Corlys Velaryon is a man of legend. He has begun a new Age of Enlightenment and Exploration, of revolutionary new ideas, and incredible innovations that have made travel at sea faster and more profitable than ever before. But progress is not without consequences. In this changing world, can Corlys continue to guide House Velaryon to its promised high tide?
High Tide is an A Song of Ice and Fire Self-Insert Fan Fiction by Tertius771
. Started in June 2020, the story itself has reached 450,000 words, and is still climbing.
It can be found on here ─ FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own, SpaceBattles.com.
If you would like early access to chapters, and support the writer, he now has a Patreon Page.
Also, feel free to join the community Discord Server.
Tropes contained in High Tide:
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul
- Instead of marrying Rhaenys The Queen Who Never Was, Corlys instead weds Viserra. This has a domino effect where countless others end up not marrying who they did in canon.
- Viserys marries Rhaenys while Daemon weds Gael. Thusly, the great-grandchildren of Jaehaerys the First are vastly different.
- Altar Diplomacy:
- In a bid to tie the Velaryons to the Iron Throne, Jaehaerys schemes to wed Corlys to Viserra. It sort of works.
- Years later, Aemon tries to engineer further marriage ties between the Targaryens and Velaryons.
- Arranged Marriage: Corlys and Viserra eventually grow into Perfectly Arranged Marriage once they confirm their feelings for one another. Prior to that, there was still a healthy measure of respect between them, even before they were arranged to be married.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: It goes without saying that Corlys being crowned Archon of the Triarchy is one of the more spectacular moments in the story.
- Civil War: The upcoming Dance of the Dragons ITTL will serve as this.
- Dragon Rider: It's a story about Targaryens in their prime. From the King, his wife, two eldest sons, eldest daughter, and many grandchildren besides, there's no shortage of dragon riders in this story. Eventually, the Velaryons get in on the action after Corlys weds Viserra Targaryen.
- In Spite of a Nail: Despite the family trees taking a different shape, the Dance of Dragons still looks to be happening.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- Corlys wedding Viserra, leads to Rhaenys marrying Viserys, uniting their claims to the Iron Throne.
- Aemon not being killed, means that he eventually becomes King, allowing Rhaenys to become the uncontested heir to the Iron Throne.
- The Velaryons lead a campaign into the Stepstones. Their success prevents the ascendancy of the Triarchy. It doesn't come without it's own issues though.
- Marriage of Convenience:
- Laena and Daeron are wedded off to each other to ensure that their dragons are kept within the family and Laena doesn't take hers with her into a marriage elsewhere.
- Never My Fault: Despite a lot of the problems late in his reign being of his own making, Jaehaerys refuses to take ownership of his failings, and blames others for his mistakes. It takes being on his deathbed for him to realise just how badly he screwed up.
- Obnoxious In-Laws:
- Despite wedding their daughter, Jacaerys is considered to be a terrible son-in-law for Daemon and Gael. Daemon, having lost a duel to Jace, and constantly angry and jealous of the Velaryons, persists in treating him with cold disdain at best, to outright hatred at worst.
- Lucerys is only marginally treated better by Daemon, as he is the politer of the Velaryon children.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Aemon survives to become king due to many changes that altered the Westerosi/Essosi political landscape.
