Brown Ben Plumm

[Lost Melnibonean]

Interestingly, the first time we learn of House Plumm is after Game, after The Hedge Knight, and after Clash, in an SSM dated two months before the release of Storm, when The George tells a questioner that Brown Ben Plumm is one of several new characters we will encounter in Storm.

House Plumm is not listed in the Appendix to Game with the principal houses sworn to Casterly Rock. There are no Plumms mentioned at Ashford in The Hedge Knight, and there is no mention of any Plumms in Clash or the first half of Storm. The first time we meet a Plumm is outside the walls of Meereen...

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"His name is Oznak zo Pahl," Brown Ben Plumm told her when he arrived for the war council. He was the new commander of the Second Sons, chosen by a vote of his fellow sellswords. "I was bodyguard to his uncle once, before I joined the Second Sons. The Great Masters, what a ripe lot o' maggots. The women weren't so bad, though it was worth your life to look at the wrong one the wrong way. I knew a man, Scarb, this Oznak cut his liver out. Claimed to be defending a lady's honor, he did, said Scarb had raped her with his eyes. How do you rape a wench with eyes, I ask you? But his uncle is the richest man in Meereen and his father commands the city guard, so I had to run like a rat before he killed me too."

Daenerys V, Storm 57

We read that Brown Ben Plumm, who has a speckled grey-and-white beard, is not particularly bold...

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"These ones do not feel burns as men do, yet such oil blinds and kills. The Unsullied do not fear to die, though. Give these ones rams, and we will batter down these gates or die in the attempt."

"You would die," said Brown Ben. At Yunkai, when he took command of the Second Sons, he claimed to be the veteran of a hundred battles. "Though I will not say I fought bravely in all of them. There are old sellswords and bold sellswords, but no old bold sellswords." She saw that it was true.

 

Daenerys V, Storm 57

Brown Ben tells Daenerys about the sewers under Meereen...

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“Great brick sewers empty into the Skahazadhan, carrying the city's wastes. They might be a way in, for a few. That was how I escaped Meereen, after Scarb lost his head." Brown Ben made a face. "The smell has never left me. I dream of it some nights."

Daenerys V, Storm 57

Right away, we learn about Brown Ben’s family history and a drop of Targaryen blood...

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Her captains bowed and left her with her handmaids and her dragons. But as Brown Ben was leaving, Viserion spread his pale white wings and flapped lazily at his head. One of the wings buffeted the sellsword in his face. The white dragon landed awkwardly with one foot on the man's head and one on his shoulder, shrieked, and flew off again. "He likes you, Ben," said Dany.

"And well he might." Brown Ben laughed. "I have me a drop of the dragon blood myself, you know."

"You?" Dany was startled. Plumm was a creature of the free companies, an amiable mongrel. He had a broad brown face with a broken nose and a head of nappy grey hair, and his Dothraki mother had bequeathed him large, dark, almond-shaped eyes. He claimed to be part Braavosi, part Summer Islander, part Ibbenese, part Qohorik, part Dothraki, part Dornish, and part Westerosi, but this was the first she had heard of Targaryen blood. She gave him a searching look and said, "How could that be?"

"Well," said Brown Ben, "there was some old Plumm in the Sunset Kingdoms who wed a dragon princess. My grandmama told me the tale. He lived in King Aegon's day."

"Which King Aegon?" Dany asked. "Five Aegons have ruled in Westeros." Her brother's son would have been the sixth, but the Usurper's men had dashed his head against a wall.

"Five, were there? Well, that's a confusion. I could not give you a number, my queen. This old Plumm was a lord, though, must have been a famous fellow in his day, the talk of all the land. The thing was, begging your royal pardon, he had himself a cock six foot long."

The three bells in Dany's braid tinkled when she laughed. "You mean inches, I think."

"Feet," Brown Ben said firmly. "If it was inches, who'd want to talk about it, now? Your Grace."

Dany giggled like a little girl. "Did your grandmother claim she'd actually seen this prodigy?"

"That the old crone never did. She was half-Ibbenese and half-Qohorik, never been to Westeros, my grandfather must have told her. Some Dothraki killed him before I was born."

"And where did your grandfather's knowledge come from?"

"One of them tales told at the teat, I'd guess." Brown Ben shrugged. "That's all I know about Aegon the Unnumbered or old Lord Plumm's mighty manhood, I fear. I best see to my Sons."

 

Daenerys V, Storm 57

Clearly, Brown Ben is a character to watch. Isn't this the only time we see any of the Dragons give anyone other than Daenerys some love? This must be either a hint that Brown Ben will ride Viserion or a feint in that direction. 

