The House of Ice and Fire

Kings of the Sunset Sea

Casterly Rock 104 AC

Tymond Lannister

Tymond was a tall, slender, broad-shouldered man in his sixties. His arms were thin and withered due to the number of years he had written with quill more than used his sword from being locked in his solar, he wished he had more time training in the training yard like when he was young. Tymond had kept his head shaved ever since his golden hair started going grey, but he grows out bushy golden side-whiskers. Tymond had pale green eyes flecked with gold, and yet when he looked in the mirror a few weeks ago, he noticed his eyes were growing a milky pale, alongside a decreasing vision, his eyes would fail him a soon.

Tymond Lannister, the aging lord of Casterly Rock, surveyed the expansive halls of his ancestral seat with a mixture of pride and foreboding. The weight of years bore heavily on his shoulders, and as he gazed upon the grandeur of the Rock, he couldn't shake the inevitability of his mortality.

In times such as these, he envied the House Targaryen more so than most, not because of their wealth, nor dragons, nor power, and status but because their future was more secure than any other house. A young king, a young heir, a young spare, and the spare was battle-tested, and even if most claims were not believed, the boy had fought and won a war, something most living knights and lords could not claim. At least for now, the House of the Dragon was secure, while the House of the Lion was divided at best.

Five wives had graced his life, and each time, the halls of Casterly Rock echoed with the cries of a newborn son. Yet, fate had been cruel, and with each birth came the haunting wail of mourning. His sons, destined for greatness by birthright, had met an untimely demise, leaving Tymond to confront the harsh reality of succession.

In the quiet moments of reflection, Tymond pondered the future of his house. The Lion of Lannister must be more than a symbol; it requires strength, cunning, and mastery of the game of thrones. Tymond could not ignore the looming reality that his cousin's son, Ser Jason Lannister, would be the heir apparent. Despite his greatest wishes and deepest regrets.

The aging lord harbored doubts. Jason lacked the qualities befitting the lion's pride. He saw in the young man a foolhardiness that set him apart from the cunning and strategic thinking required to lead the Lannisters. Maegor the Cruel had his cruelty get in the way of his loyalty, and Jason would have his recklessness get in the way of his vanity, a dangerous thing that had destroyed many Houses before. Tymond grappled with the certainty that his house might be led by one ill-suited for the challenges ahead.

As the shadows of Casterly Rock lengthened, Tymond faced the brutal truth: the legacy of the Lions of Lannister rested on the frail shoulders of a successor who may prove inadequate to the task. The weight of pride clashed with the reality of uncertainty, casting a somber hue over the once-golden halls of Casterly Rock.

While the House of the Dragon had their fire-breathing mounts to assert their dominance over the entirety of the realm, all the kingdoms would not dare strike against a weakened Targaryen if the dragons could burn down keeps, especially when both the Black Dread, Balerion, and the Dragon Queen, Vhagar, were still in play to melt down entire castles, families, and their histories to nothing. Dragons were too powerful, and with them, no man was willing to capitalize on a weakness that could possibly come from Targaryen, who put reckless vanity before sound principles as Ser Jason would do. But they were not Targaryens; they did not have dragons. Dragons covered up a weakness in the House Targaryen; no man would strike, but Houses such as Reyen and Tarbeck would strike against House Lannister if Jason was left unchecked in his reckless vanity. Jason would end their House, or at the very least, begin events that could lead to such events.