Dragonstone

Dragonstone is a ruined castle that stands upon the eponymous island located in Blackwater Bay. It was the ancestral seat of House Targaryen and the former stronghold of House Baratheon of Dragonstone. It is located within the Crownlands, the capital region of the Seven Kingdoms.

Constructed during the years of the Valyrian Freehold, Dragonstone served as the seat of House Targaryen up until Aegon's Conquest, and remained as an often preferred royal court prior to the completion of the Red Keep. Under the Targaryen Dynasty of the Seven Kingdoms, Dragonstone took on the role of serving as the traditional seat of the heir to the Iron Throne, with the heir also receiving the title of "Prince of Dragonstone".

During Robert's Rebellion, royalist forces on Dragonstone held out against rebel forces for a full year after the Sack of King's Landing, until the castle was finally taken by Stannis Baratheon during the Assault on Dragonstone. Stannis was then given the castle and lordship by King Robert I Baratheon, founding the cadet branch of House Baratheon of Dragonstone.

The castle served as Stannis' headquarters during the War of the Five Kings, before abandoning the fortress in 301 AC to embark on his doomed Northern campaign. The castle remained unoccupied until 304 AC, when Daenerys Targaryen took it over to serve as her headquarters for invading Westeros. Daenerys almost entirely abandoned the castle later the same year in order to take her forces north to fight in the Great War, leading Queen Cersei Lannister and Euron Greyjoy to quietly dispatch Daenerys' token garrison and occupy the castle by 305 AC.

The castle was almost entirely destroyed in the Battle of Dragonstone, when Edric Storm ignited a large cache of wildfire placed within the castle by the Lannister and Greyjoy forces, although the blast failed to kill the Night King as intended. With House Targaryen being rendered extinct in the subsequent Battle of King's Landing, the fate of the castle became uncertain. The ruins of Dragonstone later saw the climatic Duel on Dragonstone during the War of the Narrow Sea. Eventually, it was decided that the castle would be left in ruins, but a small garrison was established on the island in order to keep it free of piracy.