Larence Lynderly

Larence Lynderly is a knight from the Vale and heir to the Snakewood. As the oldest male descendant of Lord Jon Lynderly and Lady Sylva Corbray, by law he is expected to inherit his father's titles one day. During his lordly father's crippling illness he has assumed the regency of House Lynderly of Snakewood.

Appearance and Personality
Larence was quite small as a boy, and he remains somewhat smaller than most men to this day. Though not exceptionally tiny, he often stands out as the shortest knight in a retinue of riders.

He has dark brown ear-length hair flowing in smooth curls. A well-kept, fashionable moustache and goatee implies his attention to a sophisticated outlook.

A rather shy person, Larence has periods of preferring not to be seen or even refusing to be around people altogether. In conversation he comes across as silent, reclusive and serious, finding it difficult to participate in light chatter. Some would describe him as dismal, distant and cold, while others would just call him socially awkward. Despite his timid nature, he is a bold and proven warrior and a deadly duelist.

Biography
Larence was born the first son to Lord Jon Lynderly and Lady Sylva Corbray, and thus expected to inherit the noble House's lands someday. The court at Snakewood began grooming him very early in his youth for martial arts and feudal administration. His father was renowned as an able administrator and even advised the Lord of the Eyrie on financial matters from time to time. However, strict, stubborn professionals like Jon Lynderly often make poor family men, and because of this he raised his heir in a precise and calculating way. There was little affection involved, and the young boy learned very early to be as sullen as his father.

Perhaps due to the huge amount of pressure placed on him during education, Larry began showing signs of shyness and difficulty in understanding and trusting others. He made few friends as a child, preferring the company of his siblings and a few select older courtiers. He became reclusive and silent, but still found the world around him very curious. Because of this aversion to other people he developed a habit out of sneaking around the castle and listening to other people while they couldn’t see him. Later this covert behavior would develop further as Larence moved to higher courts. Meanwhile he was learning the basics of martial arts, correct courtly behavior, history, horsemanship and other such things that all noblemen knew.

Lord Lynderly sent his young heir to put the things he had learned to the test when he was only eight years old. He became a page in Lord Corbray’s court, serving the household in various ways, feeding and tending to the horses and honing his martial abilities. Due to his timid nature he had trouble finding allies, and preferred to be alone. He missed his home and siblings, but his father wasn’t keen on letting the boy give in so easily. When he turned ten years old, Lord Jon arranged for him to become Ser Manfred Moore’s squire, who was a high-ranking knight in Lord Robert Arryn’s household guard.

Though the new arrangement put even more distance between Larence and his home, he preferred the Eyrie to Heart’s Home. He found friends in the two youngest Arryns, Lucas and Jaime. Though a few years older than them, his docile nature could hardly stand up against the Arryns’ more eccentric attitudes, and therefore he often agreed to do the things they wanted to do even if he had little to no interest. While sparring with Ser Manfred or the other squires, Larence became known as a tough and agile fighter even in heavy armor, being able to withstand several incoming blows for hours on end.

Though he was too young to take part in many of the fights, Larence did show bravery and loyalty when he followed Ser Manfred to the Stepstones. His master was terribly wounded during the fighting, and despite the squire’s attempts to save his life, Ser Manfred passed away. It was rather unfortunate, because Larence had just felt like he had made another true friend, but now lost him to the war.

Larence inherited some of Ser Manfred Moore’s armor, and wearing it he returned to the Eyrie to continue his knightly training with Ser Edmund Hardyng, the castle’s new master-at-arms. Though not bound in service to the old soldier as he was to Ser Manfred, he did look up to the man and become an able student of his. Despite Lord Lynderly’s attempts in arranging a new knight for Larence to serve, the son defied him and instead continued his studies independently, caring for his own horse and sparring with the other squires of the Eyrie. His natural talent and eagerness for dueling impressed many a wealthy courtier, who in turn funded the boy’s financial upkeep.

Larence enjoyed his new-found independence, even if the local court frowned upon it somewhat, believing that a squire couldn’t learn the chivalric virtues on his own. To escape the pressure of the Eyrie, Larence hunted in the mountains and even rode to Riverrun with just a few companions to ride in the Tourney of the Banks. Although he had little practical experience with competitive jousting, he proved to be a great rider, scoring decently and not once letting himself be unhorsed. A few years later he would ride again in the Games at Goldengrove, the Grand Tourney of Lannisport, and then again at Storm's End, before returning to the Snakewood for the first time since he was a child. He was received with mixed feelings, Lord Lynderly being dissatisfied with the man’s lack of knighthood.

He still occasionally visited the Eyrie and represented his House there, but soon his father fell very ill, and Larence was forced to remain at the Snakewood as his regent. In order to gain the smallfolk’s respect, the young man was knighted by his father in an awkward ceremony where the weak Lord needed two men to help him with his sword, and still managed to drop it on the floor. Lord Lynderly’s pitiful condition has only gotten worse with time, and when the news of war came, Larence left the sick man to his own devices as he himself was obliged to carry his family banner to the Crownlander battlefields.

At Brindlewood, the Antlers and Duskendale Ser Larence charged into the enemy ranks, but he had a bad habit of building up tension and losing focus. This was why he was usually the first among the cavalrymen to fall from his horse and get surrounded by peasant infantry, hopelessly struggling against the mobs. By the time the victorious host of Valemen and Northerners assaulted King’s Landing he was too battered to ride into the city with the rest, and instead entered the Red Keep the following day, holding his aching ribs as he knelt before King Daeron the Defiant on the Iron Throne.

Ser Larence returned home and resumed managing his sickly father’s lands, quickly discovering that he was nowhere near the steward as Lord Jon Lynderly had been. In addition he searched for a cure for his father, but to no avail. When the invitation then came from the capital to attend a royal feast, Larence saw an opportunity to find experienced physicians and advanced medicine in King’s Landing, as well as an opportunity to ride in the King’s tourney.