And we need to begin piecing together his family ancestry. Unless his family name is misappropriated, we know he is the legitimate son of a Dothraki woman and the direct patrilineal descendant of some yet to be specified but very well-hung Lord Plumm. We can assume that Brown Ben’s father was the legitimate son of a half-Ibbenese, half-Qohorik woman and a direct patrilineal descendant of the unspecified Lord Plumm. And we can only speculate, at this point, as to the nature of the six-foot member tale.

[Lost Melnibonean]

The very next time we read anything about House Plumm is when Jaime is reunited with his father in King’s Landing...

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"The eunuch told me a few days after your escape. I sent men into the riverlands to look for you. Gregor Clegane, Samwell Spicer, the brothers Plumm. Varys put out the word as well, but quietly. We agreed that the fewer people who knew you were free, the fewer would be hunting you."

Jaime VII, Storm 62

In the Appendix to Storm we learn that Philip is Lord Plumm, and that he has three sons, Dennis, Peter, and Harwyn, called Hardstone.

In Cersei III, Feast 12, Kevan tells Cersei, “Hardstone has cleared the broken men from Darry castle," and, "Lancel's bride awaits us there."

Later in Feast, we get just a hint at the backstory of House Plumm and that six-foot member, and Jaime mentions Lord Philip...

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"There can be no danger of a consummation. Tommen is much too young."

"And Ossifer Plumm was much too dead, but that did not stop him fathering a child, did it?"

Her brother looked lost. "Who was Ossifer Plumm? Was he Lord Philip's father, or . . . who?"

He is near as ignorant as Robert. All his wits were in his sword hand. "Forget Plumm, just remember what I told you. Swear to me that you will stay by Tommen's side until the sun comes up."

 

Jaime IV, Feast 30

So, now we can surmise that the Lord Plumm from which Brown Ben, and Philip for that matter, descends is Ossifer, who was wed to an as yet unnamed Targaryen princess.

Jaime notes the presence of Lord Philip, wearing purple, in the honor guard escorting the murdered Tywin’s corpse back to Casterly Rock. When Jaime arrives at Darry, we learn that Hardstone is likely banging Lancel’s new wife...

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Jaime glanced about the yard, at the bearded faces of the sparrows. Too many. And too many Freys as well. "Where will I find Hardstone?"

"We had a report of outlaws beyond the Trident. Ser Harwyn took five knights and twenty archers and went to deal with them."

...

"Dondarrion's dead," said Strongboar. "The Mountain drove a knife through his eye, we have men with us who saw it."

"That's one tale," said Addam Marbrand. "Others will tell you that Lord Beric can't be killed."

"Ser Harwyn says those tales are lies." Lady Amerei wound a braid around her finger. "He has promised me Lord Beric's head. He's very gallant." She was blushing beneath her tears.

Jaime ... would have had a few choice words for Harwyn Plumm as well, though gallant would not have been one of them. Plumm's brothers were big, fleshy fellows with thick necks and red faces; loud and lusty, quick to laugh, quick to anger, quick to forgive. Harwyn was a different sort of Plumm; hard-eyed and taciturn, unforgiving ... and deadly, with his hammer in his hand. A good man to command a garrison, but not a man to love. Although ... Jaime gazed at Lady Amerei.

...

Jaime had to laugh. "Better me than Blessed Baelor. Darry needs a lion, coz. So does your little Frey. She gets moist between the legs every time someone mentions Hardstone. If she hasn't bedded him yet, she will soon."

...

"Lancel, you're a bloody fool."

"You are not wrong," said Lancel, "but my folly is behind me, ser. I have asked the Father Above to show me the way, and he has. I am renouncing this lordship and this wife. Hardstone is welcome to the both of them, if he likes. On the morrow I will return to King's Landing and swear my sword to the new High Septon and the Seven. I mean to take vows and join the Warrior's Sons."

 

Jaime IV, Feast 30

I wonder... Is Hardstone making a play for Darry? And what would that mean for a future encounter between Hardstone and Brown Ben?

[Lost Melnibonean]

In The Mystery Knight, we meet the mysterious Maynard Plumm, who we assume is Bloodraven wearing a glamor...

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"A noble vow. I am Ser Kyle, the Cat of Misty Moor. Under yonder chestnut sits Ser Glendon, ah, Ball. And here you have the good Ser Maynard Plumm."

Egg's ears pricked up at that name. "Plumm ... are you kin to Lord Viserys Plumm, ser?"

