GAME OF THRONES SIGNATURE COCKTAIL SMOKER

House Targaryen was, of old, a noble family of ancient Valyria, far to the southeast of Essos. Five hundred years ago, the Targaryens departed the Valyrian homelands and travelled to Dragonstone, a small island off the east coast of Westeros, where they established a keep and trading post. According to some legends, a Targaryen ancestor named Aenar encouraged this move due to a prophetic vision. Other reports suggest that the Targaryens may have been exiled, or merely assigned to establish the trading post.

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One century after the Targaryens arrived on Dragonstone, the Doom descended on Valyria and destroyed it, shattering the peninsular and devastating the Freehold. The empire collapsed, most of its dragons were slaughtered and the conquered vassal states became independent. This time of chaos was known as the Bleeding Years and lasted for approximately one century after the Doom.

During this time the Valyrian colony of Volantis on the southwestern coast of Essos requested Targaryen aid, and that of their dragons, in reestablishing Valyrian control of the coastal regions. The newly raised lord of Dragonstone, Aegon, refused. Instead, he had a mighty table carved as a map of the Westerosi continent, with every bay and inlet marked but with no borders. Aegon envisaged a Westeros united under one ruler, and he determined he would be that ruler.