Criston Lannister

Criston Lannister is Lord of Castamere and patriarch of House Lannister of Castamere. A notable knight-captain of the Golden Company, the heir-presumptive to House Lannister earned infamy and renown during the Second Hammer Rebellion.

Appearance and Character
At first glance, he is what you see. Another son of the Rock, tall, fair of hair with sea-green eyes. But a closer glance reveals something more muted. Tall, but not as tall as most of his kin. Fair, but his hair is a shade paler than the beaten gold the trickster bequeathed to his get. The eyes are cold, without the arrogant twinkle of his forefathers, something cold and imperious, almost alien. The features, chiseled by the same stonemason as his kin, have an almost skeletal bent to them, harsh and sharp and stern.

Slim and trim, the Lord of Castamere cuts a dashing figure atop the blood bay courser he favors. Often garbed in well-fitted black silks, a remnant from his time in the Company, the current Knight-Champion of the West is rarely found without the sword Oathkeeper at his side.

Birth and Education
Born to Ser Tygett Lannister and Myrcella Brax in the year 410 A.C., Criston was at first meant to be named Leyton, for his father's dear friend the Lightsteel. Cooler heads prevailed, however, given the traitorous taint to the Hightower's court prestige. Young Criston was not at first particularly noted as a bright child; shy, and particularly late to talk, it was feared at first that the child was simple. His mother would have reared him as a septon, but his father saw to it that he received ample attention from Casterly Rock's master-at-arms, even delving into his own purse to hire a master from Braavos, the great Orbelo Reyaan's son Denyo.

His father's pains paid off, as Criston showed particular potential at arms, standing out particularly with the sword. At eight, he attended the Great Tourney at Summerhall, where he witnessed the horrific murder of his childhood idol, the Lightsteel, at the hands of Aemon Dayne. The event much affected the young Lannister squire, as Criston had spent the entire afternoon before in the famed knight's company with his father.

Squired at Casterly Rock, Criston developed a deepset enmity with his cousin Tywin, heir to his lordly uncle Tybolt. Criston thought Casterly Rock's well-loved heir was a hypocrite, his cousin considered him haughty and superciliious. Although Tybolt's strong-willed young sister Tysane attempted to broker a peace, tensions were not helped when the two competed for the attentions of the same girl, the daughter of one of Lord Tybolt's household knights. Things culminated in an incident in the yard that left a scar running across Tywin's face, and the sixteen year old Criston was hastily knighted and packaged off to the Golden Company, where a place had been set aside for him to follow in his father Tygett's footsteps.

Early Years in the Golden Company
Sent to the ancient stronghold of First Light for training, Criston was made a particular target by the Company's drillmasters. Broken upon the hills of the Crackclaw Point and battered on the beaches of Blackwater Bay, Criston Lannister dashed any pretense to aristocracy on the cliffs of Rook's Rest and was made anew as a Company man. Trained and hazed alongside the sons of butchers, bandits, and brothel-workers alike, Tygett's eldest found a genuine respect and kinship for his new family. Though Criston was quickly passed on to the Bastion for grooming as an officer, the men he took his pledge alongside would feature large in his career and life beyond the Company.

It was also at First Light that Criston had his first run-in with Ser Lothar Farring, a subaltern who had worked his way through the ranks at First Light to earn a coveted knight-ensign's commission at the Bastion. Their paths would cross many times in the years to follow, for ill more than ought.

A prospect outstanding for both leadership and skill-at-arms, aided by his high birth, Criston was removed from the head of his cohort after nine months at First Light and sent on to the Bastion, earmarked for the fast-track to join the Company's high officers. His first assignment at the Bastion, however, was not one he found especially pleasing. Assigned with his former superior, Ser Lothar, to the Company quartermasters, he assumed he'd been shunted into the position to leverage the power and wealth of his house.