Lord Tybolt Lannister with his daughter Cerelle Lannister, future Lady of Casterly Rock
as oomfs know i'm lowkey obsessed with these two nothingburger characters and think about them way too often. tybolt design belongs to oomf @/novembermorgon :3
Finally, a whole swath of new and some important characters! Joust Night! Joust Night!
Fanfiction here and blog tag here.
The Targaryen Fairy tale
I'm glad to do these two first, because they're first in the chapter and also my favorites! I have a ton of ideas for their lore, which I'll share here. I don't currently plan to write a full fic about them and don't yet know if we'll be revisiting their POVs.
POV switches happen when the writing gods compel it.
Bealor and Maekar have a pair of matching komodo dragons, male and female respectively, to match them as alpha and omega. Their names are, again respectively, Maelyx and Baelys. This is only sort of a coincidence, as Baelor and his dæmon were named before their parents knew they'd need that many boy names. However, when the then 4-year-old Baelor's, a normally calm child, discovered that they planned on reusing the 'mae' root, he pitched a fierce fit until they agreed to name Maekar's dæmon with the 'bae' root. So, in a way, he sort of named Maekar's dæmon. Also, the tendency to throw a fit when it concerns Maekar will continue.
The Targaryens tend toward alphas, with the occasion beta thrown in. This is a particular problem for them, due to their incestuous practices, because same presentation couples struggle to conceive in comparison to different presentation couples, excepting beta pairs with each other. Sex aside, an alpha will conceive easiest with an omega, and then a beta, before they will another alpha, according to common wisdom. Couples who struggled for children were usually both alphas. The reason Jaehaerys I and Alysanne had so many children were that they were both, rare as it is in the family, betas.
Maekar is actually the first omega, of either sex, born into the Targaryen family since at least Aegon's Conquest, and possibly generations before. Everyone was very surprised, especially when he managed to pass it along to even one of his children. King Daeron, despite this, did not actually plan for them to marry, haunted as he is by his parents' ill-suited marriage. Some traditionalists suggested it, and King Aegon IV said such a 'rare prize' would be wasted on his despised son's 'too Dornish' firstborn. Daeron tried to protect all his children from his father, but he especially feared what might happen to his youngest if Aegon IV lived long enough.
Fortunately, he did not. However, this left Daeron weary, and perhaps too protective of his youngest, who wanted nothing more than to join his brothers in the training field. He eventually relents, in part because Myriah Martell grew up in a place where gender didn't matter, and all learned at least some skill at arms.
Baelor brings up the idea of marrying his brother after his own presentation at 15, and is denied. Daeron thought this the end of it, but Baelor asks several times more over the next few years, with what he thinks are increasingly reasonable arguments: 'No one else will let him continue to train.' 'Only I can pull him out of his bouts of temper. 'He's best served here, close to his family.' etc etc. Eventually, Daeron loses his temper and tells his eldest that there's no reason to continue the tradition without dragons, he has a duty to his family to form a good alliance, and Maekar doesn't want to marry him anyway.
Big mistake. Baelor goes to Maekar, certain that he's somehow pushed his favorite brother away. Maekar is, understandably, confused and eventually gets the whole story out of him. This makes Maekar think about it. He's not quite there sexually, being unpresented, but the emotional desire is very much there and has been their entire lives basically. But Daeron has already refused, and so hope is lost.
A few more years later, and everything is going great for Daeron II. His youngest son will likely present soon, even if it is closer toward the 15 mark of the typical 12-15 age range. He's in the early stages of talks that will hopefully turn into a marriage for his eldest, who will soon be 20.
And then both of them disappear, although there aren't initially any suspicions. They'd hatched a plan, you see. While Settling can happen after Presentation and the first heat/rut, it's typically the first sign that it's coming, usually in a few days to a week or so. Instead of going to his parents when Baelys Settled, Maekar goes to Baelor first. Baelor, already Prince of Dragonstone, but not yet Hand of the King, doesn't even have to smuggle the other boy away. He asks their mother, politely, if he can take his brothers to see the ancient family seat. Aerys is too wrapped up in his latest book to leave and Rhaegal is, unfortunately, sick again. So the eldest and youngest leave with their mother none the wiser that Baelys is actually Settled, and not just imitating their brother.
Nearly a month passes before they begin to suspect something, but by the time they travel to Dragonstone themselves, Baelor and Maekar are already wedded, bedded, and mated. They don't yet know if a child has caught, but the risk of moon tea at near a month gone could leave Maekar permanently damaged, if his is pregnant. Daeron is furious and refuses to speak to either of them for weeks. Myriah is less mad, but still upset at their trickery. However, their dæmons have Settled the same, which is widely considered the fairy tale idolization of star-crossed true love. She barely convinces Daeron to announce their public marriage before Maekar starts showing. Still, their eldest is born a few months too early into their 'official' marriage.
True Love Prevails!!!
Also, I've included a list of their children's birth order and their genders, since most of them are not showing up in the fic.
Bonus 'fun' fact: King Daeron II used the excuse of Aerys not being a beta to avoid sending him to the Citadel, even through Aerys did want to go and then later used the same excuse to send Aemon, since too many heirs is just as bad as too few in his eyes. You don't have to be a male beta to go to the Citadel, but both the maesters and faith prefer it, on account of not having to deal with ruts and heats and accidental bastards in their halls or the halls of those they serve.