"Distantly," confessed Ser Maynard, a tall, thin, stoop-shouldered man with long straight flaxen hair, "though I doubt that His Lordship would admit to it. One might say that he is of the sweet Plumms, whilst I am of the sour." Plumm's cloak was as purple as his name, though frayed about the edges and badly dyed. A moonstone brooch big as a hen's egg fastened it at the shoulder. Elsewise he wore dun-colored roughspun and stained brown leather.

 

The Mystery Knight

So, we have Ossifer, Viserys, and Philip. Now we can assume that Philip is of an age with Brown Ben, and, at least at this point, we can speculate that Viserys is of an age with Maekar I or Daeron II.

In Dance, Daenerys gives us a little more description of Brown Ben...

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The Second Sons were the first to return, eight days after the queen sent forth her summons. ... Brown Ben had a seamed and weathered face, skin the color of old teak, white hair, and wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. Dany was so pleased to see his leathery brown face that she hugged him. His eyes crinkled in amusement. "I heard talk Your Grace was going to take a husband," he said, "but no one told me it was me." They laughed together as Reznak sputtered, but the laughter ceased when Brown Ben said, "We caught three Astapori. Your Worship had best hear what they say."

Daenerys V, Dance 30

Later in that chapter, we see that Brown Ben does not like Daenerys’s chances against the Yunkai’i without the dragons in the fight, and in Daenerys VI, Dance 43, we learn that Brown Ben has gone over to the Yunkai’i.

[Lost Melnibonean]

When Tyrion and Penny are offered at the slave auction, Brown Ben bids on the imp...

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And what would a sellsword want with a dwarf? Tyrion pushed himself back to his feet to get a better look. The new bidder was an older man, white-haired yet tall and fit, with leathery brown skin and a close-cropped salt-and-pepper beard. Half-hidden under a faded purple cloak were a longsword and a brace of daggers.

...

"Five thousand is an insult!" Tyrion called out. "I joust, I sing, I say amusing things. I'll fuck your wife and make her scream. Or your enemy's wife if you prefer, what better way to shame him? I'm murder with a cross-bow, and men three times my size quail and tremble when we meet across a cyvasse table. I have even been known to cook from time to time. I bid ten thousand silvers for myself! I'm good for it, I am, I am. My father told me I must always pay my debts."

The sellsword in the purple cloak turned back. His eyes met Tyrion's across the rows of other bidders, and he smiled. A warm smile, that, the dwarf reflected. Friendly. But my, those eyes are cold. Might be I don't want him to buy us after all.

 

Tyrion X, Dance 47

And a little later, Tyrion provides us with additional impressions of Brown Ben...

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The other captain was the man who'd tried to buy them that morning, the brown-skinned bidder with the salt-and-pepper beard. "Brown Ben Plumm," Sweets named him. "Captain of the Second Sons."

...

Brown Ben Plumm lifted the fallen table, smiling. "Try me next, dwarf. When I was younger, the Second Sons took contract with Volantis. I learned the game there."

"I am only a slave. My noble master decides when and who I play."

Tyrion turned to Yezzan. "Master?"

The yellow lord seemed amused by the notion. "What stakes do you propose, Captain?"

"If I win, give this slave to me," said Plumm. "No," Yezzan zo Qaggaz said. "But if you can defeat my dwarf, you may have the price I paid for him, in gold."

"Done," the sellsword said. The scattered pieces were picked up off the carpet, and they sat down to play.

Tyrion won the first game. Plumm took the second, for double the stakes. As they set up for their third contest, the dwarf studied his opponent. Brown-skinned, his cheeks and jaw covered by a close-cropped bristly beard of grey and white, his face creased by a thousand wrinkles and a few old scars, Plumm had an amiable look to him, especially when he smiled. The faithful retainer, Tyrion decided. Every man' s favorite nuncle, full of chuckles and old sayings and roughspun wisdom. It was all sham. Those smiles never touched Plumm's eyes, where greed hid behind a veil of caution. Hungry, but wary, this one.

 

Tyrion X, Dance 47

Tyrion dealt with another hungry man whose smile never touched his eyes--Petyr Baelish. 

[Lost Melnibonean]

Daenerys confronts her betrayer after she negotiates a peace with Yunkai...

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Afterward her lord husband led his guests onto the lower terrace, so the visitors from the Yellow City might behold Meereen by night. Wine cups in hand, the Yunkai’i wandered the garden in small groups, beneath lemon trees and night-blooming flowers, and Dany found herself face-to-face with Brown Ben Plumm.

He bowed low. "Worship. You look lovely. Well, you always did. None of them Yunkishmen are half so pretty. I thought I might bring a wedding gift for you, but the bidding went too high for old Brown Ben."

"I want no gifts from you."

"This one you might. The head of an old foe."

"Your own?" she said sweetly. "You betrayed me."

