Nymeria Sand
Nymeria Sand, known to all as Lady Nym, is one of the eight bastard daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne. She is the daughter of a noblewoman of Old Volantis, and she carries her father's widow's peak and his taste for elegant, dangerous games. In the wake of Oberyn's death at the hands of Ser Gregor Clegane, she and her sisters Obara and Tyene are released from their confinement in the Spear Tower by their uncle, Prince Doran Martell, who has kept them imprisoned since their earlier plotting threatened his careful plans. Doran, long thought weak and hesitant by his own kin, reveals to them that he has been playing a deeper game all along, and that the time for action has come.
Role in Doran's Strategy
Prince Doran tasks each of the three Sand Snakes with a specific mission. To Nymeria he gives the most public and politically exposed role: she is to go to King's Landing and claim the seat on the small council that was left vacant by Oberyn's death. The Lannisters, he notes, will not like it, but they dare not refuse, for Dorne has been a nominal ally since Myrcella Baratheon was betrothed to Prince Trystane. Doran instructs her to be careful, warning that King's Landing is a pit of snakes. Nymeria accepts with a smile, telling her uncle that she loves snakes. Her task is to be an ear at court, a voice in council, and a subtle agent of Dornish interests in the capital.
Character and Bearing
Lady Nym is described as languid, elegant, and olive-skinned, with a long black braid bound up in red-gold wire. Her gowns are often sheer and revealing, a deliberate choice that disarms men who mistake her beauty for weakness. Areo Hotah, the captain of guards, observes that she is least dangerous when nearly naked, for elsewise she is sure to have a dozen blades concealed about her person. She speaks with a silken smile and a wine-red curl of the lips, but her words carry the cold fury of her father's blood. When Ellaria Sand pleads for an end to the cycle of vengeance, Nym dismisses her, insisting that the war will end only when Casterly Rock is cracked open and the utter ruin of Tywin Lannister and all his works is complete. She would have wished that Tywin had died at her own hand, and that his dying had not been so easy.
Departure for King's Landing
Before she leaves Sunspear, Nymeria swears an oath to serve Prince Doran, swearing on her father's grave. She is one of three Sand Snakes sent out into the wider world: Obara to lead Ser Balon Swann to High Hermitage to confront Darkstar, Tyene to infiltrate the Faith in King's Landing, and Nymeria herself to the Red Keep. As she departs, Princess Arianne kisses her on the lips and calls her sister, and the three cousins together recite the words of House Martell: "Unbowed, unbent, unbroken."
