Faceless man's price for Dany

[Hugorfonics]

How much would king Robert have to pay a faceless man if the SC minus a Ned went down that route?

Also, for the fun of it, how much would the king (pick a king, any king) have to pay post mother of dragons and queen of Meereen?

[Craving Peaches]

I believe it would have to be something of great personal value to them (depending on whether it's before or after the dragons) as well as a hefty sum of gold.

So Robert might have to give up his capacity to whore. Permanently. By, well...

Renly might have to give up Loras.

Stannis might have to give up teeth grinding. Or Davos. Or Shireen.

Robb might have to give up Jeyne.

Balon might have to give up the Old Way, or Asha.

Joffrey might have to give up Cersei.

Post dragons there might not be a point in paying anything because the Faceless Men seem to be looking for a way to kill said dragons, so they might want to get rid of Daenerys themselves.

[The Sleeper]

I think they might be trading in influence as much as money. For example I think that Izembaro and Brusco might be former clients or maybe failed cadets, but that's another topic. 

This would apply to Robert or any other king to political or economic favors, like transferring the crown's debts to the Iron Bank, or maybe that said king would anything for someone who showed him the FM coin, or adopting a policy at the behest of the FM. 

ETA

For very important figures I suspect their own agenda would come into play more. For instance if they don't want to kill Dany, they might outright refuse. If they do want to kill her for their own purposes, they would still charge full price. 

[Aebram]

It occurs to me that we really don't know much about what the Faceless Men charge for their services.  Most references to them in the text are vague, and no character actually hires them, or tells of having done so in the past.

In AFFC 34, "the waif" tells Arya that her father paid for the assassination of his second wife by giving the FM two-thirds of his wealth,  plus his daughter.  The wife had tried to kill the waif with poison; she didn't hire the FM because she "could not bear the sacrifice."

I'm reminded of that line, "only death can pay for life."  Maybe the reverse is also true, in a sense?  To buy a death, you must pay a price so high that it's, not lethal, but life-changing.

I think Brusco and Izembaro are former clients of the FM.  Since they aren't wealthy, they pay by hosting and training apprentices

Also, there's an SSM stating that "The [more] prominent the victim, the more difficult to get to, the more dangerous for the assassin and the guild, the higher the price."

When Dany was in Qarth, she was fairly vulnerable; the Sorrowful Men almost succeeded in taking her out.  But by the end of ADWD, she is much more prominent and harder to get to.  If the Iron Throne wanted to hire the FM to kill her, the price would be something awesome.  Maybe the entire Riverlands or the Vale of Arryn?  

[Craving Peaches]

36 minutes ago, Aebram said:

I'm reminded of that line, "only death can pay for life."  Maybe the reverse is also true, in a sense?  To buy a death, you must pay a price so high that it's, not lethal, but life-changing.

This is something that I've been thinking about as well. The issue I had though is that there is arguably a 1 death for 1 life ratio established with the Dragons, but in situations where it is reversed a full life is not always required for one full death. Unless you interpret it giving a life as being servitude and not death.

[Evolett]

10 hours ago, Aebram said:

When Dany was in Qarth, she was fairly vulnerable; the Sorrowful Men almost succeeded in taking her out.  But by the end of ADWD, she is much more prominent and harder to get to.  If the Iron Throne wanted to hire the FM to kill her, the price would be something awesome.  Maybe the entire Riverlands or the Vale of Arryn?

In view of the fact that Dany is a threat to the ruling powers' hold on the Iron Throne, a portion of Westeros would definitely be an appropriate price to pay. Sacrifice some regions to remain in control of the rest. Land as payment for services rendered is probably rare but not unheard of. The Tattered Prince wants Pentos as a reward for assisting Quentyn. When that fails, Ser Barristan promises Pentos if the Prince helps him release the Meereenese hostages. A bold move. How does Barristan think to conquer Pentos? What if Dany has no interest in honouring this debt upon her return? So what happens if a client cannot deliver on his side of a bargain such as this one? 

What Euron paid the FM is debatable but Balon was King of the Iron Isles and the North at the time of his death. Balon may have been viewed as more of a nuisance than anything else in King's Landing but he was King of a good third of Westeros so I imagine the price for his elimination was astronomical. Euron now holds that title. Would he care less about giving the Iron Islands and the North away? I find this thought intriguing. The man is open-handed with his riches which he gives away without batting an eyelid, all with ulterior motives in mind of course. A quote from Euron suggests the North holds no value for him. This is what he has to say at the kingsmoot:

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We are the ironborn, and once we were conquerors. Our writ ran everywhere the sound of the waves was heard. My brother would have you be content with the cold and dismal north, my niece with even less ... but I shall give you Lannisport. Highgarden. The Arbor. Oldtown. The riverlands and the Reach, the kingswood and the rainwood, Dorne and the marches, the Mountains of the Moon and the Vale of Arryn, Tarth and the Stepstones. I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros

Euron doesn't care about the North. King's Landing might think otherwise but Euron is King of that region by right of conquest. And would not hesitate to offer it in payment for Balon's death, methinks. Would the FM accept the North? It's a good deal more than they have now. Why not? They've proven themselves a very resourceful people. 