"Now that's a harsh way o' putting it, if you don't mind me saying." Brown Ben scratched at his speckled grey-and-white whiskers.

"We went over to the winning side, is all. Same as we done before. It weren't all me, neither. I put it to my men."

"So they betrayed me, is that what you are saying? Why? Did I mistreat the Second Sons? Did I cheat you on your pay?"

"Never that," said Brown Ben, "but it's not all about the coin, Your High-and-Mightiness. I learned that a long time back, at my first battle. Morning after the fight, I was rooting through the dead, looking for the odd bit o' plunder, as it were. Came upon this one corpse, some axeman had taken his whole arm off at the shoulder. He was covered with flies, all crusty with dried blood, might be why no one else had touched him, but under them he wore this studded jerkin, looked to be good leather. I figured it might fit me well enough, so I chased away the flies and cut it off him. The damn thing was heavier than it had any right to be, though. Under the lining, he'd sewn a fortune in coin. Gold, Your Worship, sweet yellow gold. Enough for any man to live like a lord for the rest o' his days. But what good did it do him? There he was with all his coin, lying in the blood and mud with his fucking arm cut off. And that's the lesson, see? Silver's sweet and gold's our mother, but once you're dead they're worth less than that last shit you take as you lie dying. I told you once, there are old sellswords and there are bold sellswords, but there are no old bold sellswords. My boys didn't care to die, that's all, and when I told them that you couldn't unleash them dragons against the Yunkishmen, well …"

You saw me as defeated, Dany thought, and who am I to say that you were wrong?" I understand." She might have ended it there, but she was curious. "Enough gold to live like a lord, you said. What did you do with all that wealth?"

Brown Ben laughed. "Fool boy that I was, I told a man I took to be my friend, and he told our serjeant, and my brothers-in-arms come and relieved me o' that burden. Serjeant said I was too young, that I'd only waste it all on whores and such. He let me keep the jerkin, though." He spat.

"You don't never want to trust a sellsword, m'lady."

"I have learned that much. One day I must be sure to thank you for the lesson."

Brown Ben's eyes crinkled up. "No need. I know the sort o' thanks you have in mind." He bowed again and moved away.

 

Daenerys VIII, Dance 50

First, notice that Brown Ben did not betray Daenerys for gold (or blood or love). 

Second, notice that Daenerys encounters Brown Ben under some apparently very large lemon trees. As I have argued elsewhere The George uses lemons to signal bitterness and disappointment. Since we know this is not likely to be the final encounter between Daenerys and Brown Ben, I have to assume that the future interaction of these two distant cousins will end in bitterness and disappointment. 

[Lost Melnibonean]

When Tyrion spies his chance to escape bondage, he decides to chance Brown Ben...

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"The Second Sons?" A queer smile split Ser Jorah's face. "If you think to find help there, you don't know Brown Ben Plumm."

"Oh, I do. Plumm and I have played five games of cyvasse. Brown Ben is shrewd, tenacious, not unintelligent … but wary. He likes to let his opponent take the risks whilst he sits back and keeps his options open, reacting to the battle as it takes shape."

...

"Come for another game of cyvasse, Yollo?"

"If you wish. I do enjoy defeating you. I hear you're twice a turncloak, Plumm. A man after mine own heart."

Brown Ben's smile never reached his eyes. He studied Tyrion as a man might study a talking snake. "Why are you here?"

"To make your dreams come true. You tried to buy us at auction. Then you tried to win us at cyvasse. Even when I had my nose, I was not so handsome as to provoke such passion … save in one who happened to know my true worth. Well, here I am, free for the taking. Now be a friend, send for your smith, and get these collars off us. I'm sick of tinkling when I tinkle."

 

Tyrion XI, Dance 57

Here, we get some more family ancestry filled in...

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"I know you as well, my lord," said Tyrion. "You're less purple and more brown than the Plumms at home, but unless your name's a lie, you're a westerman, by blood if not by birth. House Plumm is sworn to Casterly Rock, and as it happens I know a bit of its history. Your branch sprouted from a stone spit across the narrow sea, no doubt. A younger son of Viserys Plumm, I'd wager. The queen's dragons were fond of you, were they not?"

That seemed to amuse the sellsword. "Who told you that?"

"No one. Most of the stories you hear about dragons are fodder for fools. Talking dragons, dragons hoarding gold and gems, dragons with four legs and bellies big as elephants, dragons riddling with sphinxes … nonsense, all of it. But there are truths in the old books as well. Not only do I know that the queen's dragons took to you, but I know why."

"My mother said my father had a drop of dragon blood."

"Two drops. That, or a cock six feet long. You know that tale? I do.

