Castle Driftmark was the ancient seat of House Velaryon on Driftmark, a dark, grim stronghold that was perpetually damp and often flooded. Its contrast with the new castle Corlys Velaryon built elsewhere on the island captures a larger change in the family’s fortunes: the old seat belonged to a maritime house that had become powerful enough to reshape its home and its ports around an expanding trading empire.

The old seat and High Tide

Castle Driftmark stood on an island whose wealth Corlys greatly increased through his voyages and commercial ventures. After his aged grandsire died at the age of eighty-eight, Corlys became Lord of the Tides. He used the resources accumulated by House Velaryon to raise High Tide on the far side of the island, rather than simply enlarge or repair the old, flood-prone castle.

High Tide was built of pale stone like the Eyrie, with slender towers crowned by beaten-silver roofs that flashed in the sun. When the morning and evening tides came in, the sea surrounded it, leaving a causeway as its only connection to Driftmark proper. Corlys transferred the ancient Driftwood Throne to this new seat; according to legend, the throne had been a gift from the Merling King. Castle Driftmark and High Tide were therefore distinct strongholds, marking the difference between the island’s old seat and Corlys’s ambitious new foundation.

A town beneath its walls

The surroundings of Castle Driftmark changed along with the fortunes of its ruling house. Three modest fishing villages beneath the castle’s dark, salt-stained walls grew together into Hull, a thriving town named for the rows of ship hulls visible below the stronghold. Its growth linked the old seat to the shipbuilding and maritime activity that powered House Velaryon’s rise.

Across the island, near High Tide, another village became Spicetown. Its crowded wharves and piers received ships from the Free Cities and farther afield. Driftmark’s position across the Gullet gave it an advantage over Duskendale and King’s Landing: Spicetown drew away much of the shipping that would otherwise have gone to those ports, bringing the Velaryons further wealth and influence. The new port and the old castle thus occupied different places in an island-wide transformation, with Hull growing under Castle Driftmark while Spicetown prospered beside High Tide.

The seat in a changing maritime power

Corlys also expanded shipbuilding on Driftmark. During his service as master of ships to the Old King, the royal fleet tripled in size; after leaving the office, he continued building merchantmen and trading galleys instead of warships. These developments made the island’s settlements more than an accompaniment to the family seat: Hull and Spicetown connected House Velaryon’s local strongholds to royal service and long-distance commerce.

Castle Driftmark’s damp, often-flooded character stands in sharp contrast to High Tide’s pale stone, silver-crowned towers, and tide-defined approach. Yet the old castle was not erased from the island’s story. Its walls remained above a growing shipbuilding town, while the new port near High Tide helped divert trade and strengthen the house. Together, the two castles and their settlements show how Velaryon power altered the island without severing it from its ancient seat.