[ 1 | 2 | Footnotes ]

Name:
Daenerys Targaryen of House Targaryen.

Also known as:
Daenerys Stormborn, Princess (later Queen) of Dragonstone. Called The Unburnt and Mother of Dragons by her khalasar. Her freedmen call her Mhysa, Maela, Aelalla or Qathei (Mother).

Status:
Queen in exile (heir to King Aerys II).

Age:
15 years. Born in 283-284 A.L.

Place of Birth/Home:
Born on Dragonstone. Spent her childhood travelling between the Free Cities on the eastern continent.

Physical Description:
Silver-pale hair and purple eyes. She has a pale complexion, but her skin has become sun-browned after her travels over the warm eastern continent.

Daenerys Targaryen was born in 283-284 A.L. (1), on Dragonstone a small island in the Seven Kingdoms. She was born on a fierce, stormy day (2), and she's also known as Daenerys Stormborn.

Nine months earlier, her mother (who had died birthing her) and her brother Viserys (who was eight at that time) had sailed to Dragonstone at midnight to escape the advancing armies of Robert Baratheon, The Usurper.

Rhaegar, her eldest brother, had been killed in battle against the Usurper, on the Trident, north of King's Landing. King's Landing was later sacked by Lord Tywin Lannister and Lord Eddard Stark, and Rhaegar's heir had been murdered before the eyes of his mother, Princess Elia of Dorne. King Aerys II, Dany's father, was killed by the Kingslayer.

Stannis Baratheon, Robert's brother, sets sail for Dragonstone with his new fleet and the garrison prepares to sell them to the Usurper. However, Ser Willem Darry and four loyal men steal Dany and her brother from the nursery and set sail for the distant Braavosian coast on the eastern continent.

Dany and her brother lived in safety in Bravoos until Ser Willem died. After his death the servants stole their money and put them on the street.

They wandered between the cities of Bravoos, Myr, Tyrosh, Qohor, Volantis and Lys, but never stayed long in one place, fearing that the Usurper's hired men would find them. Viserys hoped to gain support for his cause as the rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms, but their lives grew meaner in the following years, as the Usurper continued to reign, although at first, they had been welcomed as the last Targaryens by the archons and merchant princes. They were forced to sell their last treasures, and in Pentos Viserys earned the nickname The beggar king.

In Pentos, they are eventually taken care of by a wealthy dealer named Magister Illyrio Mopatis. He supports their cause, offers them protection and lets them live generously in his house for almost half a year. But Viserys is determined to retake the Seven Kingdoms, and in a desperate move, he lets Illyrio sell Dany to Khal Drogo, a Dothraki horselord, in the hope that the khal will provide him with an army in return.

Dany weds Drogo in a field beyond Pentos, and the khal's entire khalasar attends. The morning after they break camp and start on their long journey to Vaes Dothrak, the sacred city of the Dothraki. They're accompanied by Ser Jorah Mormont, an exile knight from the Seven Kingdoms, who had offered his services to Viserys the night Dany had been sold. Illyrio had urged Viserys to stay in Pentos, but he decided to stay with Drogo's khalasar until the debt had been paid. Dany had passed her fourteenth name day and was with child by the time they had reached the far side of the Dothraki sea.

In Vaes Dothrak, Dany eats the heart of a stallion, a custom which the Dothraki believe will make her son strong. Dany decides to call her unborn child Rhaego, to honor her late brother.

A feast is arranged later that day but Viserys arrives armed with a sword and in a drunken state, although it's forbidden to carry weapons in the sacred city. He draws the blade and threatens Dany, but is seized by Drogo's bloodriders and soon afterwards he's killed when Drogo upends a pot of molten gold over his head (3).

Later, Dany tries to persuade Drogo to help her retake the Seven Kingdoms, but the khal isn't convinced and plans to lead his khalasar further east after Rhaego is born.

One day Jorah brings Dany with him to the Western Market in Vaes Dothrak, after the arrival of a great caravan under command of Merchant Captain Byan Votyris. Mormont seeks out the captain, hoping to hear from Illyrio, who may have sent a letter with the caravan (4).

