House Lannister

Overview

The rich and fertile Westerlands, located to the immediate North-West of King's Landing on the upper-central western portion of Westeros, is ruled over by House Lannister. Thanks to the mountainous terrain that makes up the larger part of their realm, and the gold mines found therein, the Lannisters are the richest family in the whole of Westeros, with the crown being so deeply in debt to them that if King's Landing were to alienate them, the King would be left without the gold to finance the ensuing war, thus the Lannisters are also the most powerful family in the realm, financing and marrying the royal family.

Seated at their ancestral home of Casterly Rock, Tywin Lannister rules over his realm with an iron fist and a tight purse. He has three children of his late wife Joanna: his eldest son Jaime, a member of the Kingsguard and thus forfeiting his inheritance of the family estate; his only daughter Cersei, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, who cannot inherit the family estate by virtue of being a woman; and his younger son Tyrion, a dwarf who will not inherit the family estate by virtue of his father's disdain for him, a feeling arising both from his stature and the fact that his mother and Tywin's wife died giving birth to him, something for which his father blames him. Tywin also has a brother, Kevan, who assists his brother in ruling the Westerlands during times of peace, and commanding the Lannister armies during times of war.