Caltrops conspiracy

The Caltrops conspiracy was a secret countermove by Prince Daeron’s loyalists against Hugh Hammer and Ulf White, the dragonriders whose defection had destabilized their cause. Convened in a Tumbleton inn, the plotters debated how to kill the two men and what to do about their dragons. Their plan was overtaken by a sudden attack on the town on the night they meant to strike, as the conspirators’ calculations collided with the larger war.

Background and Participants

The conspiracy arose amid mounting friction between Daeron’s loyalist lords and the two dragonriders known as the Betrayers. Their claim to power and growing influence had provoked resentment among the lords and knights of Oldtown and the Reach. After Daeron threw wine in Hugh Hammer’s face, Hugh answered with a threat; the following day, Ser Roger Corne knocked the black-iron crown from Hugh’s head. Hugh’s men then killed Corne and three others in the ensuing clash. The episode made the dispute over the dragonriders’ standing a direct political and military danger.

Lord Unwin Peake and a reluctant Hobert Hightower summoned eleven other lords and landed knights to a secret council in the cellar of a Tumbleton inn. The meeting took place beneath the sign of the Bloody Caltrops, which gave the conspirators their name. Their aim was to curb the power of the baseborn dragonriders, but they understood that removing them could not be separated from the question of who might wield their dragons.

The Plot and the Dragons

The council judged Ulf White the easier target: he was often drunk and had shown little skill in arms. Hugh Hammer presented the greater danger. He was surrounded by flatterers, camp followers, and sellswords seeking his favor, and Peake argued that killing Ulf while leaving Hugh alive would solve little. In the conspirators’ reckoning, Hugh had to die first.

The question of the dragons sharpened the disagreement. Hobert Hightower asked what could be done about them; Ser Tyler Norcross argued that Tessarion alone might let the loyalists retake the Iron Throne, while Peake said victory would be more certain if they could also claim Vermithor and Silverwing. Marq Ambrose proposed taking the city first and dealing with the two men afterward. Richard Rodden objected that it would be dishonorable to ask them to fight alongside the loyalists and then kill them. Bold Jon Roxton settled the dispute by urging that the men be killed immediately and that the bravest conspirators claim their dragons for battle. No one present doubted that Roxton had himself in mind.

Daeron’s Consent

Although Daeron did not attend the cellar meeting, the conspirators would not proceed without his approval. Owen Fossoway, Lord of Cider Hall, was sent under cover of darkness to wake the prince and bring him to the council. Peake presented him with warrants for Hugh Hammer’s and Ulf White’s executions. Daeron eagerly sealed them, giving the planned killings the prince’s authorization.

Interruption at Tumbleton

Two days later, on the very day the Caltrops intended to act, Tumbleton woke to an attack. Camps outside the town were burning as armored forces entered from the north and west, arrows fell, and a dragon swept over the fighting. The attack began the Second Battle of Tumbleton before the conspirators could carry out their plan.

The dragon was Seasmoke, ridden by Ser Addam Velaryon. Addam had assembled an army from castles whose lords remained loyal to the queen and came to retake Tumbleton from the Betrayers. The timing placed the conspiracy’s secret preparations inside a battle already in motion: its carefully debated plan to remove the dragonriders was overtaken by an assault aimed at defeating them in the field.