High Tide

Lord Corlys Velaryon had High Tide built to leave behind the small, damp castle that had until then served as his house's seat on Driftmark. The new stronghold rose in the same pale stone that crowns the Eyrie, its slender towers capped with sheets of silver that threw back the sunlight.

When the tide came in, the sea closed around the castle entirely, and only a single road kept it joined to the rest of the island. Near its walls, a village grew into the city of Villaespecia, regularly visited by ships out of the Free Cities and places further still.

In his youth, Prince Daemon Targaryen found in High Tide one of the few places where he felt safe, thanks to the alliance that bound him to Lord Corlys Velaryon. During one of his visits to the castle, in 115 AC, he met Lady Laena Velaryon and fell in love with her.

After Ser Laenor Velaryon's wedding to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the two lived apart. Laenor preferred the comforts of High Tide to the court at King's Landing, and there he met Ser Qarl Correy, who was said to be his new lover.

In 120 AC, King Viserys I Targaryen travelled to High Tide with his family for Ser Laenor's funeral. Vhagar, the dragon that had belonged to Laena Velaryon until her death, still made her home there, and Prince Aemond Targaryen claimed her for himself.

After flying Vhagar, Aemond clashed with Princess Rhaenyra's sons and lost an eye in the scuffle. The incident poisoned still further the enmity between the two factions at court.

During the Battle of the Gullet, already deep into the Dance of the Dragons, the fleet of the Triarchy fell upon the island: it razed Villaespecia and set High Tide ablaze. The fire consumed the treasures Lord Corlys Velaryon had gathered over his years of trade across Essos.

The castle's servants died trying to escape the flames.