[Rondo]

She is the most valuable person on the known parts of that planet.  The landmass of Westeros is a fair price.

[Aebram]

6 hours ago, Evolett said:

The Tattered Prince wants Pentos as a reward for assisting Quentyn. When that fails, Ser Barristan promises Pentos if the Prince helps him release the Meereenese hostages. A bold move. How does Barristan think to conquer Pentos?

Wow, what a great question!  And I don't think I've seen it discussed here before.  I'm going to take the liberty of starting a new thread just for that.

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What Euron paid the FM is debatable but Balon was King of the Iron Isles and the North at the time of his death.

Hmmm, was he really?  The Ironborn never actually controlled more than a couple of castles and a chunk of the Stony Shore.  And they lost Winterfell to Ramsay quite soon after they took it.  So Balon wasn't as prominent, or as hard to get to, as Dany. 

Still, it's another great question.  What sort of deal could Euron have struck with the FM?  He may have had a lot of plunder collected during his travels.  But given how easily he gives such things away, I wonder what sort of life-changing price he might have been required to pay.  Maybe Pyke, or one of the other islands?

 

[The Sleeper]

I think the dragon egg would fit. It is his ambition to gain dragons and as it has become possible, evidently, to hatch dragons again, giving up the dragon egg in his possession would constitute a great personal sacrifice, beyond its monetary value. 

From what we have seen so far of him, he would value having a dragon more than being a king, so this is a contradiction. The title could have other value for him, as in acquiring kingsblood for magic purposes or he could get off on the power. 

Spoiler

He seems to have deliberately impregnated Falia Flowers in order to have an offspring to sacrifice. Though he already has sons.

An interesting question is if the Faceless Men would accept a commission for Dany or another king. In terms of their relious beliefs it seems they would have to. For me the little we know it seems the price is entirely dependent on the applicant, not the target. So, in theory, someone like, say Hazea's father could place a hit on Dany. I don't think this would apply in practice, as they are almost certainly involved in the politics of Braavos and their own agenda takes precedence.

The difficulty of a target does not depend on the target's power, but on their security, nor should it matter in the price they exact. Dany's court is diverse and populous making easier to infiltrate. The difficulty would lie in getting around an individual like Varys wolho watches everyone and everything in his reach. Given their skillset and time, no one is really safe. Unless they live in complete isolation in a remote location somewhere. 

 

[Evolett]

19 hours ago, Aebram said:

Hmmm, was he really?  The Ironborn never actually controlled more than a couple of castles and a chunk of the Stony Shore.  And they lost Winterfell to Ramsay quite soon after they took it.  So Balon wasn't as prominent, or as hard to get to, as Dany. 

I don't think it matters how many castles the Ironborn controlled. Balon formerly simply declaring himself king of the Iron Islands was dangerous enough to warrent intervention - the Greyjoy Rebellion:

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Ned had last seen the king nine years before during Balon Greyjoy’s rebellion, when the stag and the direwolf had joined to end the pretensions of the self-proclaimed King of the Iron Islands. 

 A monarch can't afford to ignore such a move and Balon's recent "conquest," beginning with the fall of Winterfell through Theon was never addressed in King's Landing. Euron has inherited the title of King of the Iron Isles and the North and is the de facto leader of the North. They owe him allegiance and I'm certain he'll make that known sooner or later. Tywin put the issue on the back burner, all other lords have been too busy with war to earnestly consider the implications. I think the author set this up quite early on. This exchange takes place when Theon delivers Robb's message to Balon:

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Theon edged backwards, away from the sudden fury in his father’s tone. “Take it then,” he spat, his cheek still tingling. “Call yourself King of the Iron Islands, no one will care … until the wars are over, and the victor looks about and spies the old fool perched off his shore with an iron crown on his head.” 

No one cared about Balon but it's Euron they will have to deal with now and I bet he's not going to be a push-over. 

19 hours ago, Aebram said:

What sort of deal could Euron have struck with the FM?  He may have had a lot of plunder collected during his travels.  But given how easily he gives such things away, I wonder what sort of life-changing price he might have been required to pay.  Maybe Pyke, or one of the other islands?

Would the FM accept plunder for killing a king? Not those stoney isles either, unless they have value unknown to us, a forgotten relic of ancient times. And a fossilized dragon egg? Illyrio procured three for Dany. I doubt they would be satisfied with one. But that bit about Euron tossing the dragon egg he claimed to possess into the sea that is the source of speculation as to whether he offered it in payment is probably a clue. I suspect Euron has hired the FM for further missions and that for their payment in total, they want Dany herself. Why accept a dragon egg when you can have the real thing with the power to hatch as many eggs as you can provide?

The issue of payments and "promises" is an intriguing one and I believe it's central to the story and to what the White Walkers want. I think Westeros has defaulted on the pact made with the Others the last time round. Payments and promises were not being upheld and the last deadline has passed (the bleeding star). The storyline involving the FM and the Ironbank of Braavos are the most likely keys to unravelling the mystery.