Raynald Lannister

Ser Raynald Lannister is the eldest son of Lord Admiral Loreon Lannister and Lady Amarei Lannett. He was knighted during the War of Three Banners by his great uncle and wartime hero, Ser Jason Lannister, the “Bloody Lion.”

Despite tentative matches since the war, Raynald remains unmarried.

Appearance and Character
Raynald bears the hallmark Lannister traits. He has a small bright blond mane, emerald green eyes, large ears, a wide nose, pearly white teeth, and a jutting chin. His complexion is fair. He has a marksman’s leanness, honed from years of training and experience.

Kindness radiates from Raynald and his frequent smiles. He enjoys the presence of most people and deliberately ignores their milder transgressions. Despite his unstoppable happiness, he is far from optimistic, having adopted his father’s sober pessimism after the War of Three Banners.

Raynald is stalwart in his care for his younger siblings: Celyse, Tywald, Jason, and Catelyn. It was partly thanks to his efforts that they all survived the horrors that befell Lannisport during the war.

In the absence of a wife, Raynald openly practices chastity; however, he is known among loyalist Westermen circles for being fond of his half-cousin, Lady Tysane Lannister.

Having survived three separate sieges with what men and women Lannisport could muster, Raynald has developed a sympathy for commoners of both genders.

History
Born in 418 AC to Lord Admiral Loreon Lannister and Lady Amarei Lannett, Raynald took his first breaths giggling, happy to be alive from the moment he entered the world. He was the delight of his parents and the household’s servants. He loved everything he ate and showed consideration for the happiness of others, wanting always to infect them with his own.

He fawned over his sister, Celyse, after she was born, monopolizing her time when he could with an infinite series of games. Their laughter filled the Lion’s Hold daily, as did the sound of everything they accidentally broke. He was credited by the household for teaching her how to walk early.

At the age of six, he went to foster under Lord Martyn Swyft at Cornfield. A military man, Martyn instilled in Raynald a martial education, though it was Martyn’s huntsman, Roger, who taught Raynald how to use a bow. Hesitant at first to hunt, he slowly came to appreciate the circle of life that hunting represented. He developed a reverence for the animals he killed, pouring his heart and soul into ending their lives with the utmost finesse. By the time he was ten and four, he was able to land an arrow in the eye of a running hare.

Though House Swyft came to adopt the infectiously happy Raynald as one of their own, he yearned constantly to see his family back in Lannisport. He spent the moon of his nameday every year with them.

The day after he arrived at Lannisport for the month of his fourteenth nameday, the Firestorm of Lannisport broke out and swallowed a quarter of the city. Doing what he could, he served as his father’s page in battling the catastrophe. He helped coordinate relief efforts and transcribe his father’s programs to the city watch and masons’ guild.

On the 28th day, Raynald did not return to Cornfield. He instead took on an officer’s position along the battlements as Lord Sylas Spycer put the city to siege. Raynald killed his first men in the assaults that ensued, putting them all to quick ends as if they were hunting marks. Once the siege was lifted, he stayed behind to help his father train more men and women in Lannisport.

A year later in 433 AC, Raynald went from being an officer to a commander, tasked with defending a portion of the northern walls with minimal forces. He led green soldiers like Burton, Lester and Myrielle, men and women who were older than him but who had nonetheless learned what they knew from him.

In spite of his growing experience, he was unable to win the second siege of Lannisport. Lord Marbrand and Lord Westerling’s surprise attack shattered the morale of the adolescent’s green soldiers. A contingent led by Burton opened the gates out of optimistic desperation, believing the invaders would mercifully take the city, which had already suffered tremendously. The Culling of Lannisport followed, with only more fires and slaughter.

Tangled on the ramparts, Raynald failed to save his mother and siblings from capture. The best he could do was join up with his great uncle, Ser Jason Lannister, and help him organize a risky retreat from the city at the price of many lives.

By 434 AC, Raynald returned to Lannisport’s northern walls, but this time as the adolescent invader baptized in the ways of war. He led his uncle’s skirmishing parties, which wore away at the men on the walls with surprise barrages. He led Lester, Myrielle, and the rest of his party over the walls when the three-pronged assault came, and was among the first to sweep through the poorly defended city. He freed his mother and his siblings, including Celyse, only to apologize to them with laughter and tears when he did. When he came upon Burton with an arrow pointed at his eye, Raynald spared the man, forgave him, and brought him back into the fold.

In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Ser Jason Lannister, who had earned the monicker ”the Bloody Lion,” dubbed Raynald, a man of six and ten, a knight for his feats of valour on the field of battle. His first act as a knight was to dub Lester, who had fought with nothing but courage since the Culling. Out of respect, he performed the same ceremony for Myrielle despite being unable to dub her officially.

In the years that followed the War of Three Banners, Raynald remained in Lannisport to help his family with reconstruction and rearmament. He took temporary command over the city watch and repopulated its ranks mostly with men but also with women. With an open hand, he policed the worst affected areas in the city from the fire, deploying the watch as labourers more often than guardsmen while also letting small infractions slide.

He also occasionally attended court at Casterly Rock, representing his family as its next patriarch. There, he grew enamoured with Lady Tysane Lannister, the new Lady of Casterly Rock, who in defiance of past horrors quickly established herself as the region’s most effective ruler since his father’s namesake. When Raynald could, he would try to infect her with his happiness.

His infatuation with Tysane complicated his father’s efforts to find him a match. A handful fell through over the years, owing to Raynald’s relative disinterest. Towards the end of 439 AC, Raynald remained unmarried.

8th Moon

 * After having sailed with his father and the Lannister fleet at sea, Raynald rejoins Lord Criston Lannister’s host in the Westerlands, assuming command over Lannisport’s forces.

Family
 Patrilineal 
 * Lord Tytos Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock (365-419)
 * m. Lady Delena Lannister, nee Marbrand
 * Lord Tybolt Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock (388-434)
 * m. Lady Tya Lannister (387-?)
 * Lady Tyana Lannister, Lady of Casterly Rock (409-434)
 * Lady Tysane Lannister, Lady of Casterly Rock (b. 412)
 * Ser Tywin Lannister (416-434)
 * Rosamund Lannister (390-432)
 * Lord Tygett Lannister, Lord of Castamere (390-439)
 * m. Lady Myrcella Lannister, nee Brax
 * Lord Criston Lannister, Lord of Castamere (b. 410)
 * Myrielle Crakehall, nee Lannister (b. 412)
 * Shiera Lannister (b. 420)
 * Tyrek Lannister (b. 428)
 * m. Lady Alerie Lannister, nee Farman
 * Lord Loreon Lannister, Lord Admiral of Lannisport (b. 398)
 * m. Lady Amarei Lannett (b. 399)
 * Ser Raynald Lannister (b. 418)
 * Celyse Lannister (b. 421)
 * Ser Tywald Lannister (b. 422)
 * Jason Lannister (b. 425)
 * Catelyn Lannister (b. 427)
 * Lady Lynora Hightower, nee Lannister
 * Issue
 * Lady Leila Vance, nee Lannister
 * Issue
 * Ser Jason Lannister, the Bloody Lion (367-436)
 * Issue

Household
Ser Lester, his good friend and battle brother from the war. Lester was dubbed by Raynald moments after his own dubbing.

Madam Myrielle, his good friend and battle sister from the war. After dubbing Lester, Raynald unofficially performed the same ceremony for Myrielle. He still affords her the same respect by calling her madam.

Burton, his good friend from the war, forgiven after betraying Raynald during the Culling of Lannisport.

Jason Lannister, his younger brother and squire, named after their great uncle.