Aziz and special guest Lucifer Means Lightbringer discuss the mystical and ancient side of House Dayne. Dawn (is it Lightbringer?), Sword of the Morning (who decides?), the castles of Starfall and High Hermitage… and plenty more!

Thanks to Lucifer Means Lightbringer of Astronomy of Ice and Fire for joining us on this episode, and for helping with the quotes.

The primary topics in this episode:

1. Intro
2. Part 1 – The Dawn of Dayne
3. Part 2 – Under the Sun and the Spear
4. Part 3 – Starfall in Flames
5. Part 4 – The Sword of the Morning
6. Part 5 – The Look of Dragonlords
7. Outtro

“The Daynes of Starfall are one of the most ancient houses in the Seven Kingdoms, though their fame largely rests on their ancestral sword, called Dawn, and the men who wielded it.”

“At the mouth of the Torrentine, House Dayne raised its castle on an island where that roaring, tumultuous river broadens to meet the sea. Legend says the first Dayne was led to the site when he followed the track of a falling star and there found a stone of magical powers. His descendants ruled over the western mountains for centuries thereafter as Kings of the Torrentine and Lords of Starfall.”

“The Swords of the Morning are all famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms. There are boys who secretly dream of being a son of Starfall so they might claim that storied sword and its title. Most famous of all was Ser Arthur Dayne…”

Matters escalated, and more Dornish seats fell to dragonfire in 9 AC. The Dornish responded a year later by sending a host under Lord Fowler that seized and burned the great marcher castle of Nightsong and carried off its lords and defenders as hostages, whilst another army under Ser Joffrey Dayne marched to the very walls of Oldtown, razing the fields and villages outside it.”

“Its origins are lost to legend, but it seems likely that the Daynes have carried it for thousands of years. Those who have had the honor of examining it say it looks like no Valyrian steel they know, being pale as milkglass but in all other respects it seems to share the properties of Valyrian blades, being incredibly strong and sharp.”

“The two years that followed were later called the years of the Dragon’s Wroth. Grief-stricken at the death of their beloved sister, King Aegon and Queen Visenya set ablaze every castle, keep, and holdfast in Dorne at least once . . . save for Sunspear and the shadow city.”

“The great beauty of the Valyrians – with their hair of the palest silver or gold and eyes in shades of purple not found amongst any other people in the world – is well known, and often held up as proof that the Valyrians are not entirely of the same blood as other men.”

“When Mors Martell took Nymeria to wife, hundreds of his knights, squires, and lords bannermen also wed Rhoynish women, and many of those who were already wed took them for their paramours.”

“When at last she died, it was the eldest of her four daughters by Mors Martell who succeeded her, not her son by Davos Dayne, for by then the Dornish had come to adopt many of the laws and customs of the Rhoynar.”