 

Tyrion XI, Dance 57

So, now we can speculate that Viserys was the presumed son of Ossifer and the as yet unnamed Targaryen princess, but that he was actually the son of the Targaryen princess and a Targaryen man. We can also assume that Brown Ben’s patrilineal grandfather was born in Essos to a grandson of Viserys, and that the younger son of Viserys sought his fortune in Essos.

Tyrion also strongly suggests that some dragonlore, in this case that relating to Targaryen blood, is true. And The George has Tyrion remind us that "the queen’s dragons look to" Brown Ben Plumm. 

Tyrion continues his sales pitch...

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Now, you're a clever Plumm, so you know this head of mine is worth a lordship … back in Westeros, half a world away. By the time you get it there, only bone and maggots will remain. My sweet sister will deny the head is mine and cheat you of the promised reward. You know how it is with queens. Fickle cunts, the lot of them, and Cersei is the worst."

Brown Ben scratched at his beard. "Could deliver you alive and wriggling, then. Or pop your head into a jar and pickle it."

"Or throw in with me. That's the wisest move." He grinned. "I was born a second son. This company is my destiny. "

...

Tyrion cleared his throat. "You can talk of old times later … after I am done explaining why my head would be of more use to you upon my shoulders. You will find, Lord Plumm, that I can be very generous to my friends. If you doubt me, ask Bronn. Ask Shagga, son of Dolf. Ask Timett, son of Timett."

"And who would they be?" asked the man called Inkpots.

"Good men who pledged me their swords and prospered greatly by that service."

He shrugged. "Oh, very well, I lied about the ‘good' part. They're bloodthirsty bastards, like you lot."

"Might be," said Brown Ben." Or might be you just made up some names. Shagga, did you say? Is that a woman's name?"

"His teats are big enough. Next time we meet I'll peek beneath his breeches to be sure. Is that a cyvasse set over there? Bring it out and we'll have that game. But first, I think, a cup of wine. My throat is dry as an old bone, and I can see that I have a deal of talking to do."

 

Tyrion XI, Dance 57

Timett son of Timett, eh? We will get to him in a bit.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Near the end of Dance, In Tyrion’s last chapter, we see Tyrion accept an offer that he cannot refuse from Brown Ben. Tyrion agrees to sign over an enormous amount of gold and land to Brown Ben and his men in exchange for safe harbor as a member of the Second Sons, about which we learn a bit more...

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He dipped his quill in the inkpot. Tyrion of House Lannister, he scratched out, promising to pay the bearer of the note one hundred golden dragons. Every stroke of the quill leaves me a little poorer … or would, if I were not a beggar to begin with. One day he might rue these signatures. But not this day. He blew on the wet ink, slid the parchment to the paymaster, and signed the one beneath. And again. And again. And again. "This wounds me deeply, I will have you know," he told them between signatures. "In Westeros, the word of a Lannister is considered good as gold."

...

Plumm was enjoying this, and Tyrion had no intention of spoiling his fun. Let him go on thinking that he's bent me over and fucked me up the arse, and I’ll go on buying steel swords with parchment dragons. If ever he went back to Westeros to claim his birthright, he would have all the gold of Casterly Rock to make good on his promises. If not, well, he'd be dead, and his new brothers could wipe their arses with these parchments. ... The writing on the parchments changed about halfway down the pile. The hundred-dragon notes were all for sergeants. Below them the amounts suddenly grew larger. Now Tyrion was promising to pay the bearer one thousand golden dragons. He shook his head, laughed, signed. And again. And again.

...

Tyrion of House Lannister, he signed once more, with a flourish. That was the last parchment. Three notes remained, different from the rest. Two were written on fine vellum and made out by name. For Kasporio the Cunning, ten thousand dragons. The same for Inkpots, whose true name appeared to be Tybero Istarion. "Tybero?” said Tyrion. "That sounds almost Lannister. Are you some long-lost cousin?"

"Perhaps. I always pay my debts as well. It is expected of a paymaster. Sign."

He signed.

Brown Ben's note was the last. That one had been inscribed upon a sheepskin scroll. One hundred thousand golden dragons, fifty hides of fertile land, a castle, and a lordship. Well and well. This Plumm does not come cheaply. Tyrion plucked at his scar and wondered if he ought to make a show of indignation. When you bugger a man you expect a squeal or two. He could curse and swear and rant of robbery, refuse to sign for a time, then give in reluctantly, protesting all the while. But he was sick of mummery, so instead he grimaced, signed, and handed the scroll back to Brown Ben.

"Your cock is as big as in the stories," he said. "Consider me well and truly fucked, Lord Plumm."

