Lord Stokeworth
Lord Stokeworth held the lordship of Stokeworth through the reigns of Viserys I and Aegon II Targaryen, head of his house when the Dance of the Dragons split the realm between rival claimants.
His loyalty, tested more than once during the civil war, became a small but telling example of how little such oaths were worth once an enemy army stood at the gate.
Chapter 1
The lord of shifting loyalties
129 ACBooks only
Viserys I Targaryen
Aegon II Targaryen
Criston ColeUnder the reign of Viserys I Targaryen, Lord Stokeworth had sworn to uphold Rhaenyra's right to succeed to the throne. That oath was tested as soon as the civil war later known as the Dance of the Dragons broke out: in 129 AC, supporters of the newly crowned Aegon II seized him and gave him a choice between swearing loyalty to the new king or dying at the hands of the King's Justice. Stokeworth chose to live.
Not long after, Ser Criston Cole marched out of King's Landing toward Duskendale and Rook's Rest, detouring through Rosby and Stokeworth to demand that both lords prove their loyalty by joining their forces to his.
Chapter 2
The severed tongue
130 ACBooks only
Rhaenyra TargaryenWhen the capital fell to Rhaenyra in 130 AC, Stokeworth tried once more to switch sides. The queen did not accept the gesture: she had his tongue cut out and then had him put to death in King's Landing.
Chapter 3
The son who inherited
Books only
Daemon Targaryen
Ulf the White
Corlys VelaryonAfter Stokeworth's death, Prince Daemon Targaryen proposed marrying his eldest daughter to Ulf the White, which would have handed him the lordship. Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Queen's Hand, objected: disinheriting the son in favor of the elder daughter would call into question the claims of many other lords whose own elder sisters might suddenly outrank them.
According to Munkun's account, Rhaenyra sided with Corlys and named Stokeworth's son the new Lord of Stokeworth.
