Chapter 49: The Scholar King's Brief Interlude and the Unworthy's Noxious Bloom
The death of Baelor I, the Pious King, in 171 AC, whether by divine will after an overzealous fast or by the more worldly intervention of a poisoned cup from his long-suffering Hand and uncle, Prince Viserys, brought a collective sigh of relief from many corners of Westeros. While Baelor's fervent piety had inspired some, his erratic governance, his draining of the royal treasury for grand religious projects, and his often bizarre edicts had left the realm teetering on the edge of instability. His passing, therefore, was seen by pragmatic minds as a necessary, if somber, turning point.
From his timeless sanctuary in Mount Skatus, Aelyx Velaryon observed the transition with clinical interest. The ascension of Prince Viserys, brother of Aegon III and uncle to both Daeron I and Baelor I, to the Iron Throne as King Viserys II Targaryen was, in Aelyx's estimation, several decades overdue. Viserys had effectively ruled the Seven Kingdoms as Hand during much of Baelor's reign, his quiet competence and shrewd administrative skills the only bulwark against his nephew's pious follies.
"A capable man, at last," Aelyx commented to Lyanna, as reports from Tibbit's network detailed Viserys II's swift, efficient consolidation of power. "He possesses the intellect of Jaehaerys without his grandfather's early martial ambition or his nephew Baelor's debilitating fanaticism. Had he come to the throne in his youth, the Targaryen dynasty might have found a more stable footing."
Indeed, King Viserys II, though already old and worn by years of thankless service when he finally wore the crown, initiated a series of much-needed reforms. He sought to replenish the treasury, streamline the bureaucracy, repair trade relations damaged by Baelor's insularity, and restore a measure of rational order to the realm. His reign was marked by diligence, wisdom, and a weary pragmatism.
Publicly, Lord Aelyx Volmark (the second of that name to rule Skagos in the public eye, Aelyx's great-great-great-great-grandson, a man now in his vigorous middle years, his Valyrian features a familiar, if still somewhat exotic, sight to the Northern lords) sent lavish congratulations and pledges of unwavering loyalty to the new King via Lord Stark of Winterfell. Skagos, under its succession of carefully managed Volmark lords, had become a byword for stability and immense, yet responsibly wielded, wealth. The "Heir's Hoard" continued its generous façade, its gold smoothing relations and ensuring the North, and by extension Skagos, remained largely untroubled by the shifting political tides in King's Landing.
Within the sanctuary, however, Aelyx viewed Viserys II's reign as a mere interlude, a brief flickering of competence in the otherwise accelerating decline of overt Targaryen power. "He patches the hull of a ship already riddled with rot from within," Aelyx observed to his immortal children, now themselves ancient beings by mortal standards, their own broods of magically potent descendants filling the vast, hidden halls of Mount Skatus. "His efforts are commendable, but he cannot undo the damage wrought by generations of flawed succession, by the loss of their dragons, by the arrogance and folly of his predecessors. He is but one man, and his time is short."
And so it proved. King Viserys II's reign, though wise and beneficial, lasted little more than a year before he succumbed to a sudden illness in 172 AC. The realm, which had briefly tasted stability, was once again plunged into uncertainty, for his successor was his eldest son, Aegon, a prince whose reputation for vice, gluttony, and lechery had long preceded him.
When Prince Aegon was crowned King Aegon IV Targaryen, Aelyx Velaryon felt a grim, almost predatory, satisfaction. If Viserys II had been a brief candle of reason, Aegon IV was a raging, uncontrolled bonfire of degeneracy, destined to consume much of what remained of Targaryen prestige and authority.
"Behold, my children," Aelyx declared, as the first reports of Aegon IV's excesses began to filter north from Tibbit's horrified agents in King's Landing. "The Unworthy King. If Maegor was the Cruel, and Baelor the Pious Fool, this Aegon will be remembered as the architect of his house's decay. He will provide us with a masterclass in how to squander a legacy, alienate a realm, and sow the seeds of inevitable civil war. Observe him well. There are invaluable lessons in his every depraved act."
