Greyscale
| It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Grey plague. (Discuss) |
Greyscale is a disease that can leave flesh stiff and dead, and the skin cracked and flaking, mottled black and grey and stone-like to the touch.[1]
Greyscale is most often seen in children, especially in cold, damp climates,[2] and victims have been found at the Iron Islands,[3] Dragonstone,[1] and beyond the Wall.[4] Greyscale is one of the many virulent diseases common in Sothoryos,[5] and it is a danger for those traveling down the Rhoyne through the Sorrows.[2]
Contents
Symptoms
Greyscale generally affects children, especially in cold damp climates. The afflicted flesh stiffens, calcifies, and cracks. The victims are disfigured, but also rendered immune to the fatal form of greyscale, or the rare swift epidemic form of the disease known as grey plague.[2] The free folk consider people who survive greyscale unclean, and prefer to euthanize them, rather than take the chance that they may live to infect others.[4]
The mortal form of greyscale begins by affecting the extremities, noticeable only by a blackened fingertip or loss of sensation. As numbness creeps up a person's arms or legs, the flesh stiffens and grows cold, and the victim's skin will turn grey, resembling stone.[2] It is also possible for someone to turn to stone from the inside out, starting with their heart and lungs, with no visible symptoms on the extremities.[6] Blindness is common when the stone reaches the face.[2] The tongue and lips also turn to stone, causing difficulties with breathing.[3][7] In the final stages, the curse turns inward, affecting muscles, bones, and inner organs.[2] Although the disease is supposedly not painful, near the end, all victims go mad.[2]
If a person has been exposed to greyscale, they can prick each of their toes and fingers every day with a knife to check for infection. So long as the pricks hurt, they are safe. It is only when they cannot feel the blade that they will have cause to fear that they have contracted greyscale.[6]
Treatment
Maesters say greyscale's progress can be stayed by limes, mustard poultices, and scalding-hot baths. Septons insist that prayer, sacrifice, and fasting are the cure. It is also colloquially believed that severing any affected appendages may stop the disease from spreading, but this treatment is not always effective.[2]
Some say that washing a person with vinegar helps prevent greyscale from spreading. Haldon is inclined to doubt the vinegar wash, but he sees no harm in trying it.[6]
History
Prince Garin the Great of the Rhoynar went to war against Volantis and Valyria in the Second Spice War. He was captured in battle, however, and hung in a cage at Chroyane to see the enslavement of his people. Using water magic, Garin is said to have called a curse upon the conquerors, entreating Mother Rhoyne to avenge her children. That night the Rhoyne flooded out of season and a thick fog fell upon the river, and the Valyrian conquerors began to die of greyscale. To this day, the Sorrows is known for its foul fogs and waters, and the ruins of Chroyane are haunted by stone men, people suffering from the later stages of greyscale.[8][2]
The eldest son of Qhorwyn Hoare, King of the Iron Islands, died of greyscale.[9]
Septa Maegelle Targaryen treated children afflicted with greyscale and died of the disease herself, with her arms and legs turned to stone.[10][11]
Harlon Greyjoy was isolated in a tower because of his greyscale.[3]
Recent Events
A Dance with Dragons
Under the Bridge of Dream in the Sorrows, the crew of the Shy Maid are attacked by stone men. Tyrion Lannisterfalls into the Rhoyne, but Jon Connington manages to pull him out, saving Tyrion's life.[2]
Jon becomes infected with greyscale from his encounter with the stone men.[12] He keeps his greyscale secret, soaking his hand with bad wine since he fears if he asked for vinegar people would realize that he is infected.[13] Jon hopes he will live long enough to seat Aegon Targaryen on the Iron Throne.[12]
At the Wall, Val becomes wary of Shireen Baratheon because of her childhood greyscale scars. Val tells Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, that the child is not clean and should be killed, and that she would have given Shireen the gift of mercy long ago. Val says that the free folk believe the disease never truly goes away in survivors, and she insists that Gilly's son and his wet nurses not live in the same tower as Shireen.[4]
Known Victims
- Shireen Baratheon
- Jon Connington
- Harlon Greyjoy
- eldest son of Qhorwyn Hoare
- Shrouded Lord
- Stone men
- Maegelle Targaryen
Quotes
Hers was not a pretty face, alas. The child had her lord father's square jut of jaw and her mother's unfortunate ears, along with a disfigurement all her own, the legacy of the bout of greyscale that had almost claimed her in the crib. Across half one cheek and well down her neck, her flesh was stiff and dead, the skin cracked and flaking, mottled black and grey and stony to the touch.[1]
—thoughts of Cressen
Harlon he recalled but dimly, sitting grey-faced and still in a windowless tower room and speaking in whispers that grew fainter every day as the greyscale turned his tongue and lips to stone.[3]
—thoughts of Aeron Greyjoy
Death had lost its terror for Tyrion Lannister, but greyscale was another matter.[2]
—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
He had heard it said that there were three good cures for greyscale: axe and sword and cleaver. Hacking off afflicted parts did sometimes stop the spread of the disease, Tyrion knew, but not always. Many a man had sacrificed one arm or foot, only to find the other going grey. Once that happened, hope was gone.[2]
—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
Jon: It is not always mortal in children.
Val: North of the Wall it is. Hemlock is a sure cure, but a pillow or a blade will work as well. If I had given birth to that poor child, I would have given her the gift of mercy long ago.[4]
He dare not let the greyscale become known. Queer as it seemed, men who would cheerfully face battle and risk death to rescue a companion would abandon that same companion in a heartbeat if he were known to have greyscale.[13]
—thoughts of Jon Connington
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A Clash of Kings, Prologue.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 18, Tyrion V.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 1, The Prophet.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 53, Jon XI.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Beyond the Free Cities: Sothoryos.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 22, Tyrion VI.
- ↑ The Winds of Winter, The Forsaken
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: Ten Thousand Ships.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: The Black Blood.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys I.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 24, The Lost Lord.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 61, The Griffin Reborn.