Maege Mormont

When Jorah Mormont flees to the Free Cities rather than face justice, the lordship of Bear Island falls to his aunt Maege. She inherits an impoverished island, and spends years restoring the name her nephew left tarnished.

No one knows who fathered her five daughters, or even whether Maege ever married. Jokes about a bear as their father circulate, and her daughter Alysane repeats them laughing: Mormont women, she says, turn into bears and find mates in the woods. All the girls bear their mother's name, and none is considered a bastard.

When Robb Stark calls his banners, Maege answers with her own forces. At the Twins the northern army splits, and she rides south with Robb himself.

Her men are the first to charge in the Battle of the Whispering Wood.

After the Battle of Oxcross, Maege pushes into the Westerlands and returns with thousands of head of cattle, which she drives back to the Riverlands.

Together with her daughter Dacey, Maege grows close to Catelyn Tully: both are mothers, and that is enough for her to understand why Catelyn set Jaime Lannister free.

She travels north with Robb from Riverrun for Edmure Tully's wedding. There Robb sends her to the Neck to find Lord Howland Reed, carrying word of his chosen heir; if enemies capture her, the letters she holds say something else entirely.

Her daughter Alysane tells Asha Greyjoy that Maege is still alive, travelling with two more daughters, Lyra and Jorelle. Where they are, no one says.