Lazy Eel

The Lazy Eel is a disreputable tavern in White Harbor, a winesink located underneath a warehouse full of sheepskins, down a flight of steps from Fishfoot Yard. During his smuggling days, Davos Seaworth knew the Eel as a place renowned for offering the oldest whores and vilest wine in the city, along with meat pies full of lard and gristle that were inedible on their best days and poisonous on their worst. Because of its foul fare, most locals shunned the place, leaving it for sailors who did not know any better, and a city guardsman or customs officer was never seen there.

Davos's Reconnaissance

When Davos Seaworth arrives in White Harbor as an envoy for King Stannis, he makes his way to the Lazy Eel to listen for news. Inside, the barrel-vaulted ceiling is stained black with soot, the floor is hard-packed earth, and the air smells of smoke and spoiled meat and stale vomit. The fat tallow candles on the tables give off more smoke than light, and the wine Davos orders looks more brown than red in the gloom. Four whores are seated near the door, drinking; one gives him a hopeful smile, but when Davos shakes his head, the woman says something that makes her companions laugh, and after that none of them pay him any mind.

Intelligence Gathered

Davos takes his wine to a shadowed alcove and sits with his back to a wall to wait. As dusk falls, the benches begin to fill with sailors, and Davos listens to their gossip. He learns that Tywin Lannister is dead, butchered by his dwarf son; that the Lady of the Eyrie has been murdered by a singer; that Littlefinger rules the Vale now; that Balon Greyjoy has died and his brothers are fighting for the Seastone Chair; and that a slave revolt is raging in the east. More pertinently, he hears that Robett Glover is in the city trying to raise men with little success, that the Ryswells and Dustins have surprised ironmen on the Fever River, and that the Bastard of Bolton is riding south with Hother Umber for an attack on Moat Cailin. No one speaks of King Stannis, and no one seems to give a thought to wildlings, wights, or giants. When Davos leans into the firelight to ask about the Freys killing Lord Manderly's son, the proprietor tells him that Ser Wendel was killed but Ser Wylis is still a captive, a revelation that deepens Davos's sense of despair about his mission.