♛ → NEW VALYRIA presents DAENORA TARGARYEN, the PRINCESS of KING’S LANDING. when the dragons danced in the sky they thought the GREENS would still fly, but in the blink of an eye, they would all die. the TWENTY-NINE year old CIS WOMAN who was DISCIPLINED & TACTICAL before they saw the first of the flames, is now STUBBORN & RESENTFUL after seeing the last. they’re often associated with shadowed wings against the light of the moon, white silks against porcelain skin, . ( sasha luss )
history.
daenora was born to helaena and aegon targaryen, then prince and princess of the realm, twin to her brother jaehaerys. it was evident even during her mother’s pregnancy that neither of her parents were fully equipped for raising children. aegon was a cruel drunk, and helaena prone to fits of madness. it was due to this that daenora’s earliest memories were shaped not by targaryens, but by hightowers - her grandmother, queen alicent, and her father, otto hightower.
from her cradle egg, a dragon would hatch, a pure white beast she named morghul for an old valyrian god.
as a girl, most of daenora’s childhood was spent under the thumb of alicent. she has never known what it was not to feel the pressure of her mother’s madness upon her, for she has never known what it is not to dream. inherited from helaena, daenora possesses the gift of dragon dreaming, glimpses of past, present and future obvious to her. to her, it was no gift, though, but a burden, a sign she would fall to her mother’s madness, something she is determined not to do. though her dreams developed at a young age, only a few have ever been aware of them - alicent, otto, and her brother.
the combination of alicent and otto’s influence and fear of helaena’s madness shaped who daenora became, a woman wholly aware of her image in the eyes of others, a woman gifted in calculation and foresight. she could be wilful, she could be stubborn, but it was always under a veneer of complete control. when the god tossed a coin for her, it had decided she would be mad, but that she would not accept.
war came to the realm, torn apart in the battle for the iron throne, and the worst part of all was daenora knew it would come, but kept it to herself, fearing the perception of madness more than she feared battle. she had seen what was to come, her brother in the red keep with a crown upon his head, and thought she had little to fear. what she did not see was the loss to both sides, and how much she and her brother would lose.
when rhaenyra marched on king’s landing, both twins fled, separating as they did so. jaehaerys went in one direction, and daenora in the other. as she escaped, Morghul rose into the skies eastward, and she followed, but she never saw her dragon again. to this day, she believes morghul found his way to valyria, though the bond was severed.
she found herself in the home of the rogare family, and in a deal struck with the black faction of the targaryen family, was forced into marriage with an aged uncle. though, by law, as his bride she was a member of their family, she was a prisoner in all but name, a rogare hostage, and they would only release her if their ransom demands were met.
it has not been months, but years since daenora was married, and yet, her union remained unconsummated all the while. the loss of control she felt in lys was great, and yet, that was one thing she still retained power over. she made it known to all she was still a maid, even taking to wearing white at all times to emphasise her point and highlight her defiance.
in her early years in lys, it was believed jaehaerys was dead. this was something daenora never believed. if he was dead, she would know it, feel it in her heart and see it in her dreams, which still showed him with a crown on his head even as it seemed the blacks had emerged from the dance victorious.
eventually, her visions were proven true, and her brother would ascend the throne, though the realm had since fractured. yet still, daenora remained in lys. none would come to save her - she must do so herself.
she began quietly working on the petition for an annulment of her marriage, and after much back and forth, it was granted to her. she was free to leave the rogares, to leave lys, to return to the place she had been born. it was not long after she heard news of her grandmother’s murder, something that has weighted heavily on her, something else her dreams had kept hidden from her.
she thought the brimming anger she has kept caged in her chest would subside once she reached westerosi shores - but she is here, and it hasn’t. if anything, she is angrier than ever, that nobody saw fit to help her, that she had been left to rot for years. she struggles to hide her resentment, though she still possesses enough control to refrain from lashing out at those she blames most.
personality.
basics
daenora considers herself to be a survivor, someone capable of navigating war, imprisonment, loss, grief and anger without breaking. she knows how to endure with grace. her core personality is a strange concoction, forceful and sharp, stubborn and wilful, but repressed, too. she has spent a life forcing herself not to appear to be mad, burying more theatrical displays to present an image of complete control. her self-discipline is high. she’s a very resentful person, though not truly envious. the years of her marriage have taken it’s toll, and she cannot reconcile with the fact for others, life went on, and they enjoyed freedoms she was denied. she has always been intelligent, educated in politics and history and the legacy of valyria, the latter of which a hobby picked up in lys to pass her time. at times, daenora can be quite ruthless. she does not enjoy cruelty for cruelty’s sake, but when faced with a difficult decision, she does not waste time thinking about the ethics of things before acting in the interest of what she believes is best. during her imprisonment, her view of “what’s best” has narrowed, and she has become more selfish, taking action in her own best interest alone. another side effect of her time in lys is the deep paranoia that grips her. she trusts nobody, and knows that no offer comes free. she’s the master of defiance. even when backed against a wall, she’ll find a way to push back in her own way. she’s been denied control over herself for a long time, and now she’s hungry for it. she hated the feeling of being powerless, and she’s determined never to feel that way again.
goals.
her primary goal is to reestablish her life, but this time, to retain control over it.
fears.
she has lived her life fearing that she’d be the successor of her mother’s legacy. though daenora cannot stop her dreams, her greatest fear is that they become common knowledge, and begin to define how people see her.
this ties to her fear of loss of her agency.
other.
though not a particularly gentle person, her voice is very soft and sweet when she speaks.
she enjoys making perfume and blending incense, something she has done since she was a teenager.
a trait inherited from her grandmother is the sense of peace found in religion, and she enjoys spending time in places of worship, whether that be septs dedicated to the seven or temples to essoian gods.
she can’t stand drunkenness and refuses to speak to people who are visible inebriated. it reminds her of her father.
when she feels herself slipping into her dreams, she counts things to calm herself down.
there’s a large scar on her right hand, running up to her mid-forearm, where she once knocked through a window in an attempt to escape from lys.
