| “ | Stone Men as they're called, wandering through the fog until they die. | „ |
| ~ George R.R Martin describing the life of the Stone Men. |
| “ | The disease begins as a rash. The afflicted flesh stiffens, calcifies, and cracks, and assumes the disease's nominal hue. Victims are graciously spared pain, as the disease dulls sensation in the infected limbs. But the disease is insidious and slowly it creeps over the skin and into the organs. Once the infection reaches the brain, feral madness replaces humanity and the transformation to a Stone Man is complete. | „ |
| ~ Qyburn on how Greyscale can turn anyone into Stone Men. |
| “ | Death, but slow ... A year. Two years. Five. Some stone men live for ten. | „ |
| ~ Jon Connington's thoughts, after being infected with greyscale by stone men. |
Stone Men are minor antagonists in the novel A Dance with Dragons in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its TV adaptation, Game of Thrones. They are people who fell victim to an infectious disease known as greyscale, and they reside in the Sorrows, a foggy stretch of the river Rhoyne.
Overview
The Stone Men are people who are in the late stages of greyscale. As the disease spread even to their brains, they were left witless and lumbering. Making contact with a Stone Man carries a high and dangerous risk of being infected, and Greyscale had to be treated with great caution. It is rumored that the Stone men have a leader of their own called the Shrouded Lord, who rules the mists of the Sorrows.
The Shrouded Lord
The Shrouded Lord, also known as His Grey Grace and the Prince of Sorrows, is said to have ruled the mists around the Sorrows since the time of the Rhoynish Prince Garin. His alleged objective is to spread greyscale through the grey kiss, although he does not bestow his kiss lightly, according to Haldon Halfmaester. Some tales claim the Shrouded Lord is Prince Garin the Great himself, who rose from the Rhoyne after he was slain by the Valyrian army. Others believe that there have been numerous Shrouded Lords, with one stone man taking the place of the previous one who succumbed to greyscale. Some claim the current Shrouded Lord is a corsair from the Basilisk Isles. Rolly Duckfield likes yet another legendary version of the tale, in which the Shrouded Lord was once a statue and an infected grey woman from the mists kissed "life" to it with lips as cold as ice. It is said that the Shrouded Lord will grant a boon to any man who can make him laugh.
In Tyrion Lannister's nightmares after his near-death experience on the Rhoyne, his late father is the current Shrouded Lord, looking for revenge.
Appearance
Stone Men appear like normal people, but their bodies are covered in cracked and flaking grey stone-like skin, making them look like they are completely made from rocks.
Personality
As they lost their wits to greyscale, Stone Men are usually lumbering, being passive and neutral if left alone/undisturbed. However, if provoked, they are extremely aggressive, ruthless, relentless, and territorial, not hesitating to attack anyone that enters and goes through the Sorrows, as a result of Greyscale making them descend into complete insanity.
A Dance with Dragons
As Tyrion Lannister and Griff's crew, onboard the Shy Maid, were passing under the Bridge of Dream, three Stone Men jumped and landed on the boat. The first one jumped on the cabin roof and roared out a word that Tyrion couldn't understand. When the second Stone Man landed on the boat, he was knocked into the river by the knight, Ser Rolly Duckfield. When the Shy Maid passed underneath, Young Griff, who is presumed to be Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar Targaryen, and the crew forcefully drove the Stone Man that landed on the cabin roof backward, and the latter fell into the Rhoyne.
When the Third Stone Man, who has a broken leg, reaches out for Young Griff, Tyrion comes to the boy's rescue and thrusts a torch into the Stone Man's face, but the latter rips the torch from Tyrion's hand, and the latter sees that he was once an inhabitant of the Summer Islands. The Stone Man then grabs Tyrion when the dwarf drives his shoulder into him. When they both fell into the Rhoyne, Griff, who is actually Jon Connington, pulled Tyrion out of the river, saving the dwarf's life. Griff's company leaves the Stone Men and continues to sail its way to the Volantene city of Selhorys.
Gallery
Quotes about the Shrouded Lord
| “ | He dreamt of his lord father and the Shrouded Lord. He dreamt that they were one and the same, and when his father wrapped stone arms around him and bent to give him his grey kiss, he woke with his mouth dry and rusty with the taste of blood and his heart hammering in his chest. | „ |
| ~ Tyrion's nightmare in Selhorys, after nearly drowning on the Sorrows. |
| “ | Beyond the veil of dream, the Sorrows were waiting for him. Stone steps ascending endlessly, steep and slick and treacherous, and somewhere at the top, the Shrouded Lord. I do not want to meet the Shrouded Lord. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of a drunken Tyrion while in a brothel in Selhorys, still shaken by his experience, shortly before being kidnapped by Jorah Mormont. |
External links
- Stone Men on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Stone Men on the Game of Thrones Wiki.
