What Harwyn Hardhand gave to Faceless men?

[Prince Yourwetdream Aeryn]

Quote

When Harwyn returned to the Iron Islands, he found his father Qhorwyn dying, and his eldest brother two years dead from greyscale. A second brother still stood between Harwyn and the crown, and his sudden death even as the king was breathing his last remains a matter of dispute to this day. Those present at Prince Harlan’s passing all declared his death accidental, the result of a fall from his horse, but of course it would have been worth their lives to suggest otherwise. Beyond the Iron Islands, it was widely assumed that Prince Harwyn was behind his brother’s demise. Some claimed he had done the deed himself, others that Prince Harlan had been slain by a Faceless Man of Braavos.

If Harwyn's brother was killed by Faceless men what was the price he paid? Maybe he have up Iron islands, sea and all adventures waiting him in reaping lands of Essos?

Quote

Harwyn would rule his conquest with a heavy hand until his death, spending far more time in the riverlands than on the islands, riding from one end of the Trident to the other at the head of a rapacious army, sniffing out any hint of rebellion whilst collecting taxes, tribute, and salt wives. “His palace was a tent, his throne a saddle,” men said of him.

 

[Helikzhan]

It's a common technique when writing a statement of doubt to ramp up the claims from most likely to least likely.

[Damon_Tor]

16 hours ago, Brandon Baratheon said:

“His palace was a tent, his throne a saddle,” men said of him.

What's more interesting about this bit: check out the section of the WoIaF that talks about an assortment of YiTish Emperors of note. You will also find one Emperor who is also described as having a saddle for a throne. His family name is "Har". He is called "The Grey Emperor".

Grey Emperor = Grey King?

Hoare = Har?

One of these parallels would be nothing. Two is just a coincidence. But combine it with the saddle/throne thing and I have to assume we're supposed to draw a connection.

[Prince Yourwetdream Aeryn]

14 hours ago, Helikzhan said:

It's a common technique when writing a statement of doubt to ramp up the claims from most likely to least likely.

Since Euron also did it to Balon with the help of Faceless men it is not least likely.

[The Hammer of Justice]

a hand shake maybe?

[Lady Blizzardborn]

With Euron we have more than just gossip. We have his statement about having had a dragon egg and thrown it into the sea (easily possible that he's referencing leaving it in Braavos which is made up entirely of islands), and we have the GoHH having foretold it. You need at least two clues before the reveal within the story itself to really have a strong case for what the hints are hinting (per one of GRRM's editors, this is how he does it).

GRRM certainly likes to make connections between the long-distant history of Planetos and the current goings on, but he also likes to include things that have no bearing on anything, just to throw us off. He's been quoted speaking about realism in his writing including mysteries that will never be solved because there are so many things about history that we will never know. Not every clue is going to lead to a satisfying result. And of course no story with human characters would be complete without false and useless speculation by the crowd. Rhaegar hasn't actually been seen in King's Landing, but people have no problem spreading that rumor throughout Westeros.

I lean toward Harwyn not having done it because the timing would be too tricky. He didn't even know his oldest brother was dead until he got back home. Why pay for the hit in advance (two hits actually) without having assessed the situation first? Once he was there, there probably wasn't time to arrange the FM hit on his remaining older brother before their father died. Also, there are witnesses to the horse throwing Harlan, so that story is probably true. Sure someone could have spooked the horse, but that's not hard to do so it could have been a local peasant who Harwyn disposed of afterwards--much, much cheaper than paying a pro.

As to what he might have paid the FM, the payment depends on the difficulty of the task (apparently not that difficult) and the status of the target--heir to a throne. Given the latter, I'd say he would have had to pay them a hefty amount in either cash or other options. Whether he could or would afford that is hard to say.