Desmond Manderly
Desmond Manderly was the Lord of White Harbor during the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war that split the Targaryens after the death of King Viserys I. His support, however far north White Harbor lay, mattered enough that Princess Rhaenyra herself sent her son to seek it out.
He was a shrewd negotiator, and the pact he struck for the queen's cause — sealed with the promise of a marriage between the two houses — would carry his men all the way to the gates of King's Landing.
Chapter 1
The pact at White Harbor
Books only
Joffrey Velaryon
Viserys I TargaryenWhen the death of King Viserys I lit the war between claimants to the Iron Throne, Princess Rhaenyra looked for allies beyond King's Landing. Her son Jacaerys came north to White Harbor, sent to win Lord Desmond Manderly over to his mother's cause.
In the hall of judgment they struck a bargain: once the war ended, Lord Desmond's youngest daughter would marry Prince Joffrey Velaryon. Manderly was known as a shrewd negotiator, and the pact bound his house to the queen's side long before a single ship sailed south.
Chapter 2
The fleet south
130 ACBooks only
In 130 AC, Lord Manderly kept his word: he sent a fleet from White Harbor to King's Landing to join the queen's forces. Two of his sons, Medrick and Torrhen, commanded it, while their father stayed behind to govern the north.
Chapter 3
The winter fever
132 ACBooks only
Lord Desmond did not live to see the war's end. In 132 AC a winter fever took him, along with Medrick, the son who had led his fleet south and who stood to inherit White Harbor. The lordship passed instead to Torrhen, the other son who had sailed with the fleet.
