[img]http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120427202654/gameofthrones/images/d/de/House_Lannister_Sigil.jpg[/img]

[b]House Information[/b]
[indent]During the Dance of Dragons, the Crownlands, the Riverlands and the Reach burned, but the Westerlands bled. It's true that dragonfire didn't scorch the hills, but that Westermen families fought each other over support of Aegon II or Rhaenyra. The conflict wasn't resolved so much as that it died with the ascent of Aegon III to the throne, intent on mending his realm. By the same token, Steffon "Blackmane" Lannister worked hard to mend his lands as well as the other Kingdoms, serving as Aegon's Hand at one point until stepping down in favor of the ascendant Viserys. Today, the Westerlands stand largely restored thanks to two and a half decades of careful stewardship and reconciliation between factions that warred, but that peace is precarious. House Lannister looms strong enough under Steffon, these days known by his detractors as "The Lame Lannister", for the nonce anyway.

While traditionally a fruitful house with many members, House Lannister was thoroughly depopulated during the Dance of Dragons. It will be another generation or two before there are a lot of Lannister cousins, and other Houses in the West conspire to make good marriage alliances with the Lannisters to shore up their chances of inheritance were anything to befall the Lannisters. [/indent]

[hider=The Lame Lion][b]Name:[/b] Steffon Lannister

[img]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/mKHihAPr2Rc/hqdefault.jpg[/img]
[b]Age:[/b] 43
[b]Biography:[/b] Steffon Lannister was born of Ser Hendry Lannister, the second son of Lord Lothar Lannister, who served for a time as a captain of the Lion's Gate in King's Landing under the command fo Prince Daemon, who would become the husband of Queen Rhaenrya. As Commander of the City Guard of Lannisport, and in conjunction with the Lannisters of Lannisport, he worked to raise the Westerlands against his brother, Lord Jason, with whom he had an antagonistic relationship. He was caught and executed, but young Steffon, the son of his marriage to Lady Lysa Crakehall, managed to escape, as he was a ward of House Marbrand, who sided with the Blacks, following suit after Ser Lorent Marbrand of the Kingsguard. 

While Lord Joffrey Marbrand was part of the blacks, much of the Westerlands were in support of Lord Jason and the Greens, and the Ashemark was put under siege by a force led by Lord Matthis Crakehall, though a young Ser Donnel Lannister, son of Jason, was a young knight in that force. 

The Ashemark held. but it seemed a matter of time before it would fall, except the Battle of the Lakeshore, known as the Fishfeed, where Lord Lefford, in command, dawdled and much of the Lannister strength was killed in a disastrous defeat for the Greens. Meanwhile, Lord Jason tried to reinforce the Ashemark siege, only to be slain by turncoats in the Westerlands that decided that the Blacks, under Daemon Targaryen's able command, seemed most likely to prevail. With the newly-knighted Ser Steffon at the van of the attack, the Blacks broke the Greens and sent them in retreat. 

Steffon's forces gathered strength while Lord Donnel licked his wounds, but soon a new season of war was upon the Westerlands, a back and forth over hills while diplomatic entreaties were made to familiy members who were induced to betray blood, in some cases, while other deals were struck. Steffon, eager for vengeance, and Donnel, eager for a reckoning, seemed to play out the larger animosities of Daemon and Aemond Targaryen 

By the end of the Dance, the final battle happened in a muddy field near Silverhill, a holding of House Serrett; Steffon came upon Donnel's encampment using a forced march that allowed him to strike without warning, but Donnel's encampment was in good order and able to hold well enough to turn the battle into an hours long war of attrition, neither side willing to concede. Finally, the two cousins met in battle's chaos, their retinues clashing around them as they hacked away with each other, Blackmane with a halberd and Donnel with a Valyrian steel axe and shield; Valyrian steel seemed to settle the score, as Donnel landed a hit on his cousin's leg that neatly sheared through the mail and plate and into the muscle and even the bone itself, leaving his cousin bleeding badly and lamed in the mud. And yet, the bloody mud was also his undoing, as he tried to pry open his cousin's visor to stick a dagger in, he lost footing and was quickly finished by an opportunistic strike from one of Steffon's men at arms.

