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Ser Albyn Crane is the heir to House Crane of Red Lake and currently representative for that house at the Royal Court. At the age of 26, the young Crane is already a married man, father, a smart tactician and a shrewd politician. A man to be liked….and disliked.
The pale blue eyes of the heir to Red Lake speak of a tired, quiet ambition, while his light complexion, clean-shaven face, and trimmed, short brown hair hint at the faintest presence of vanity. His tall stature is made taller still by his dignified, straight-postured, and martial bearing.
He clothes himself often in a sky-blue uniform with embroidered cranes in a V on his chest. The high collar -reaching till his jawbones- is embroidered as well with a chaos of cranes in gold-wire. The boots he’s wearing are made of soft but durable black leather. He often wears black leather gloves and if not they can surely be found behind his belt which bears only a dagger, complementing the young knight’s self-assured demeanour.
Ser Albyn Crane represents the fullness of the emotional, mental, and physical ranges of men.He is a sharp-witted and clever individual who has given the majority of his life to the studies of military strategy, political machinations, and the conquest of fighting men’s hearts and minds. He is a thinker, and confident in his skills to the point of arrogance. Albyn may be ambitious and calculating, but he also loves his family dearly, and has sacrificed the personal prestige he knows he could have earned with a lance, for the greater security he can offer his House with his mind.
Albyn’s tireless work ethic and appetite for his House’s well-being translate into his physical training as well, with his weapons of choice reflecting his perspective on politics and allowing him to make best use of his knowledge of warcraft. Albyn favours the bow but well handles a shield and sword as well.
The first son of Lord Mathis Crane and his wife, the Lady Belenna, formerly of House Darry, Ser Albyn Crane was born into a warrior’s world as a thinker. It was Albyn self however who came to the conclusion that both commanding and martial skills were needed to find the true power in the lands of Westeros.
Armed with this insight, Albyn took it upon himself to study oratory, politics, and warcraft, such that he would command the respect of his inferiors through the beauty of his speech and the decisiveness of his military victories.
The Lord of Red Lake, Mathis Crane, initially frowned on the studious habits of his son, urging instead a focus on sword and lance. To meet his father halfway, Albyn took up serious training in sword, shield, and bow, forcing himself to recognize the value in leading by example.
Albyn was rewarded with knighthood at 18 for his penchant for warcraft, leadership, and noteworthy skills in sword and bow. Lord Mathis knew his son’s talents would go to waste at Red Lake, and not wanting to deprive his son of his potential, he used his connections to have Albyn serve at Highgarden to better his education as knight within the Tyrell household.
His inordinate success at Highgarden catapulted him into greater responsibility upon his return to Red Lake two years later. His father and mother were still in mourning over the death of their second son, Edden Crane, and House Crane was coming into neglect. Taking charge, Albyn curried the favour of the smallfolk and the Crane men-at-arms to work diligently in purging the Crane lands of the bandit activity that had been responsible for his brother’s death.
Meanwhile, Albyn had taken measures in securing a wife for himself, self-selecting the Lady Delanei Roote (for her inheritance to Lord Harroway’s Town), whose father happily accepted the proposal. The Lady Delanei had been a willing wife despite never having met Ser Albyn, and Albyn was surprised at how quickly he came to love her. She had given him a daughter, Ella, within a year of their wedding, but at Albyn’s insistence, they were shipped back to foster under her father, Lord Arstyn, due to the increased unrest in the Reach and in Dorne. His father also became more imbittered at the death of his twin brother, Ser Hathis Crane, ending most of House Crane’s ventures into the realm’s political sphere.
Unwilling to let his House fall into disgrace and anonymity, Ser Albyn plotted a way in which to ingratiate the Cranes with the Targaryens and the Tyrells, beginning with leaving his responsibilities in the hands of his supportive relatives and with his own departure from Red Lake to meet with the Young Dragon and take the first step in strengthening his house.
Albyn came out of the war -where he supported the king with his knowledge of warfare- unharmed quickly erasing the horror and death he witnessed out there, from his memory. Although he keeps attentive not to make his thoughts too clear, he did developed a healthy respect for the Dornish way of ambushes and skirmishes.
After the war he returned to the Royal Court at Kings Landing to continue his search for power for House Crane. At the Highgarden Tourney, he proved to be a skilled archer, only bested by an incredible Princes Naerys Targaryen. On the return from Highgarden he joined again with his wife Delanei and his daughter Ella. After a month it was announced that Albyn had become a retainer to the Hand. Soon after it Haston Costayne, heir to Three Towers arrived at court as well and it was announced that he would squire for the Crane. The first steps of Albyn’s plan to be unfold…?
In 161 AL, the king’s army reaches Yronwood, expecting to lift the siege ... and discovering to their surprise that the Dornishmen have seized the castle before he could arrive. They ambush the host as well but in a fierce fight in which the king himself recieves a minor wound, the Dornishmen are pushed back into retreat. A parley is required from Lady Caitrin Blackmont -who holds the castle- and as the king is in no condition to do so, it is ser Albyn Crane who, with the Lord Commander ser Reynard Caron and the knight Blayne Condon, act as representatives. With an opponent as stubborn as Lady Caitrin thought, the parley ends up with both sides leaving to their own positions.
Due his marriage, Albyn has made a strong connection to House Roote of Lord Harroway’s Town for the future as his wife Delanei is heiress. It is yet unknown though what the Crane has in mind for the future but one can be sure he bears thoughts about it.
Two of his cousins, ser Colton Crane and ser Aberyn Crane, have arrives not long ago at court, strenghtening the presence of House Crane at court and therefore the amount of support that Albyn can count on.
Using his influence, ser Albyn has managed to get his hands on a position as retainer of the Hand, Prince Viserys Targaryen.
His latest accomplishment has been the arrival of Haston Costayne, heir to Three Towers (another Reachhouse) at King’s Landing to act as squire for ser Albyn. With a future reachlord squiring for him, Albyn proves to possess proper long term thinking as well.
” Lost arrows can be as deadly as aimed ones, ser.” - ser Albyn Crane to ser Kendros Goodbrook when the latter remarked that his wife Delanei was at no time in danger during the ambush of the hunting party.
“We’re not friends. We are allies, which can be a great deal more effective.” - to an unknown ally.
Category://King’s Landing -> People