Ralf Swyft

Ser Ralf Swyft, Commander of the Gold Cloaks
 

Ralf Swyft was born the eldest son of his Father, Tytos Swyft, in 353. From a young age he displayed a great skill with both blade and pen, in his youth, Ralf was known to woo many a young maid and best many of their brothers. Being knighted at the age of 18 many considered Ralf a prodigy with the blade, because of this, he became incredibly cocky in his youth. His successes in tourneys were told across the land, few in the kingdoms have not heard the tales of Ralf Swyft’s glorious youth.

 

Growing up as the pride of his Father, Ralf was afforded no expense in his training. As well as his considerable prowess in jousts and melees, he was a proficient writer and speaker. By the time Ralf was 24 he was already penning his father’s proclamations from the shadows, dealing with foreign diplomats on his behalf, and organising many of his affairs, including some he perhaps should not have been privy to. Ralf saw the cloaks and the daggers and the men that wielded them all too easily. He saw the games those men had to play in order to get the slightest advantage over their neighbour, rather than working together and trying to make a better world for all. It sickened him to his very core.

 

Upon their father’s death in 381, Ralf, unmarried at the time, abdicated his role as heir in favour of his brother, Roland, a married man with a child on the way. Ralf claimed it was because he was simply too lazy and carefree to be a responsible Lord. In truth, he did not want to be part of such a corrupt system and be dragged down into such games.

 

For most of his life Ralf travelled as a tourney knight, and a well respected one at that. Winning many tourneys and the adulation of hundreds across the Lands. He became a staple in the courts of some of the highest nobility in the land, sometimes for his skill with a blade, teaching young heirs and scions wherever he travelled, and on more than one occasion using it to settle disagreements. Sometimes he was merely kept around because of his agreeable presence and gregarious attitude. It was due to this second reason that Ralf became a staple in the Red Keep towards the end of his 30s. He would be the life of any party in the city, a charmer and a poet in equal measure.

 

King’s Landing proved to be a double edged blade for Ralf, however, as his time in the court grew, his time in the training ground shrunk, and what little time he did practice with a blade showed obvious signs of slipping. As Ralf got older and his skills grew duller, he quickly applied for the position as the Commander of the Gold Cloaks. His experiences in wars such as The War of the Three Thieves had proved that even if he could not wield a blade half as well anymore, he could still command men with a great deal of success.

In the year 402, Ralf took on the mantle of the commander of the Gold Cloaks, and has led them with a very loose grip. Though this has meant that King’s Landing’s crime has not gotten any better, it’s hardly gotten any worse.