Rhaegar V "the Dragonheart" 

Prince of Avanil, Suzerain of Brosengae and Taeghas, Overlord of Mieres, Patriarch of House Avan, Grand Dragonlord of the Obsidian Dragons of Avanil, The Dragon Prince, Blessed of Haelyn, Scourge of the Shadow, Defender of the Righteous, Champion of Justice, Forger of Peace, Master of Law, Harbinger of Knowledge, True Heir of the Iron Throne.

Appearance:

    Physically Prince Rhaegar is 6’2” tall with a solid but graceful build. He always moves in graceful manner but close observers will note that his muscles are often tense, like a hunting cat about to spring. His skin is a pale white colour, as one would expect of one of the aristocracy. His face is angular but attractive. A wry smile often adorns his face giving him the appearance of man is fine spirits, which tends to put others at ease and belies the menace within. His pale brown hair flows freely down below his shoulder line and is sometimes worn clasped to the rear. He is often seen wearing his obsidian black armour, stylised to represent a dragon with gold filigree to symbolize his rank within the Obsidian Dragons of Avanil. Whilst at court he wears the most expensive in fashionable finery, preferring shades of black, grey and purple, and adorns himself with extravagant jewelry to reflect his wealth and power. Over his shoulder is often seen his great mattock “Dragons Fury”. His most striking feature, however, is his birthmark – a black dragon located in the left hand side of his face – a legacy of the Avan bloodline.

Background:

    Lord Rhaegar Avan was born in 524MR, the eldest of five children of Lord Jaime Avan, Count of Daulton and brother of Prince Darien Avan, and Lady Chaella Caulnor. Lord Rhaegar was raised within the opulence of the Prince’s Court at Daulton and as such benefited from the finest tutors that Anuire had to offer. From a very early age Rhaegar showed a natural aptitude for all things martial and he received extensive training on personal combat from the Princes Master at Arms in Daulton and training in tactics from the Lord Marshal of Avanil and Prince Darien Avan himself. It was during this time that Lord Rhaegar developed the unusual trait, for someone of his station, of using a mattock in combat rather than the sword. A strong man, Lord Rhaegar argued that this weapon allowed him to make maximum use of his strength. These were happy times for Lord Rhaegar and his young siblings, with whom he got on very well. In fact young Rhaegar was known to be an extremely affable young man although he did display a certain ruthlessness when it came to achieving his goals. However one person he did not get on well with was his cousin Princess Aubrae, daughter of Prince Avan – perhaps because a strong rivalry existed between the two of them. His father and uncle were an entirely different matter. Rhaegar admired his father Lord Jaime and his uncle Prince Darien enormously and strove constantly to perform well in their eyes.

    Tragedy struck his life with the birth of his youngest brother Daeren in 533MR. The birth of his brother was difficult and his mother Lady Chaella did not survive it. Never very close to his mother this did not affect young Rhaegar that much but when his father died in a hunting accident Rhaegar was devastated, despite the fact he was now the new Count of Daulton – at the age of 9. His grandfather Arlen XII, Prince of Daulton also dies the same year leaving Darien as the new Prince. With both their parents dead the children were taken directly into the household of the Prince of Avanil.

    Many more years of training and campaigning with Prince Avan followed but in 542, at the age of 18, Rhaegar Avan, Count of Daulton, was finally given his own command by his uncle. Rhaegar took command of the Cerualean Eagles knights, as part of the Seamist Field Army. During numerous border skirmishes and minor battles over the following year with the forces of Aeric Boeruine, Archduke of Boeruine, Rhaegar proved himself to be an exceptional battlefield commander, with considerable personal courage and tactical expertise. Quickly his reputation grew amongst the forces of the Seamist Field Army and latter the rest of Avanil, where the young Count was dubbed "the Dragonheart” or the “Obsidian Dragon”.

    During a visit to the Court of Daulton in 543 Rhaegar took the opportunity to persuade the Prince that what Avanil needed was an elite strike force comprised of the most gifted and experienced of the realms chivalry. Rhaegar requested that he be given permission to transfer 200 of the realms best knights to a newly created unit to serve as just such a force. Prince Avan agreed and the Order of the Obsidian Dragons of Avanil, otherwise known simply as the ‘Obsidian Dragons’, was born. Amongst the early recruits were Lord Rhaegars close friend Lord Gaelin Caulnor, Count of Caulnor and his younger brother Viserys Avan, Viscount of Trelaerth. After months of intensive training in Daulton the unit was transferred to the Seamist Field Army where they acquitted themselves extremely well – beating back an attack by Rhoubhe Manslayer himself and killing a number of his elven raiders for minimal losses amongst there own forces. For this victory Rhaegar was promoted to Marshal of the Seamist Field Army. It was during his time in command of this army that Rhaegar began to realize the futility of endless fighting with the forces of Aeric Boeruine, since each battle brought neither side closer to total victory. Repeated statements of this fact fell on deaf ears in Daulton as Darien Avan would hear nothing of it. In fact to put an end to talk of this nature he decided to promote Lord Rhaegar in 550 – to Lord Marshal of Avanil – so that he might have other things to concern him other than pushing for peace with Boeruine.

 As Lord Marshal Rhaegar threw his energies into restructuring the armies of Avanil to allow the Prince to extend his reach into other parts of Anuire. In 553 whilst Rhaegar was away from Daulton on one of his frequent visits to the military formations watching the realm of Rhoubhe, events of great import occurred back in the city. A number of petty nobles, who had sort an audience with the Prince over a minor trade dispute, attacked Prince Darien and a number of his retainers in the court after the Prince found their arguments lacking. In the melee that followed Prince Darien Avan, his daughter Aubrae, the Counts of Bheine and Vanilen, a number of minor courtiers and most of the attackers were been slain. The rest of the attackers fled or immediately surrendered to the Princes remaining bodyguards. When news reach Rhaegar he immediately rode with all haste back to the Daulton, a great fury upon him at the fact that traitors had killed his beloved liege. Upon reaching Daulton Rhaegar personally interrogated the prisoners, hunted down their companions, had them beheaded for treason and mounted their heads upon the city gates. Likewise he had all of the Prince’s remaining bodyguards impaled for failing in their duties.

 As the next in line to the throne Rhaegar Avan was crowned His Most August Imperial Highness, Rhaegar Avan V, Prince of Avanil, Suzerain of Brosengae and Taeghas, Overlord of Mieres, Patriach of House Avan, The Heart of the Dragon, The Dragon Prince, Blessed of Haelyn, Scourge of the Shadow, Defender of the Righteous, Champion of Justice, Forger of Peace, Master of Law, Harbinger of Knowledge, and True Heir of the Iron Throne four days later. However despite his extensive use of ‘persuasion’ upon the captured traitors Rhaegar still does not know what motivated the attack upon Darien as each prisoners version of events differed……