Osmund Strong

Osmund Strong was the Hand of the King under Aegon Targaryen and a royal officer entrusted with shaping King’s Landing’s defenses. His service joined military action with ambitious building works: he helped lead campaigns against pirates and was charged with overseeing the city walls, but died before the later project to replace the Aegonfort began.

Appointment and Royal Service

Osmund became Aegon’s fourth Hand in 17 AC, after Alton Celtigar died. The office had passed through several hands: Orys Baratheon asked to be relieved after his capture in the Dornish War and the loss of his sword hand; Edmyn Tully later left after his wife died in childbirth, choosing to return to his children; and Alton served until his death from natural causes. The account identifies Osmund’s appointment as the next change in that succession, without describing his duties beyond the projects and campaigns assigned to him.

The Walls of King’s Landing

In 19 AC, news reached Westeros that pirates had sacked Tall Trees Town in the Summer Islands and carried away a thousand women and children as slaves, along with extensive plunder. The raid made Aegon recognize that King’s Landing could be similarly exposed if an enemy attacked while he and Visenya were elsewhere. He ordered a ring of walls around the city, designed to be as high and strong as those protecting Oldtown and Lannisport, and entrusted their construction to Osmund and Grand Maester Gawen.

Aegon also decreed that the city should have seven gates, each protected by a massive gatehouse and defensive towers, in honor of the Faith of the Seven. Work began in 20 AC and continued until 26 AC. The account places Osmund in charge of this important royal undertaking, though it does not specify how he managed the work or describe the completed walls in further detail.

Campaigns and Death

Osmund also took part in two expeditions to the Stepstones. In 29 and 30 AC, he accompanied Aethan Velaryon and Maegor Targaryen in efforts to root out the Lysene pirate king Sargoso Saan; the force fought in several bloody affrays. In 31 AC, Osmund hunted down and killed a notorious robber knight in the riverlands known as the Giant of the Trident.

Osmund died in 34 AC. The following year, Aegon moved his court back to Dragonstone and ordered the Aegonfort torn down so that a new stone castle could be built in its place. Aegon assigned that project to his new Hand, Alyn Stokeworth, and Visenya. The succession of commissions marks the end of Osmund’s role in the royal building works: he had been entrusted with securing the growing city, but did not live to oversee the castle that replaced the old seat.