Lord Corlys Velaryon, known as the?Sea Snake, was the Lord of the Tides, Master of Driftmark, and head of?House Velaryon. He was the husband of Princess?Rhaenys Targaryen, and during the?Dance of the Dragons, he became?Hand of the Queen?Rhaenyra Targaryen. He also served as a regent for King Aegon III. Guy had a full life.
As a younger man, Corlys was adventurous. He once sailed?his?ship the Ice Wolf beyond the Wall in search of a northerly route around Westeros, but was unable to find it and had to turn back. Lord Corlys also sailed aboard his legendary ship the Sea Snake, which gave him his nickname, on nine great voyages to?Essos. He accumulated an overwhelming amount of wealth from visits to?Qarth,?Yi Ti and?Leng. This made House Velaryon the richest house in the Seven Kingdoms for a time.
Lord Corlys was the first man from Westeros to visit?Nefer?in?N’Ghai?and to navigate the?Thousand Islands. During his last sailing adventure, he filled the?Sea Snake’s hold with gold and bought twenty ships at Qarth, each loaded to bursting with spices, elephants and silk. Lord Corlys Velaryon was a living legend and popular among the people of King’s Landing and beyond.
Lord Corlys and?Princess?Rhaenys Targaryen had two children,?Laena and?Laenor. During the Great Council at Harrenhal, when King Jaehaerys called on the Lords of Westeros to weigh in on who should be his heir, Laenor was one of the claimants. However, Prince Viserys earned more support and was named Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne.
Later, after being slighted by King Viserys, Lord Corlys used his considerable wealth to support Prince Daemon Targaryen, and the two conquered all but two islands in the?Stepstones. Prince Daemon led the forces on the ground and from the air on the back of his dragon Caraxes the Blood Wyrm, while Lord Corlys led their fleet. When Deamon declared himself?King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea, it was Corlys who placed the crown upon Daemon’s head. Lord Corlys Velaryon was now a Kingmaker.
During the Dance of the Dragons, Lord Corlys became Hand of the Queen to?Queen?Rhaenyra Targaryen, but for a while became disillusioned with her after his own wife Rhaenys and her dragon died in the Battle at Rook’s Rest. Rhaenys had tried to fight Prince Aemond Targaryen and his dragon Vhagar together with?King?Aegon II Targaryen?upon?Sunfyre all by herself. Before Aemond and Aegon appeared at that battle, Rhaenys had burned through Ser Criston Cole’s ground forces, almost winning the battle single-handedly.
However, the three dragons met a thousand feet in the air and collided, crashing to the ground so hard that stones from Rook’s Rest fell from the ramparts. Rhaenys died and her burned corpse was found beside her dead dragon?Meleys the Red Queen. King Aegon II was badly injured and burned from the fall, and his dragon Sunfyre almost lost a wing and never fully recovered. Prince Aemond and Vhagar, the largest of the Targaryen dragons then living, came out of the battle unscathed.
Lord Corlys returned to Driftmark and his seat at High Tide to brood, but when Queen Rhaenyra went into seclusion (with only Mushroom the fool as her confidant), depressed over the loss of her mother and her son, Prince Jacaerys called Corlys back and made him Hand of the Queen once more.
Later, when Prince Jacaerys called for “seeds” of the dragon — those who claimed to have the blood of House Targaryen flowing through their veins — two bastard boys from Driftmark, Addam and Alyn of Hull, came to Dragonstone to see if they could claim a dragon. They had the silver hair and purple eyes so commonly associated with House Targaryen, so no one challenged their claim, but House Velaryon was also from Valyria, and their features also included silver hair and purple eyes.
When pressed, the boys’ mother claimed that Laenor, Lord Corlys’ dead son and former husband to Queen Rhaenyra, was their father. However, it was known that Laenor was gay, and the three children Rhaenyra bore while she was married to him were likely the progeny of her protector and lover?Harwin Strong. Laenor was not the father. Instead, everyone assumed that Lord Corlyn himself had fathered Addam and Alyn and kept it a secret from his wife Rhaenys.
Anyway, Addam claimed the dragon Seasmoke, the same dragon that belonged to Laenor until his untimely death. His brother Alyn, however, was not able to claim any dragon. Still, Lord Corlys petitioned Queen Rhaenerya to legitimize the brothers as Velaryon, which she did.
When Addam and Seasmoke died in the second Battle of Tumbleton, Alyn Velaryion was named Lord Corlys’ heir, and when he Corlys died, Alyn became Master of Driftmark, Lord of the Tides, and head of?House Velaryon. Under the rule of King Aegon III, he earned the name Oakenfist after ramming his ship into a Braavosi warship and winning a great victory at the Stepstones. He rescued Prince Viserys — long thought dead — from captivity in Lys, earning high favor from the young King Aegon III. Later, he married into House Targaryen by marrying?Lady?Baela Targaryen, the daughter of Prince?Daemon.
Lord Corlys enjoyed a long and eventful life before dying at the ripe old age of 79. He was thought of so highly by King Aegon III that his body was placed at the foot of the Iron Throne for a week.
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