In the meantime, Dany and her party come upon a wine merchant who offers her a cask of wine. But Mormont arrives and senses that something is wrong and it turns out that the wine is poisoned. Mormont tells Dany that she feared for her life after reading Illyrio's letter, which reveals that Robert Baratheon offers lands and lordships for her and her child's death. After hearing about the assassination-attempt against his khaleesi and her unborn child, Drogo swears to take his khalasar west, sail across the sea and sack the Seven Kingdoms.

His khalasar leaves Vaes Dothrak two days later but during their journey, in Lhazareen, they encounter Khal Ogo's khalasar, who is about to attack a town. Drogo defeats Ogo and takes thousands of captives which will be sold later in order to buy ships and men for their journey across the sea. As they ride through the devastated town, Dany witnesses several girls being raped. Dany tells her khas to stop the men and she claims the girls as her servants (5)

Drogo was badly wounded during the battle and a healer called Mirri Maz Duur, binds his wounds, despite the reluctance from Drogo's bloodriders who believe the healer is a maegi. A few weeks later Drogo becomes seriously ill, weakened by the festering wound, and he falls from his horse. Jorah urges her to flee with him before it's too late, but Dany won't leave her khal and asks Mirri for help. Before Mirri starts on her bloodmagic ritual, she warns Dany that "only death may pay for life". Drogo's bloodriders try to kill Dany and the maegi, who they believe are responsible for the khal's illness, but is killed by Dany's khas and Jorah in a fierce fight.

Soon after, Dany is about to give birth and is sent to Mirri, but Mirri slays Dany's child (6) in an act of vengeance over the Dothraki for what they did to her, her town and her people. Dany becomes sick after the miscarriage, and when she finally recovers from her fever she's told that Drogo is now more dead than alive, and his khalasar has left him except a small band of old, weak and young people. Dany bids her khas to bind Mirri and take her away. Next dawn she suffocates Drogo with a cushion, to put an end to his misery.

Dany prepares a funeral pyre for Khal Drogo and tells the remaining people from Drogo's khalasar that they will be her khalasar if they wish. She also asks her khas to take their oath as her bloodriders. They refuse and Jorah is the only one who accepts her offer. He subsequently becomes the first of her Queensgard.

Dany puts her dragon's eggs on the pyre, despite protests from Jorah who is unsure of her intentions. Mirri is bound to the pyre and Dany lights it as Jhogo, one of her khas, spot a burning red comet on the sky. Seeing her destiny in the flames, she walks into the pyre and is engulfed by the inferno. Three loud cracks are heard as her dragon's eggs hatch, and when the fire dies Jorah finds her amidst the ashes, unhurt, nursing three young dragons. Stunned by the miracle that has unfolded before their eyes, her khas swear their oaths and become her bloodriders.

Dany and her khalasar cross the red waste, believing that the comet has been sent by the gods to show her the way. Many of her people perish in the harsh, barren climate, including her handmaiden Doreah. They finally make camp in a desolate, dead city, which they name Vaes Tolorro. Ser Jorah tells Dany about his long-lost love, Lady Lynesse, and after he tells her that she resembles Lynesse, Dany starts to realize that Jorah loves her and wants her.

The next morning she sends her three bloodriders on scouting missions, asking them to explore the wasteland and look for signs of life and civilization. Jhogo is the last one to return, but he brings with him three strangers from the City of Qarth: Pyat Pree, the Great Warlock, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, a Qartheen merchant prince and Quaithe, a shadowbinder.

Dany brings her khalasar to Qarth, hoping to obtain a fleet there to win back her throne in the Seven Kingdoms. Xaro Xhoan Daxos offers the hospitality of his home during her stay, and Quhuru Mo, captain of the Cinnamon Wind, brings news that Robert Baratheon has died (7). After several failed attempts to get hold of a fleet and an army to bring her home, she asks Xaro for help, but she realizes that Xaro only wants to marry her so he can claim one of her precious dragons.

[ 1 | 2 | Footnotes ]