Lucan of Lannisport

## Lucan

House Targaryen

Rhaenerys Targaryen

Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Lucan the Merciful

The Smoldering Knight

Ser **Lucan of Lannisport** is a knight of the Kingsguard and the sworn protector of Rhaenerys Targaryen. Also known as 'the Kindled' and 'the Smoldering Knight', part of Lucan's face is scarred by dragonfire. Before his appointment to the Kingsguard, Lucan was a hedge knight.

## Appearance

"*There was something to his face. Watchful, silent eyes and a prominent nose like an eagle's beak."*

For as long as anyone can remember, Ser Lucan has kept himself voluntarily bald and clean shaven. His eyebrows alone are the only way left to verify what his hair color is, that being black. Hazel-eyed and fair-skinned, the weather-beaten nature of his hide remains one of the few indications of a life once spent traversing the depths of the wilderness.

He has a diamond-shaped face, with a hooked nose, cold and lifeless eyes, a remarkable brow, thick eyebrows, small ears, a contoured chin, narrow jawline, cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass, and slightly thin lips upon a tetchy mouth. Third-degree burns cover Lucan's right cheek, and creep down his neck to encompass the entire upper right arm and segment of his torso. Thusly, the skin on almost a quarter of his body has become tough and leathery.

## Biography

### Background

The son of a tanner from the port city of Lannisport, Lucan's infancy and time as a toddler were apparently fairly stable as far as the lives of smallfolk go. Alas, his parents would die before his tenth year, both to illness, though of notably different kinds. As his mother had to take to less socially acceptable work to make ends meet after her husband passed, the disease that killed her was likewise rather unfortunate, having been caught from one of her customers.

Lucan however was not around to see that part, having been abandoned by his mother some time before, after her love and kindness gradually turned to hatred and resentment. From there, Lucan spent the rest of his early childhood as an impoverished street urchin, in which every moment of every day was a struggle for survival.

#### Life as a Squire

When Lucan was ten years old, Ser Hugh Hill passed through the city on his return to Crakehall and, after a chance meeting, took him on as his squire. They went from town to town and castle to castle, sleeping under hedges when they couldn't find or afford a proper place to stay. Typically, once in a new area, they would make themselves useful by taking on odd jobs for the people in need, which could be anything from chasing down escaped livestock to bringing small groups of outlaws to justice. Here and there, they would interrupt this cycle by participating in a tourney, to showcase their skills and perhaps catch the eye of gainful employer, which sometimes went well and sometimes did not.

Ser Hugh took great pains to give Lucan both adequate care and considerable instruction, both educationally and martially. As such, Ser Hugh taught him how to read and write as well do math, plus some history regarding Knighthood, bygone wars, and other such topics of militaristic significance.

In 126 AC, Lucan and Ser Hugh were at an inn located right close to Pinkmaiden, when Ser Hugh and Lucan got involved with some unsavoury characters that were harassing the innkeep and his daughter. A fight ensued, where Lucan killed his first man - a boy two or three years older. Bryce Piper arrived a day later, and after hearing the stories of the survivors, thanked Ser Hugh for his service, which helped him gain more contracts in the following years.

#### Life as a Knight

By 132 AC, Ser Lucan was knighted by Ser Hugh, and the two had parted ways in Oldtown. Unlike Hugh, Lucan did not hold himself to the same high standards and would take gold upon completion of his assigned tasks, essentially working as something of a sellsword. Within a year, Lucan was infamous across most towns and cities in the middle of the continent short of King's Landing, having established himself as a man who could get things done no matter the job. Aside from briefly serving Houses Vance, Fell, and Oakheart, he also came to more frequently participate in tourneys than even Ser Hugh.

#### Tourney at Tumbleton

In 134 AC, word reached him of a royal progress having stopped in Tumbleton, where a tourney was held to commemorate the birth of Daelaena Targaryen. Several members of the royal family were set to be in attendance, the news of which compelled Knights from far and wide to sally out, each hoping to catch the eye of their rulers and win adulation beyond compare.

The twenty-year-old Ser Lucan of Lannisport was the sole and undisputed victor of the contest, despite his humble origins and meagre means. Upon his victory, Aeric Targaryen offered Ser Lucan a place in his Kingsguard. Sore from sleeping under hedges and tired of scant, sparse meals, Ser Lucan accepted seconds later, and knelt, placing his sword at the King's feet and swearing himself into service to the Iron Throne.

