This is a subtle hint by George as it establishes the precedent of Ironborn disguising themselves as Tyroshis. When he saw all the green and purple beards he hailed them in the tongue of Tyrosh, and not one of them had the words to hail him back.” Might have worked, but they ran afoul of the Lady of the Tower, and her oarsmaster has a Tyroshi wife. Once inside the walls they meant to set the port ablaze and open a gate from within whilst we fought the fire. They killed her crew, donned their clothes, and used the dyes they found to color their whiskers half a hundred colors. Only a fortnight ago some of those bloody bastards captured a Tyroshi merchantman in the straits. “It grieves me that honest men must suffer such discourtesy, but sooner that than ironmen in Oldtown. “My apologies,” the captain said when his inspection was complete. The charge was one Sam had never seen before: a red eye with a black pupil, beneath a black iron crown supported by two crows. The remnants of a banner drooped from her stern, smoke-stained and ragged. Xhondo pointed at a half-sunken longship in the shallows. “Who would be so mad as to raid this close to Oldtown?”