Aegon IV's reign was, from its outset, a spectacle of breathtaking corruption and self-indulgence. He was a man of immense appetites – for food, for drink, for women – and he used the power of the Iron Throne to sate them without restraint. His court became a den of sycophants, flatterers, and grasping opportunists. He lavished wealth and titles upon unworthy favorites, often at the expense of honorable lords and the royal treasury. His queen, his long-suffering sister-wife Naerys, a gentle and pious woman, was subjected to constant humiliation and cruelty, while Aegon openly paraded his endless succession of mistresses. Their son, Prince Daeron (the future Daeron II, called Daeron the Good), a thoughtful and scholarly young man, was often the target of his father's scorn, his legitimacy even questioned by the King in his fouler moods.
Aelyx found Aegon IV's attempts to project power particularly pathetic. Lacking the true might of numerous dragons, Aegon IV commissioned the construction of enormous, clanking "dragons" of wood and iron, hoping to use wildfire to make them instruments of terror. These contraptions, predictably, proved to be expensive, unworkable deathtraps.
"He seeks to mimic the power of his ancestors with artifice and alchemy," Aelyx commented with a sneer, as reports of the disastrous trial of one such mechanical dragon reached him. "He does not understand that true dragonpower is not mere fire and scale; it is a living bond, a magical symbiosis, a force of nature commanded by will and blood. He plays with toys, while true dragons slumber beneath our mountain, their power growing with each passing year." The contrast between Aegon IV's folly and Aelyx's own burgeoning, hidden dragon legions – now numbering well over three hundred, their bloodlines enriched by the stolen Targaryen strains, their Volmark riders generations deep in arcane training – was stark.
Publicly, Lord Aelyx Volmark II of Skagos maintained the necessary courtesies. Lavish gifts – chests of "Skagosi gold," rare white furs suitable for the King's many mistresses, casks of potent Northern spirits – were sent to King's Landing to celebrate Aegon IV's coronation and other state occasions. These offerings, far exceeding what was expected from even the wealthiest Northern vassal, served to appease the King's notorious greed and keep his intrusive gaze far from Skagos. Aegon IV, content with the flow of gold, largely ignored his remote Northern domain, seeing it merely as another source of revenue for his pleasures.
Within the sanctuary, Aelyx used Aegon IV's reign as a living curriculum for his descendants. "See how a king without wisdom or virtue can unravel the strongest realm?" he would lecture his great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, as they studied the political machinations of King's Landing. "He surrounds himself with flatterers, he alienates true counsel, he indulges his basest desires, and he breeds resentment and instability with every decree. His power is a hollow shell, propped up only by the memory of his ancestors' dragons and the inertia of the realm's obedience."
The most significant, and in Aelyx's view, most catastrophically foolish, aspect of Aegon IV's reign was his proliferation of bastards, and his blatant favoritism towards them. He fathered countless illegitimate children, many by highborn ladies, and he acknowledged them openly, often granting them wealth and honors. Among these "Great Bastards," several stood out, their names already beginning to sow discord: Daemon Waters, son of the King's cousin, Princess Daena the Defiant, a youth of exceptional martial skill and charismatic Valyrian beauty, to whom Aegon gifted the sacred Targaryen Valyrian steel sword, Blackfyre; Aegor Rivers, called Bittersteel, son of Lady Barba Bracken, a grim and formidable warrior; Brynden Rivers, called Bloodraven, son of Lady Melissa Blackwood, an albino with a reputation for sorcery and a network of spies; and Shiera Seastar, daughter of Lady Serenei of Lys, a woman of ethereal, enchanting beauty, also rumored to dabble in the dark arts.
"He populates his realm with ambitious, high-born bastards, many of them possessing Targaryen features and a sense of entitlement," Aelyx observed, as Lyra and Daenys brought him visions of these rising figures. "And in Daemon Waters, by granting him Blackfyre, the sword of kings, he has all but anointed a rival to his own legitimate son, Daeron. This is not mere folly; it is dynastic suicide. He is deliberately planting the seeds of a future civil war, one that will make the Dance of the Dragons seem a mere prelude."