#### The Ironborn's Rebellion

Three years into his tenure as bodyguard to the royal family, the Ironborn rose in rebellion, instantly making an enemy of literally the entire continent save Dorne, which went as well for them as one may expect. Lucan served as part of the vanguard, leading the landing on Pyke while dragons were to attack from above. Ser Lucan was very nearly the first man through the gates of Pyke, his quadrant of soldiers quickly quashing the defenses in place before murdering their way up to the fortress walls. As the reserve force of raiders charged out to meet Lucan and his men under the looming towers of the Greyjoy's ancestral seat, what would've been a clash of epic proportions was promptly ruined by Maelor Targaryen, who swooped down upon the melee and rained dragon fire on both sides. He mostly got the Ironborn, but there certainly weren't as many royalists still in any condition to fight when he flew away as there used to be. Having been standing on the outskirts of inferno, Lucan survived, though not unscathed. Instead of withdrawing, Lucan remained on the field and continued his command during the battle. From that day onward, some started calling him 'the Kindled' and 'the Smouldering Knight', for his burns and the ways the embers would float off him whilst he moved around.

By the end of the Rebellion, Ser Lucan would be credited with several notable kills, of which there have been a great many over the course of his career as a knight. Aside from the then Lord Wynch of Iron Holt as well as both the twin sons of Lord Sunderly, perhaps the most infamous of them all would be Red Ralf.

#### Life in the Kingsguard

Ser Lucan went on to win the Tourney at Saltpans in 144 AC and the Tourney at Feastfires in 146 AC. He'd likewise been a favourite to win the Tourney at the Weeping Town, until Ser Connas Corbray bested him.

Some years later, he was present at Duskendale, where he witnessed Aerion Targaryen murder a man in cold blood. Then Gulltown, where Lord Garth Tyrell fell. Finally, he was also present at Bronzegate, namely for Jaghar Targaryen's conclusive loss to Ardan Storm and then Aerion responding to the defeat by maiming Arrec Baratheon for life.

### *The Reign of Dragons*

Along with his sworn brother, Ser Osric Royce, Lucan is on the scene when Rhaenerys gets into an argument with her sister Daelaena, in which he asks his charge about which handmaids she would like to take with her to Storm's End. When Rhaenerys leaves, Lucan quickly falls into step behind her. Later on, Ardan spots him and Ser Connas amongst the group of people sent to accompany Rhaenerys on her journey, where of the arriving party, Lucan is the only one who picks him out in the assembled crowd.

## Personality

A diligent man, one of the greatest differences between himself and other sworn brothers of the past and possibly the present is that some of them have proven unable to forget their original loyalties, be it to their families or old lieges. Contrasting them, Ser Lucan is unfailingly consistent in his duties to the Iron Throne. Given an order from his ward or his ruler, he will follow it to the letter, without question, hesitation, or compunction. Indeed, Ser Lucan takes his mandates very seriously, perhaps even more so than some of his other brothers, and despite his humble beginnings, has only ever proven a faithful servant to the royal family.

More a soldier than a courtier, Ser Lucan is also extremely suitable as a confidante for his charge, Rhaenaerys, as he would never speak of anything she says to him before anyone else, even if coerced. Though public executions are hardly beyond his purview, making people 'disappear' would also be entirely within his wheelhouse. Should he be given such a directive, the friends, family, and guards of his targets will never even hear them scream. A relentless guardian, Ser Lucan almost certainly has the highest degree of survivability and pain tolerance amongst all his sworn brothers. This is best exemplified by what happened at Pyke, for despite being greatly burned, Ser Lucan nonetheless endured what had to be the most excruciating experience of his life with remarkable poise.

No stranger to conflict, there was a time before he joined the Kingsguard where to see less than a dozen dead bodies in a week would've been considered light for Ser Lucan. As such, Ser Lucan has since become largely numb to even the most depraved and gruesome acts of violence and savagery. Neither sight nor stench faze him. Rather, he will go about his business with an unbothered, almost casual air to his bearing. That is because he sees himself not as a 'true knight', but as 'a professional' first and foremost.

Lucan is shown to have a love for fighting and killing other people. Notions of honor and chivalry mean precisely nothing to him, for should his foes prove themselves dangerous enough, he will use whatever means necessary to neutralize them. To him, keeping Rhaenerys, the King, and as many of the other Targaryens alive as possible trumps his personal reputation or standing in society every time. Of course, one could argue that because he's originally lowborn and so had fewer social expectations placed upon him to begin with, he can get away with this much better than his highborn counterparts can. Lucan kills swiftly, efficiently, and very violently, but never thoughtlessly nor cruelly. Consummate in his obligations to both the Crown and the Kingsguard, Ser Lucan knows to put the job ahead of his personal feelings. Even so, he's also always been one to hold a grudge and never forgets a slight.