Fair, golden haired and tall, their women beautiful, their men handsome, the Lannisters claim descent through the female line from the legendary Lann the Clever, a trickster of the Age of Heroes. In the songs that celebrate his deeds, Lann, using no weapons, only his wits, winkled the Caterlys out of Casterly Rock, and stole gold from the sun to brighten his hair.

They are of the blood of the Andal adventurers who carved out a mighty kingdom in the Western hills and valleys of Westeros. Their ancestors were Kings, the last of whom, King Loren of the Rock, knelt to Aegon the Conqueror after his armies were decimated by the Targaryen dragons on the Fields of Fire.

The gold of Casterly Rock and the Golden Tooth has made them the wealthiest of the Great Houses. Their sigil is a golden lion upon a crimson field. The Lannister words are Hear Me Roar!

The present patriarch and Lord of Lannister, Tywin Lannister, was the Hand of the King to Aerys II Targaryen before he fled King's Landing during Robert Baratheon's Rebellion. Robert's agreement to take his daughter Cersei to wife won the Lannister's and the west over to the Baratheon's cause. Tywin rode down to King's Landing and proclaiming his loyalty to the Targaryens, convinced King Aerys that he was there to save the city and defend the King. Aerys ordered the city gates open. It was then that Ser Jaime Lannister, Tywin Lannister's son, a knight of the Kingsguard, sworn to protect the King with his life, slit the King's throat with gold gilded blade, earning him the name, Kingslayer. The Lannister armies laid waste to King's Landing, raping, burning and killing in what was one the worst episodes of the city's history, the Sack of King's Landing. Princess Elia of House Martell, wife to Prince Rhaegar, and their young children, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon, were brutally slain by Lannister swords.

LORD TYWIN LANNISTER, Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, Shield of Lannisport,
his wife [LADY JOANNA], a cousin, died in childbed,
their children:
• SER JAIME, called the Kingslayer, heir to Casterly Rock, a twin to Cersei,
• QUEEN CERSEI, wife to King Robert I Baratheon, a twin to Jaime,
• TYRION, called the Imp, a dwarf,
his siblings:
• SER KEVAN, his eldest brother,
  his wife, LADY DORNA, of House Swyft,
  
  their children:
  • their eldest son, LANCEL, squire to the King,
  • WILLEM, twin to Martyn,
  • MARTYN, twin to Willem,
  • JANEI, an infant,
• GENNA, his sister,
  her husband Ser Emmon Frey,
  their children
  • SER CLEOS FREY,
  • TION FREY, a squire,
• [SER TYGETT], his second brother, died of a pox,
  his widow, DARLESSA of House Marbrand,
  • TYREK, their son, squire to the King,
• [GERION], his youngest brother, lost at sea,
  his bastard daughter, Joy, aged ten,
  their cousin:
  SER STAFFORD LANNISTER, brother to the late Lady Joanna,
  his children:
  • CERENNA, a daughter,
  • MYRIELLE, a daughter,
  • SER DAVEN LANNISTER,
his household:
• MAESTER CREYLEN, counselor,
his lords bannermen and chief knights:
• LORD LEO LEFFORD,
• SER ADDAM MARBRAND, heir to Ashemark,
• SER GREGOR CLEGANE, called The Mountain That Rides,
• LORD LEWYS LYDDEN, Lord of the Deep Den,
• LORD GAWEN WESTERLING, Lord of the Crag,
• LORD ANDROS BRAX,
  his sons:
  • SER ROBERT BRAX,
  • SER FLEMENT BRAX,
• SER FORLEY PRESTER of the Golden Tooth,
• SER HARYS SWYFT, father by marriage to Ser Kevan Lannister,
• SER AMORY LORCH,
• VARGO HOAT, of the Free City of Qohor, captain of the sellsword company called the Brave Companions.
The principal Houses sworn to Casterly Rock are Payne, Swyft, Marbrand, Lydden, Banefort, Lefford, Crakehall, Serrett, Broom, Clegane, Prester, and Westerling.


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