Brown Ben blew on his signature. "My pleasure, Imp. And now, we make you one o' us. Inkpots, fetch the book."

The book was leather-bound with iron hinges, and large enough to eat your supper off. Inside its heavy wooden boards were names and dates going back more than a century. "The Second Sons are amongst the oldest of the free companies," Inkpots said as he was turning pages. "This is the fourth book. The names of every man to serve with us are written here. When they joined, where they fought, how long they served, the manner of their deaths—all in the book. You will find famous names in here, some from your Seven Kingdoms. Aegor Rivers served a year with us, before he left to found the Golden Company. Bittersteel, you call him. The Bright Prince, Aerion Targaryen, he was a Second Son. And Rodrik Stark, the Wandering Wolf, him as well. No, not that ink. Here, use this." He unstoppered a new pot and set it down.

 

Tyrion XII, Dance 66

So, Tyrion will likely rue this debt. 

A bit later, Tyrion foreshadows his strategy for Winds...

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"Oh, I know," said Tyrion. "The Second Sons are on the losing side. They need to turn their cloaks again and do it now." He grinned.

"Leave that to me."

 

Tyrion XII, Dance 66

[Lost Melnibonean]

In Winds,

Spoiler

 

we see Tyrion’s strategy begin to unfold...

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Brown Ben Plumm wore plate and mail over boiled leather. The silk cloak flowing from his shoulders was his only concession to vanity: it rippled when he moved, the color changing from pale violet to deep purple. He swung down from his horse and gave her over to a groom, then told Snatch to summon his captains.

...

"We are commanded to defend the Wicked Sister," Brown Ben informed them. The other men exchanged uneasy glances. No one seemed to want to speak until Ser Jorah asked, "On whose authority?"

"The girl's. Ser Grandfather is making for the Harridan, but she's afraid he'll turn toward Wicked Sister next. The Ghost is already down. Marselen's freedmen broke the Long Lances like a rotten stick and dragged it over with chains. The girl figures Selmy means to bring down all the trebuchets."

...

"Crossbows is how you hold the Wicked Sister," Inkpots said. "Scorpions. Mangonels. That's what's needed. You do not use mounted men to defend a fixed position. Does the girl mean for us to dismount? If so, why not use her spears or slingers?"

Kem stuck his pale blond head inside the tent. "Sorry to disturb, m'lords, but another rider's come. Says he has new orders from the supreme commander."

Brown Ben glanced at Tyrion, then shrugged. "Send him in."

...

Out went Kem. When he returned, he held the tent flap open for a Yunkish nobleman in a cloak of yellow silk and matching pantaloons. The man's oily black hair had been tortured, twisted, and lacquered to make it seem as if a hundred tiny roses were sprouting from his head. On his breastplate was a scene of such delightful depravity that Tyrion sensed a kindred spirit.

"The Unsullied are advancing toward the Harpy's Daughter," the messenger announced. "Bloodbeard and two Ghiscari legions stand against them. Whilst they hold the line, you are to sweep around behind the eunuchs and take them in the rear, sparing none. This by the command of the most noble and puissant Morghar zo Zherzyn, supreme commander of the Yunkai’i."

"Morghar?" Kasporio frowned. "No, Gorzhak commands today."

"Gorzhak zo Eraz lies slain, cut down by Pentoshi treachery. The turncloak who names himself the Prince of Tatters shall die screaming for this infamy, the noble Morghar swears."

Brown Ben scratched at his beard. "The Windblown have gone over, have they?" he said, in a tone of mild interest.

Tyrion chortled. "And we've traded Pudding Face for the Drunken Conquerer. It's a wonder he was able to crawl out of the flagon long enough to give a halfway-sensible command."

The Yunkishman glared at the dwarf. "Hold your tongue, you verminous little—" His retort withered. "This insolent dwarf is an escaped slave," he declared, shocked. "He is the property of the noble Yezzan zo Qaggaz of hallowed memory."

"You are mistaken. He is my brother-in-arms. A free man, and a Second Son. Yezzan's slaves wear golden collars." Brown Ben smiled his most amiable smile. "Golden collars, with little bells. Do you hear bells? I hear no bells."

"Collars can be removed. I demand that the dwarf be surrended for punishment at once."

"That seems harsh. Jorah, what do you think?"

"This." Mormont's longsword was in his hand. As the rider turned, Ser Jorah thrust it through his throat. The point came out the back of the Yunkishman's neck, red and wet. Blood bubbled from his lips and down his chin. The man took two wobbly steps and fell across the cyvasse board, scattering the wooden armies everywhere. ...