Aelyx instructed Tibbit to create detailed dossiers on each of the Great Bastards, particularly Daemon Blackfyre. He saw in Daemon the potential for a charismatic rebel leader, a figurehead for all those disaffected by Targaryen rule or by Prince Daeron's more scholarly, Dornish-influenced persona (Daeron was married to Princess Myriah Martell of Dorne, an alliance that, while bringing peace, was unpopular with some Stormlords and Marcher Lords).
The Emissary program, which Aelyx had initiated decades earlier, now began to bear subtle fruit. Several of his descendants, generations removed from the original Volmark children, their Valyrian features carefully diluted through intermarriage with magically vetted Skagosi elite lines (or subtly altered by long-term illusionary enchantments), had been placed in positions of minor influence in the south. One, appearing as a gifted young maester with a quiet disposition and a genius for historical research, had gained a position within the Citadel at Oldtown, granting Aelyx unprecedented access to its vast libraries and the chatter of the learned world. Another, a woman of striking beauty and intellect, posing as the widowed daughter of a minor Essosi merchant prince, had established a popular salon in King's Landing frequented by lesser nobles and court functionaries, a perfect listening post for the city's endless intrigues. Their reports, relayed to Skagos through magical means, supplemented Tibbit's network, providing Aelyx with an ever-clearer picture of the decaying realm.
Throughout Aegon IV's seventeen-year reign of excess and misrule, the hidden kingdom of Skagos continued its relentless, silent ascent. New generations of Volmarks were born, their magical education starting from the cradle. The dragon population swelled, their lairs beneath Mount Skatus now a vast, interconnected network of volcanic caverns and magically sustained ecosystems. Aenar and his teams of enchanters and alchemists made breakthroughs in warding technology, in the creation of magical weapons, and in the subtle manipulation of natural forces. The sanctuary was not just a haven; it was an engine of ever-expanding magical and technological superiority, utterly unknown to the outside world.
The public Lord Aelyx Volmark II maintained cordial relations with Lord Cregan Stark's successors at Winterfell, his wealth and Skagos's well-trained levies making him an indispensable ally in maintaining Northern peace and security. He even hosted a magnificent Northern Games on Skagos, inviting lords from across the North to partake in hunts, melees, and archery contests, further cementing Volmark prestige and camaraderie, all while his true ancestor watched from the shadows, subtly guiding every interaction, every display of "Skagosi" prowess.
The end of Aegon IV's reign came in 184 AC, as grotesquely as he had lived. Bloated and ravaged by disease, the Unworthy King, in his final, most calamitous act of folly, signed a decree legitimizing all of his numerous bastards, both highborn and low. With that single stroke of the quill, he plunged a dagger into the heart of his own dynasty, ensuring that the strife and bloodshed he had fostered throughout his reign would continue long after he was gone.
Aelyx received the news of Aegon IV's death and his final decree with a chilling sense of vindication. "He has done it," Aelyx murmured to Lyanna, as they stood before the glowing map of Westeros, the sigils of the newly legitimized Great Bastards now flickering into prominence. "He has guaranteed at least another generation of Targaryen civil war. Daemon Blackfyre, with the Conqueror's sword and his father's blessing, will not long remain a mere legitimized bastard. He will claim the throne. The Blackfyre Rebellions… they will be as bloody, if not as draconic, as the Dance itself."
He felt no pity for House Targaryen. They were architects of their own decline. His focus was on the future, a future where his own immortal dynasty, shielded by secrecy, nurtured by magic, and commanding a legion of true dragons, would stand ready to inherit the ashes of a world consumed by the follies of mortal kings. The reign of the Unworthy King was over. But the true era of the Shadow King of Skagos, an era stretching into the unwritten centuries, was just gathering its silent, inexorable momentum.