Even now, no one had truly seen the leader's face. Whenever he appeared outside, he wore a visor.
The rebels all called him "Lord Lion." Some said he was merely a member of a cadet branch of House Lannister who had escaped from a Westerlands prisoner-of-war camp.
Others, of course, speculated that he was a member of House Lannister's main line, secretly spirited away by loyalists before Casterly Rock surrendered: Kevan Lannister's youngest son, Martyn Lannister.
After Ser Alliser led his men to capture Casterly Rock, the only members of Kevan's family they found were his wife, Dorea Sand Swyft, and their young daughter, Jenna Lannister.
Kevan's eldest son, Lancel Lannister, had been executed alongside Cersei and the others when King's Landing fell. His second son, William Lannister, had died with him at Harlon Castle, but his youngest son's whereabouts remained unknown.
In the original course of events, Martyn should have been captured by the northerners during the Battle of Oxford, which Robb launched shortly after arriving in the Westerlands.
But in this War of the Five Kings, the threat posed by Viserys had prompted Tywin to leave Martyn at Casterly Rock, guarding against the possibility that Viserys might suddenly enter the war and lead a surprise attack on the castle. As a result, he had not been stationed at Oxford with Stafford Lannister.
In short, this "Lord Lion" had used some gold dragons that House Lannister had hidden away to gather fugitives and stragglers from across the Seven Kingdoms whom Viserys had refused to pardon.
They were now huddled in abandoned gold mines in the mountains near the Golden Tooth, still flaunting the Lannister banner.
Originally, no one had paid much attention to this band of fewer than a hundred displaced men, who were little different from ordinary bandits.