The white cyvasse dragon ended up at Tyrion's feet. He scooped it off the carpet and wiped it on his sleeve, but some of the Yunkish blood had collected in the fine grooves of the carving, so the pale wood seemed veined with red. "All hail our beloved queen, Daenerys." Be she alive or be she dead. He tossed the bloody dragon in the air, caught it, grinned.

"We have always been the queen's men," announced Brown Ben Plumm. "Rejoining the Yunkai’i'i was just a plot."

Tyrion, Winds

Spoiler

Things get really interesting with that pale white wooden cyvasse dragon veined with blood ending up at Tyrion's feet.

There are six trebuchets arrayed about Meereen...

Quote

The dry, scorched plains around Meereen were flat and bare and treeless for long leagues, but the Yunkish ships had brought lumber and hides up from the south, enough to raise six huge trebuchets. They were arrayed on three sides of the city, all but the river side, surrounded by piles of broken stone and casks of pitch and resin just waiting for a torch. One of the soldiers walking along beside the cart saw where Tyrion was looking and proudly told him that each of the trebuchets had been given a name: Dragonbreaker, Harridan, Harpy's Daughter, Wicked Sister, Ghost of Astapor, Mazdhan's Fist. Towering above the tents to a height of forty feet, the trebuchets were the siege camp's chief landmarks.

Tyrion X, Dance 47

Aboard the Shy Maid we first observe Tyrion play cyvasse with Haldon. Haldon's game has wooden pieces and no colors are decribed...

Quote

Haldon removed the screen. Each of them contemplated the other's opening array. "You are learning," the Halfmaester said. Tyrion almost grabbed his dragon but thought better of it. Last game he had brought her out too soon and lost her to a trebuchet.

Tyrion IV, Dance 14

Later, Tyrion did reach for his dragon and defeated the Halfmaester...

Quote

 

"I only need half my wits to be a match for you." Tyrion moved up his heavy horse to support the light. "Perhaps you would care to wager on the outcome?"

The Halfmaester arched an eyebrow. "How much?"

"I have no coin. We'll play for secrets."

"Griff would cut my tongue out."

"Afraid, are you? I would be if I were you."

"The day you defeat me at cyvasse will be the day turtles crawl out my arse." The Halfmaester moved his spears. "You have your wager, little man."

Tyrion stretched a hand out for his dragon.

It was three hours later when the little man finally crept back up on deck to empty his bladder. ...

"Yollo," Duck called. "Where's Haldon?"

"He's taken to his bed, in some discomfort. There are turtles crawling out his arse."

 

Tyrion IV, Dance 14

So, first Tyrion’s dragon gets knocked out of the sky by a trebuchet, and then he stretches a hand out for it.

In his next game, he plays with the black dragon, both literally and figuratively. After playing the black dragon, Tyrion plays against a Volantene...

Quote

He moved his catapult again, closed his hand around Tyrion's alabaster dragon, removed it from the board.

Tyrion VI, Dance 22

Trebuchets, of course, are a type of catapult, and once again, we see one knocking a white dragon out of the sky. After crushing Brown Ben in several games, Tyrion taps his dragon and notes that he was lucky. Later when Tyrion negotiates his escape with Brown Ben he spies a cyvasse table and remarks his "throat is as dry as an old bone." That's a pretty curious way to say you're thirsty. But bones are white. Like alabaster.

Viserion will be knocked out of the sky by a stone hurled from the trebuchet Dragonbraker, and Tyrion will stethoscope out a hand for it. Tyrion will get lucky and Viserion will just be wounded. Tyrion, of course, likes cripples and broken things, and we have to assume that Tyrion knows the tales of Nettles and Sheepstealer, and Aegon II and Sunfyre. He's clearly familiar with Brown Ben's Targaryen ancestry, and he could very likely trace Brown Ben’s ancestry to Daemon Targaryen. Tyrion, then, will help Brown Ben to nurse Viserion back to health, and to bond with the white dragon.

[Lost Melnibonean]

The World of Ice and Fire confirms that Princess Elaena Targaryen, daughter of Aegon III, and cousin to Aegon IV, was wed to Ossifer Plumm, who died on his wedding day. And the mysteries of the six-foot member and the two drops of Targaryen blood are revealed to be the rumor that Ossifer could not have fathered his son Viserys since he was already dead, and that Aegon IV was the natural father of Viserys.

