Organizations in A Song of Ice and Fire

The fictional world of George R. R. Martin's fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire includes a number of organizations, societies, and mercenary companies.

The Alchemists' Guild
The Alchemists' Guild is an ancient society of learned men, sometimes called pyromancers, who have claimed many magical and arcane abilities through the years. In its earlier years, the Guild was very powerful, but by the beginning of A Game of Thrones the Guild's abilities and influence are greatly diminished. The Maesters of the Citadel have largely supplanted them. At the height of their power, Alchemists claimed the ability to transmute metals and create living creatures of flame. In their later years, they still hint at great powers, but the only skill they demonstrate is the creation of wildfire.

Wildfire is a volatile liquid similar to napalm and Greek fire. Alchemists typically refer to it as "the substance". Wildfire can be set aflame with the smallest spark, and sometimes even by the heat of sunlight. As it ages, it becomes even more volatile. Once wildfire is lit, it burns with green flames that are almost impossible to extinguish. Wildfire will seep into many materials, making them flammable as well. Great quantities of wildfire will combust with explosive force. It is typically commissioned for use as a weapon of war, though Alchemists will sometimes use wildfire torches as a display of power.

The Alchemists create wildfire in their Guildhall, which is set beneath Visenya's hill in King's Landing. The hall is an imposing labyrinth of cold, black stone. Acolytes of the Guild make wildfire in solitary cells. The Alchemists claim that the creation of wildfire is a delicate and magical process. Should the wildfire explode, the cells' false ceilings are designed to collapse and fill the cell with sand, snuffing the fire as well as killing the acolyte. Wildfire is contained in clay jars that are textured to increase grip. These jars must be handled carefully to prevent fracture or combustion. The most volatile jars are housed in storerooms of water and transported in sand-filled wagons. At any one time, the Guild's store of wildfire could number in the thousands of jars.

The Alchemists enjoyed a period of increased influence during the reign of King Aerys II, who took great pleasure in wildfire. Aerys appointed one of the Alchemists, Lord Rossart, as his final hand, and commissioned him to create a vast quantity of wildfire to destroy King's Landing should he lose the War of the Usurper. During the War of the Five Kings, Cersei Lannister commissioned a great quantity of wildfire for the city's defenses. The Alchemists reported an unexplainable increase in the effectiveness of their spells, which allowed them to create the substance more quickly.

The Bearded Priests of Norvos
Norvos is home to a group of "bearded priests" that train elite guardsmen. Unwanted children are given to the priests at a young age to enter training, which can be completed as early as the age of sixteen. At the end of a student's training, he "weds" his two-handed longaxe, which will be his principle weapon for life. The priests advise their students, "Keep your longaxe sharp." At the end of the ceremony, the priests brand an axe symbol into the center of the student's chest. The student then takes "simple vows for simple men" consisting of "Serve. Obey. Protect," and enter lifelong service to a master. The priests may send their students to serve rich individuals in distant lands. Areo Hotah, the captain of Doran Martell's guard, is one such student.

The Brave Companions
The Brave Companions is a sellsword company of considerably ill-repute. It is comprised of criminals and outcasts from many nations. During the War of the Five Kings, the band is led by Vargo Hoat, a tall, gaunt, lisping man from Qohor. The band is often called the "Bloody Mummers" by the Westerosi for its members' brutality and outlandish appearance, though they find this name insulting. They are also called the "Footmen" for Vargo's practice of cutting off the hands and feet of prisoners. Some of the company's notable members include Qyburn, a disgraced Maester, Septon Utt, a child-killing priest of the Seven, Shagwell, a psychotic jester, and Fat Zollo, a Dothraki.

Tywin Lannister brought the Brave Companions to Westeros during the War of the Five Kings to forage and terrify the lands of his enemies. They went to Harrenhal, where they quarreled with Ser Amory Lorch's men. After Tywin left Harrenhal, the Companions slaughtered the Lannister garrison and opened the gates to Roose Bolton. Vargo Hoat became Lord of Harrenhal for his service to the North, but he grew to suspect that his new Bolton allies would join the Lannisters. When several Companions captured Jaime Lannister, Vargo had Jaime's swordhand chopped off to drive a wedge between Tywin and Roose. The ploy did not work, and Roose soon abandoned Harrenhal. While attempting to rape the imprisoned Brienne of Tarth, Vargo lost an ear and the wound infected. With Lannister reprisal looming and Vargo slowly maddening from a fever, most of the Companions deserted. By the time Gregor Clegane arrived at Harrenhal and killed Vargo, the band had dissolved. In the aftermath of the War of the Five Kings, many former Brave Companions became bandits and vagabonds.

The Golden Company
The Golden Company is the largest and most famous of all sellsword companies by the events of A Song of Ice and Fire. It was founded by Bittersteel, a legitimized bastard of King Aegon IV, after he fled Westeros at the end of the Blackfyre Rebellion. The company's words are, "Beneath the gold, the bitter steel."