But for the ministrations of young Marissa Serrett of Silverhill, and the maesters, Steffon might have died from his wounds. But instead, he emerged from fever and pain wiser and Lord of House Lannister, though rueful of it; he'd lost the ability to walk, but gained wisdom. 

His rule of the Westerlands marked him as a different man -- he sought to reconcile rather than avenge, and the battle-weary Lannister bannermen were convinced to put down arms and seek to their own battered lands. In Aegon II, he found a similarly war-weary soul that wanted a peaceful, prosperous rule and was, eventually, made Hand of the King for a some years, before stepping aside to allow Viserys to ascend the post, rather than create tensions between siblings. In the meantime, he sired children, raised children and lost a wife. The thought of putting the Kingdom through another war haunts him -- he's seen enough of it to know that it's a wanton waste.

Despite the accusations in King's Landing by some friends of the King and supporters of the war that he is an old man done, the Lords of the West tend to respect Steffon -- they remember Blackmane more than the Lame Lion, and while he has been even-handed, he is more than capable of carrying out justice; he demonstrated that capability as Hand and in his own lands after the Dance. While Steffon is Lord in Casterly Rock, the West is fragile, but stable and, above all, prosperous.

[/hider][Hider=The Young Lion][b]Name:[/b] Martyn Lannister
[img]http://azinazelle.com/Excalibur/EXCALIBUR11.jpg[/img]

[b]Age:[/b] 16
[b]Biography:[/b] The young, impetuous son of Steffon, Martyn wishes to live up to his father's reputation for prowess in the Dance of Dragons without considering the costs or what went on. He is, like most young lads just recently knighted, eager to prove his mettle. While there is little doubting that he has a great deal of potential, the truth is that the young Heir to Casterly Rock is still a green boy with more courage than sense, For many of his years, he was fostered at King's Landing as a companion to Daeron and is one of his staunchest supporters and companions. When Daeron takes the field, Martyn expects to fight in the van. This enthusiasm for the war compels Steffon to put more resources into Daeron's conquest than he would otherwise commit.

[/hider][hider=The Lioness][b]Name:[/b] Elaena Lannister
[img]http://deecrowseer.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/camelotte01.jpg[/img]

[b]Age:[/b] 17
[b]Biography:[/b] (WIP - or one of you players can even take her over.)

[/hider][hider=The Lions Bastard][b]Name:[/b] Hendry Hill
[img=http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsB/2316-5871.jpg]
[b]Age:[/b] 24
[b]Biography:[/b] The bastard son of Lord Steffon, he was born and raised in King's Landing; he has been given good training in arms and serves as a goldcloak captain of the Lion's Gate. While he is far fairer-haired than his father, who favors his Crakehall mother, he retains Blackmane's prowess from the younger days, which is why he left Oldtown -- he was set on being a maester, but his heart wasn't in it. He isn't sure he wishes to spend his days toiling as a goldcloak, though a man can rise fairly high in the city guard, and he has a reputation for capability as a leader of men, which perhaps draws some eyes to him. He's had to make his own way in the world, but his father has quietly helped see to it that he has been educated as well as given training at arms. 

[/hider][Hider=The Prodigal Lion][b]Name:[/b] Willem Lannister (son of Tyland, and a younger cousin of Lord Steffon)
[img=http://filmlinc.com/page/-/uploads/comment/archives/flesh_and_blood9.jpeg]

[b]Age:[/b] 32
[b]Biography:[/b] The son of Tyland, who died under torture ordered by Queen Rhaenrya after she captured King's Landing, Willem was a seven year old boy by the end of the hostilities, and Blackmane was not about to become a kinslayer by murdering an innocent young cousin. All the same, Willem was raised in Lannisport, away from Casterly Rock and found it preferable, upon attaining manhood, to take himself to Braavos and thence to the Disputed Lands, where he's sold his sword since, signing up with the Second Sons and serving much of his career with them, eventually rising to high officer status within the company. Sometime in the last few years, he's used connections with the Iron Bank of Braavos and the mercenary community to move into the role of a merchant and provisioner of mercenaries, finding arms, provisions and transport for mercenary companies.
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