So, now we can trace Brown Ben’s patrilineal descent:

Father: Some Dude named Plumm

Mother: Dothraki Woman

Grandfather: First Plumm born in Essos

Grandmother: Half-Ibbenese and half-Qohorik woman

Great Grandfather: Younger Son of Viserys

Great Grandmother: Half-Bravosi and half Summer Islander woman

Second Great Grandfather: Lord Viserys Plumm

Second Great Grandmother: Woman from Dorne

Third Great Grandfather: Lord Ossifer Plumm (Aegon IV)

Third Great Grandmother: Elaena Targaryen

And now switching over to Brown Ben’s Targaryen ancestry through Elaena:

Fourth Great Grandfather: Aegon III

Fourth Great Grandmother: Daenaera Velaryon

Fifth Great Grandfather: Daemon Targaryen

Fifth Great Grandmother: Rhaenyra Targaryen

Note that in The Rogue Prince we learn that “Prince Daemon had little difficulty assembling an army of landless adventurers and second sons.” Also note that “Prince Daemon Targaryen and the small brown girl called Nettles ... based themselves at Maidenpool” where “he kept the girl Nettles by his side, day and night, in sky and castle.” Nettles, of course, tamed Sheepstealer...

Quote

 

Many of the other seeds and seekers who aspired to ride upon Sheepstealer’s back ended in Sheepstealer’s belly instead.

In the end, the brown dragon was brought to heel by the cunning and persistence of a “small brown girl” of six-and-ten, named Netty, who delivered him a freshly slaughtered sheep every morning, until Sheepstealer learned to accept and expect her. She was black-haired, brown-eyed, brown-skinned, skinny, foul-mouthed, filthy, and fearless … and the first and last rider of the dragon Sheepstealer.

 

The Princess and the Queen

Interestingly, The World of Ice and Fire suggests that Aegon IV deprived Viserys of his rightful inheritance, taking at least some of House Plumm's wealth for himself. I wonder how this little detail might play out?

[The Fattest Leech]

I love it. I love the history and how it is playing into the current story. 

Just a quick, giggly, side note: I do believe Ossifer's name is taken from "ossify" which is to harden and make like stone 

[The Fattest Leech]

@Lost Melnibonean do you have a link to that SSM? Not doubting you at all, just need that ref for something else and I can't find it. 

Thanx

[Lost Melnibonean]

8 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

I love it. I love the history and how it is playing into the current story. 

Just a quick, giggly, side note: I do believe Ossifer's name is taken from "ossify" which is to harden and make like stone 

Maybe that's why his fourth great grandson is called Hardstone, and why Gatehouse Ami digs him so much.

[Lost Melnibonean]

35 minutes ago, The Fattest Leech said:

@Lost Melnibonean do you have a link to that SSM? Not doubting you at all, just need that ref for something else and I can't find it. 

Thanx

http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Shields_of_the_North1

[The Fattest Leech]

17 minutes ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

Maybe that's why his fourth great grandson is called Hardstone, and why Gatehouse Ami digs him so much.

Giggity 

15 minutes ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Shields_of_the_North1

Thanks. Appreciate it. 

[Prince of the North]

On 7/29/2016 at 1:00 PM, Lost Melnibonean said:

Interestingly, the first time we learn of House Plumm is after Game, after The Hedge Knight, and after Clash, in an SSM dated two months before the release of Storm, when The George tells a questioner that Brown Ben Plumm is one of several new characters we will encounter in Storm.

House Plumm is not listed in the Appendix to Game with the principal houses sworn to Casterly Rock. There are no Plumms mentioned at Ashford in The Hedge Knight, and there is no mention of any Plumms in Clash or the first half of Storm. The first time we meet a Plumm is outside the walls of Meereen...

Daenerys V, Storm 57

We read that Brown Ben Plumm, who has a speckled grey-and-white beard, is not particularly bold...

Daenerys V, Storm 57

Brown Ben tells Daenerys about the sewers under Meereen...

Daenerys V, Storm 57

Right away, we learn about Brown Ben’s family history and a drop of Targaryen blood...

Daenerys V, Storm 57

Clearly, Brown Ben is a character to watch. Isn't this the only time we see any of the Dragons give anyone other than Daenerys some love? This must be either a hint that Brown Ben will ride Viserion or a feint in that direction. 

And we need to begin piecing together his family ancestry. Unless his family name is misappropriated, we know he is the legitimate son of a Dothraki woman and the direct patrilineal descendant of some yet to be specified but very well-hung Lord Plumm. We can assume that Brown Ben’s father was the legitimate son of a half-Ibbenese, half-Qohorik woman and a direct patrilineal descendant of the unspecified Lord Plumm. And we can only speculate, at this point, as to the nature of the six-foot member tale.

Also, if one believes Bloodraven was disguised (via glamor) as Ser Maynard Plumm in The Mystery Knight, as I do, was Bloodraven's choice of masquerading as a Plumm simply random...or could it have any deeper meaning?