House Crane of Red Lake is a noble house of the Reach, sworn to Highgarden and to the lordship of House Tyrell. Legend traces the line to Rose of Red Lake, a daughter of Garth Greenhand, the mythic High King who fathered so many of the great Reach houses. Red Lake and the Cranes are said to have joined the Kingdom of the Reach not by conquest but through pacts of friendship and mutual defense concluded with King Garth III Gardener, and it is told that Rose herself could take the form of a crane at will, a gift some say persists in the women of the house to this day.
At the time of A Game of Thrones House Crane remains among the principal bannermen of the Tyrells. The house is well represented at court: Ser Vortimer Crane serves as a master-at-arms at Highgarden, Meredyth Crane, called Merry, attends Queen Margaery Tyrell as a lady companion, and Ser Parmen Crane, known as Parmen the Purple, rode with Lord Renly Baratheon's Rainbow Guard. Their pale blue banner with its golden cranes in flight is a familiar sight across the Reach.