Greenseers
Greenseers are individuals with magical abilities including power over nature and prophetic visions. The only known greenseers were children of the forest, who are believed to have had great magical powers. Stories describe the greenseers seeing through the faces of their weirtrees, influencing animal and plant life, and shattering the Arm of Dorne into the island chain of the Stepstones. It might be possible for a human to become a greenseer, but that person would have to be a skinchanger as well as have the greensight.

A skinchanger is a person with the ability to enter the minds of animals and control their actions. Skinchangers must bond with animals in order to enter their minds easily. The relationship between a skinchanger and an animal influences both of their personalities. If a skinchanger does not actively fight his animals' influence, he can become more feral and animalistic. It is also possible to enter a simple human’s mind, though this is more difficult for the skinchanger and traumatic for the person. Skinchangers must be asleep or meditating in order to enter the mind of a creature. It is possible to enter the mind of a creature without meaning to or realizing that it is occurring. If the skinchanger is killed while inhabiting a creature, a part of his consciousness will remain in the creature for the rest of its life. Skinchangers are sometimes mistakenly believed to be shapechangers. They are sometimes called beastlings. A skinchanger that is bound to a wolf is also called a warg.

The greensight is the ability to have prophetic dreams. Someone with the greensight will receive metaphorical visions of the future during their sleep. These "green dreams" can concern the dreamer or another person, but the dreamer will be able to tell the difference. Events foreseen through the greensight will always come to pass.

The Mountain Clans
The Mountains of the Moon in the Vale are home to a population of clans with a common culture that is distinct and independent from the rest of the Seven Kingdom's feudal society. They are a poor people that subsist by raiding local villages and attacking small groups of travelers. The clans have an egalitarian culture without class or gender restrictions. Some women even participate in raids. They are not considered vassals to any master, and will attack even the Lord of the Eyrie if he is not properly protected. The clansmen loot all of their weapons and armor, which are usually of poor quality. Some ride small horses that are suited to the narrow mountain paths. By the beginning of A Game of Thrones, there are more than three thousand warriors among all the clans, but they have not been considered a significant threat for centuries.

The mountain clans themselves include the Milk Snakes, the Moon Brothers, the Stone Crows, the Black Ears, the Burned Men, the Painted Dogs, and the Sons of the Mist. The Black Ears cut an ear off of their prisoners and display them as trophies, but leave their prisoners alive as a show of bravery. As a rite of passage, warriors of the Burned Men mutilate themselves by burning off a body part of their choosing, usually a finger or nipple. The more important the body part burned, the more prestige the warrior gains. The clans cooperate in many ventures, including raids, and some clans share close bonds. Conflicts between the clans are often resolved by payment of blood money, however clansmen are quick to settle personal grievances through violence.

Tyrion Lannister convinced the mountain clans to fight for Tywin Lannister on the promise of quality weapons and plunder. The clansmen fought at the battle of the Green Fork under the command of Gregor Clegane. Afterwards, they followed Tyrion to King's Landing, where several of them served as Tyrion's personal bodyguards and thugs. Tyrion later sent them out again to raid and harass Lannister enemies.

The Second Sons
The Second Sons are a sellsword company with a long history. Before the Battle of the Three Thousand, the Second Sons fled Qohor and left the city's Unsullied to defend it from an approaching Dothraki khalasar. Prince Oberyn Martell rode with the company for a time. By the events of A Song of Ice and Fire, the company numbers about five hundred soldiers, including lancers and mounted bowmen. They are led by Mero, a giant Braavosi called the Titan's Bastard.

During Daenerys's campaign in Slaver's Bay, Yunkai hired the Second Sons to defend it against Daenerys's army of Unsullied. Daenerys gained an easy victory over the Second Sons by giving them a gift of wine and then attacking the following night while they were drunk and asleep. Mero escaped and mixed in with Daenerys's followers. He later attempted to kill her, but was thwarted by Ser Barristan Selmy.

The Sorrowful Men
The Sorrowful Men belong to an ancient and sacred guild of assassins in Qarth. They always whisper, "I am so sorry," before killing their victims. As assassins, they are not as prestigious or expensive as the Faceless Men.

A Sorrowful Man disguised as a merchant attempted to assassinate Daenerys Targaryen in Qarth. He presented a deadly manticore to her in a jeweled box and delivered his apology before Daenerys could react, but Barristan Selmy knocked the poisonous creature away before it struck and thwarted the assassination. Daenerys expressed no expectation of a second attempt by the Sorrowful Men.

Unsullied
The Unsullied are eunuch slave soldiers, trained from a young age in Astapor to unquestioning obedience and martial prowess. They fight in formation as light infantry, equipped with short spears, swords, round shields, and distinctive spiked caps. Their training is brutal, designed not only to teach them how to fight, but to strip away all individuality, empathy, and self-worth. They regularly consume an elixir called the Wine of Courage to deaden their sensitivity to pain. Every day they choose new names at random by drawing tokens from a bucket, each consisting of a color and a type of vermin, such as "Grey Worm". Slaves that fail any aspect of their training are killed. Only a third of the slaves to enter training survive to become Unsullied. The results are elite, highly specialized soldiers that fight fearlessly and without question. Though they have a reputation as the best soldiers in the world, Unsullied are not nearly as effective when out of their phalanx formation.