House Lannister

Shield of Lannisport

House Crakehall

House Farman

House Lannister of Castamere

House Lannister of Lannisport

House Lefford

House Lydden

House Marbrand

House Payne

House Prester

House Serrett

House Swyft

**House Lannister of Casterly Rock** is one of the Great Houses of Seven Kingdoms, and the principal house of the westerlands. Their seat is Casterly Rock, though another branch exists in nearby Lannisport and Castamere. Their sigil is a golden lion on a field of crimson. Their official motto is "Hear Me Roar!" However, their unofficial motto, equally well known, is "A Lannister always pays his debts." The Warden of the West is a Lannister by tradition. Their gold mines have made the Lannisters the wealthiest of the Great Houses.

Through the female line the Lannisters boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes who tricked the members of House Casterly into giving him Casterly Rock during the era of the First Men. Later marrying Andals, the Lannisters reigned as Kings of the Rock until the Targaryen conquest, when they were defeated at the Field of Fire. King Loren I Lannister's surrender to Aegon the Conqueror allowed the Lannisters to remain the liege lords of the westerlands.

## **Appearance and Traits**

Lannisters have a reputation for being comely with fair, golden hair and emerald green eyes.

## **History**

### First Men Kings

The Lannisters suddenly appear as First Men in historical records of the Age of Heroes, ruling large portions of the westerlands from Casterly Rock just as the Casterlys vanish from the chronicles. They claim descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary figure who tricked the Casterlys from Casterly Rock.

According to a semi-canon source, members of lesser branches of the family left Casterly Rock and developed a nearby village into the city of Lannisport, forming House Lannister of Lannisport. Meanwhile, the Lannisters of Casterly Rock grew to become Kings of the Rock. The first known King of the Rock was Loreon I Lannister, although Lann the Clever has posthumously been called by the same title. Loreon gained House Reyne as his vassals and defeated the Hooded King, Morgon Banefort.

### Andal Kings

During the coming of the Andals to Westeros, King Tybolt Lannister initially fought the invading Andal warlords and adventurers who ventured into the westerlands, but Kings Tyrion III and Gerold eventually took a policy of arranging marriages between them and the daughters of the local First Men houses. They also took Andal sons and daughters as wards and fosterlings at Casterly Rock to prevent betrayals such as those that had happened in the Vale. In time, the Lannister kings also wed their children to Andals, and when King Gerold III died without male issue, a council crowned the Andal husband of Gerold's only daughter, Ser Joffrey Lydden, who took the Lannister name. Thus the Lannisters became an Andal house, though their First Men name lived on.

Cerion extended his rule to the Golden Tooth, and Tommen I gained Fair Isle. Lancel I and Lancel IV fell while campaigning against the Kings of the Reach from House Gardener, while Gerold the Great raided the Iron Islands.

Hagon Hoare, King of the Iron Islands, allowed his mother, the dowager queen Lelia Lannister, to be mutilated by the Shrike. Her nephew, the King of the Rock, began a war which left the Iron Islands impoverished.

House Lannister possessed an ancestral Valyrian steel greatsword called Brightroar, but it was lost when King Tommen II Lannister went on a quest to Valyria and never returned. The Lannisters have been looking for a replacement ever since, though they have not stopped looking for their own lost ancestral sword.

### Robert's Rebellion

The Lannisters stayed neutral for the majority of Robert's Rebellion. Only after the defeat of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen in the Battle of the Trident did Lord Tywin Lannister bestir himself to join Lord Robert Baratheon against House Targaryen. Although Lord Varys objected, Grand Maester Pycelle, a Lannister loyalist, convinced King Aerys II Targaryen to open the capital's gates. During the Sack of King's Landing, Ser Jaime Lannister, still a Kingsguard, slew Aerys, the last crowned Targaryen king. Meanwhile, Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch, two of Tywin's knights, killed Rhaegar's family to prove House Lannister's commitment to Robert's cause.

Afterwards, Tywin's daughter Cersei was wed to the new king, Robert I. Tya Lannister had been the last Lannister to marry a member of House Baratheon, Gowen Baratheon, before the marriage of Robert and Cersei.

### Baratheon Era

The royal marriage and the increasing amount of gold Robert I Baratheon owes to Lord Tywin Lannister have only increased Lannister power.[20] Much of Tywin's energy is directed inward, ensuring all of his relatives do their part to uphold the family name.

On behalf of Balon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, Euron and Victarion Greyjoy began Greyjoy's Rebellion with the burning of the Lannister fleet.[22] Tywin joined Robert and Lord Eddard Stark in invading the Iron Islands, however, and the rebellion was defeated.

Tywin attended the tourney on Prince Joffrey's name day in King's Landing. Queen Cersei Lannister and her children accompanied Tywin during his return to Casterly Rock; en route they were informed of the death of Jon Arryn, Robert's Hand of the King.

Following the deaths of her brother and mother in the Second Riot of King’s Landing, Myrcella Baratheon was not only set to inherit the crown, but was also the sole acknowledged heir to Storm’s End and Casterly Rock. She was a woman, however, and in order to let her rule as Queen, a Great Council was due to undo the precedent that had been set two centuries ago.

Though Jaime Lannister advocated for his niece keeping what was rightfully hers, a new faction of nobles in the Westerlands - headed by Rolph Spicer and his sister Sybell - demanded that the lordship of Casterly Rock be passed to the young Martyn Lannister right away, who would otherwise only inherit in the event of Myrcella’s death. In exchange, they would guarantee the votes of most western lords would favor the young princess.

As the Great Council ended with Myrcella’s overwhelming triumph, Martyn Lannister was promptly named the Lord of Casterly Rock and his first years in the position  were defined by Lord Rolph’s and later Lady Sybell’s regencies. In 301 AC, he was wed to the latter’s daughter, Jeyne Westerling, and the children they had would grow up to define the future of Tywin Lannister’s fading empire of gold.

## Recent History

House Lannister no longer garnered fear across the whole of the Realm, but their name and wealth was still respected. Martyn’s heirs proved to be effective at statecraft and command both, and decades after his ascension, the Lannister banners were invaluable to Lyonel Tyrell during the War of the White Rose.

The strength the union of the Crownlands and the Reach represented posed a major political threat to the ambitions of the Lannisters and their vassals, and so it came as the natural and pragmatic choice for them to take course alongside the rebels. What they did not expect in the slightest was the hungry presence in the Ironmen’s Bay that sought to exploit the vulnerability they had left behind while marching to battle in the Reach.

After the civil war concluded, the Westerners had one more score to settle, and they intended to bring war back to the Iron Islands. While King Alester turned a blind eye, a western fleet set out from Lannisport, only to never reach their destination. The Ironborn met them at sea and overpowered their galleys with ease, handing the Lannisters a ridiculing defeat instead of the bloodshed they had sought.

The coming winter prevented further hostilities between the two, but that was also the moment for the twice-defeated to shine. All ports in the Westerlands were forbidden from trade with the Iron Islands, and only at hugely inflated prices was House Lannister willing to give the islanders the gold they needed: crops. Famine once again reared its head in the archipelago and knowing its denizens could not pay with salt and rock, Casterly Rock had its revenge at last. Greyjoy tried to make amends for many years - only to fall on the deaf ears of the Lion.

## Family Tree

https://www.familyecho.com/?p=START&c=4km8kxe9ft&f=731724091375316180