Speaking of 'early' babies:
Valarr Targaryen
Valarr's an alpha, and his dæmon Jaemon is a male Marine Iguana. In real life this guys live on the various Galapagos Islands, divided into subspecies by island, with each one typically being a color variant. This one, the venustissimus subspecies, native to Española Island, tiny adjacent Gardener Island and Floreana Island, is also nicknamed the 'Christmas Iguana' on account of it's coloring.
Humfrey Hardyng
Hardyng, as is typical for the Vale, has a bird dæmon. He's an alpha and his dæmon in named Razin, which means 'calm, composed, stoic, grave' in Arabic. He's an Andean Condor, one of the largest birds in the world. Since the bird gets their name from the real-world Andes, Westeros calls this creature the Moon Condor, after the Mountains of the Moon in the Vale, where they're quite common.
Medgar Tully
Medgar, another alpha, has a Goliath Frog, the largest frog in the world, named Nilesh, from From Sanskrit नील (nīla) meaning "dark blue" and ईश (īśa) meaning "lord, ruler".
The Tullys are quite an interesting family in-universe. Their Founder had a fish dæmon, and built Riverrun with that in mind. The castle is built with several small portcullis to allow the river to flow in it into a dozen small ponds within the castle itself. Purity of the waters is strictly monitored, and none are allowed to fetch, fish, or foul the waters inside Riverrun. This has kept the family and their fish dæmons safe for generations.
However, recent generations (in the last 200 or so years) have begun to see increasing numbers of other dæmons, particularly amphibians. The maesters who study dæmons, despite the Faith's insistence that dæmons are the 'unknowable will of the gods', speculate that dæmons are driven by need as much as family influence, and the Tully's need to become mobile, in order to compete with the other Lord Paramount Houses and administer their lands, has led to this increasing change.
Damon & Tybolt Lannister
Did I take the easy way out? Yes. Do I care? No. Lannisters tend toward big cats in general, with lions specifically being fairly common. Both men are alphas, and their lions are named Altin and Aldyn, respectively. Both mean gold because...Lannisters.
Fun fact about that image there, straight from the show wiki: "In Seven, the fourth episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and again in the following episode, two individuals can be seen in the public wearing colors close to the Lannister colors. It is possible that they are Tybolt and Damon Lannister, as both men match the description of the two characters, and Damon is explicitly mentioned as being present at this location in the book. However, as neither actor is credited, this information remains unconfirmed."
It's not the guy in Tybolt's armor on horseback in the behind the scene for episode two, but that guy is more than likely the stunt actor, and both those dudes are hotter (lol). Another fun fact: it look me ages to figure out who the last knight was in this scene, because they never focus on any of them for long. Even looking at the wiki synopsis and every adjacent character page, and trying desperately to pause in the right spots on the episode itself, I was still missing one fucking rider on the far side.
I even went looking at the episode tag on tumblr in the hopes that the less blurry quality of the gifs would help me figure it out. So credit to this post, where the tags made me realize there was a second fucking Lannister. Damon, the Grey Lion, specifically. Tybolt is his son and Tya, who I don't think I actually named when she first came up, is Gowen Baratheon's former wife and Tybolt's elder sister.
Abelar Hightower
Last and least, the guy who's only accomplishment was giving Leo Tyrell a chance to do a sick horse trick. I wasn't going to include him or the Lannisters, but I felt bad that only some of the ten knights got intros, so I added the last three.
Abelar is a beta, for some variety, as I'm trying not to default all the knights to alphas. His dæmon is a Great Egret, which is a tall coastal bird. Get it? Eh? Eh? His name is Erwyn, which is a Welsh name, composed by "gwerd" and "gwyn", with the meaning of "green and white".
3 - LORD DAMON LANNISTER "THE GREY LYON" of Casterly Rock
4 - SER TYBOLT LANNISTER
5 - LORD TYWIN LANNISTER, Hand of the King
6 - SER JAIME LANNISTER "THE KINGSLAYER"
Ser Jaime Lannister is the bearer of Oathkeeper, one of two Valyrian steel swords forged from the greatsword of House Stark, Ice.
7 - TYRION LANNISTER "THE IMP" KINSLAYER, Hand of the King
wearing a chain made of multiple emblems from the Hand of the King during the Battle of Blackwater
8 - SER KEVAN LANNISTER, Hand of the King
9 - SER LANCEL LANNISTER
10 - KING JOFFREY BARATHEON
wearing armor from House Lannister, his mother's family.
King Joffrey Baratheon is the bearer of the Valyrian steel sword, Widow's Wail, the second of two swords forged from the legendary greatsword of House Stark, Ice.
╰┈➤ ❝ Lord Tybolt left no heir of the body save for a daughter, Cerelle, three years of age, whose reign as Lady of Casterly Rock proved cruelly short. ❞
The only child of Tybolt Lannister and Teora Kyndall, Cerelle was born in the same year as her father competing in the Ashford Tourney. Tybolt was a champion of the joust, and during his time as Lord fought against the Greyjoy raids. Despite being young and healthy, he suddenly passed away under 'suspicious circumstances', leaving Cerelle to inherit at the mere age of 3.
During her time as Lady, her Uncle Gerold served as regent, having also been his brother's closest advisor. Cerelle was the first female Lady of Casterly Rock, though there had previously been female regents. She died under a year into her reign, also under suspicious circumstances.
While Gerold would go on to prove a highly capable Lord, he was widely suspected of having murdered not just his brother, but also his child niece. Lady Ellyn Tarbeck, one of the lead instigators of the Castamere Rebellion, named one of her children Cerelle to spite Gerold's line; it is worth noting that she named one of her other children Rohanne, for Gerold's second wife who also vanished under suspicious circumstances.
