powers coursing through their bodies. Or a more thorough shattering of the Neck. Even a Dance.
Which, in hindsight, makes me believe the canon Dance of the Dragons was quite a gentle and pleasant affair. It was just a war that resolved itself in 3 years, after all.
For readers who wish me to make a MTGA work: be careful for what you wish for. I might deliver.
On to more happy affairs, I would try to maintain monthly updates. If a season goes by without updates, I probably abandoned this project.
One more thing: out of all the ASOIAF dragons, my favorite one is Vermithor. He would have some soft plot armor - if the Great Reckoning does not call for a Dance, Vermithor would be there when the White Walkers invade.
MN 2023.1.1