House Lannister of Casterly Rock

Shield of Lannisport

Warden of The West

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. 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.

## Appearances & Traits

Lannisters have a reputation for being comely with fair, golden hair and emerald green eyes. They are all stewardly, a trait them stems from their vast fortune underneath Casterly Rock

## History & Recent Events

### Kings of The West

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.

### King's No Longer

During Aegon’s conquest, while the King of the Rock, Loren Lannister bent the knee to the Targaryens after the infamous field of fire, House Reyne, thinking the Lannister weak and being too proud to become vassals to the Targaryens merely because of what they called, was ‘Lannister Incompetence’, crowned themselves the kings of the Westerlands and the rightful rulers of the Rock. With a host of four thousand men, Lord Reyne marched for Casterly Rock.

The forces of the west were still away from home, still reeling from the terrible defeat they had faced at the hands of the Targaryens and were still marching home from the lands of the reach when the news of the siege reached them. The forces were too exhausted to make it back home in time, supplies were already low at the rock, with most of the wheat and barley having being diverted to feed the massive Lannister host that had gone to fight the Targaryens.

At Loren’s plea, Aegon agreed to help the Lannisters out, and along with his sisters, flew over to the rock where he burnt the Reyne host to mere soot and ash. Lord Reyne died along with his men. His wife stood atop the battlements of Castamere and begged for mercy when the Targaryens arrived, but no mercy was given. The Targaryens wanted to make an example, and make an example out of the Reynes they did. The ancient seat of Castamere was burnt to nothing, and the Reynes were demoted to mere vassals of house House Tarbeck

While no one sheds a tear for the Reynes, many Westermen still believe that the Targaryens were too harsh with the Reynes, burning their ancestral seat to soot despite their surrender. However, House Lannister remains grateful to the Targaryens for their help and believes them to be worthy kings of Westeros, while many lords of the west would still disagree and would be more satisfied if they were independent.

Aegon’s reign was short, merely lasting 7 years. Under his rule the Lannisters remained staunch loyalists, much to the displeasure of many of their vassals who still believed that the Targaryens had been too harsh on the Reynes. But these concerns were never voiced, they were just whispers, talks behind walls, no lords dared to walk up to the Lannisters speak their heart out, and justly, none even could.The Reynes had rebelled, they had suffered, just not in a way many Lords liked.

Fear, amongst this whole ruckus began the spread of fear, terror. Terror amongst the common folk and the high lords alike. What had happened to the Reynes could very well happen to them as well. Detest, panic, mistrust, the west was a pot of these things and more, threatening to overflow.

### Old Wounds & Whispers

Lannister loyalty remained sturdy during the initial part of her rule. However this changed soon. After Aegon’s death, the then Lord of the West, Adrian Lannister decided to offer his hand in marriage to the Queen. However, the Queen rejected his proposal and went for Jonos Arryn, a move that greatly insulted Adrian and brewed hatred in his heart against the Vale and the crown. In 12 A.C., House Tarbeck, after forming a matrimonial alliance with the Reynes, along with the Paynes, Leffords and the Marbrands united their arms in rebellion, aiming to depose the Lannisters. Despite the latest events, the Lannisters still respected the Targaryens and considered them their saviors. Expecting aid without a doubt, Adrian simply sent a raven to King’s Landing explaining the situation and asking for military help. But he got no response. He waited and waited and waited but it all to no avail. In the end, it was a very bloody rebellion, taking the lives of thousands of men and Adrian himself.

Finally, after months of fighting, the rebellion was put down but it had left the west in a state so pathetic the rest of the realm sniggered at them. Adrian’s younger brother Eustace was only a man of 19 when he took up his brother’s seat, a boy barely on the cusps of manhood. He may have been young in age, but he was filled with hatred towards House Targaryen, blaming them in equal measure for Adrian’s death along with the Reynes.  Eventually, all these things were forgotten, or so it looked on the outside. Some wounds took long to heal.

The black king’s rule was nowhere close to peaceful. Marred by rebellions and bloody plots, it was utter chaos. Just after he was crowned king, a huge part of the realm rebelled. House Lannister wanted to, yes, but they didn't. Instead they operated from the shadows, funding both the sides, making them believe he was helping them and an active member of their side of the battle. The rebellion failed, House Lannister got away without as much as a scratch and a little disappointment. But secret toasts were shared and celebrations were held when the king tried to ride a dragon but ended up becoming charred meat. It was celebrated, just not openly.

While Maegelle was a wiser ruler than her predecessors, and widely more liked across the realm, relations between the crown and the West remained strained. However, one thing to note is that the general anti-Targaryen sentiments amongst the other lords of the west and the common folk had been diluted by now. The Reyne massacre now but a distant memory. It was now only the Lannisters themselves who had feelings of hostility towards the dragons.

Once again, the western lords were troubled by their liege’s behavior towards the Targareyns, just this time everything had been inverted. The lords of the west didnt mind the Targaryen rule anymore but the same could not be said for the Lannisters.

When a tourney was held for Maegelle’s hand, the brother of the lord of the rock, Edmure Lannister went to partake in the competition. Edmure was not a knight of any great proportions, but he was a Lannister. He managed to bribe most of his competition, thus getting himself in the final tilt, only to be unhorsed by a Bracken who took his  money but did not do as he had been instructed. With his pride wounded, the young lion marched back home instantly, not even being courteous enough to attend the wedding feast.

This was the only major interaction between the west and the crown in Maegelle’s reign. For the better part of her rule, the Lannisters kept to themselves. Once again, the years of staying apart helped settle dust on the whole conflict.

### Lann's Folly

Daemon was a man who focused more on things like what was under a pretty maiden’s skirt and Dorne. He spent a major part of his reign fathering bastards and bringing Dorne and the realm closer. The new lord of Casterly Rock grew up being told to hate the Targaryens. While this was nothing new, Lann took his lessons a bit too seriously. While Daemon was away in Dorne with his dragon, Lann gathered the greatest host the west had ever seen since the conquest itself, and marched for Aegon Fort. Within a few weeks he was outside the walls of AegonFort, demanding the surrender of the keep. As expected, he received a no, with a few boasts of ‘fighting till the last man.’ Lann didn't care, within a fortnight he had siege towers constructed and assaulted its walls.

The fortress fell, but within a week of its fall, Daemon arrived, with his bride, atop his dragon Balerion. When he landed in front of the gates of the keep, no Lannister guard even attempted to close the portcullis or raise the drawbridge. Daemon walked in unhindered, Balerion flying over the keep, roaring and flapping its huge wings as loudly as it could to break Lannister morale. In the throne room Daemon found Lann sitting on the very throne itself. Livid, Daemon pulled out Blackfyre and demanded Lann to get off his throne. Lann tried to order his guards to seize the other man, but none complied. No one wanted to be a victim of the dragon’s wrath. The duel didnt last very long, and ended with Lann one head short. The Lannister forces broke and ran away, thousands deserted the army. The Lannisters had never been in a more precarious position. Lann’s son Tytos was sent to the fort to be a ward of the dragon king while Lann’s uncle Brywin was made the acting lord of the Rock until Tytos came of age and was returned to his home seat.

### Recent Events

Tytos is of age, but there are rumors that Byrywin has no intentions of giving up his seat to Tytos, having had two sons of his own, one of whom he had very proudly proclaimed the heir to the west. With no support or backing, Tytos feels truly and utterly fucked. He is supposed to leave Aegonfort, but has no home to go to. Now it is to be seen what Tytos does.