White Book

The White Book is the Kingsguard record in which the fate of Ser Willam the Wasp was inscribed after his death in Essos. Its brief appearance links the keeping of the record to a failed investigation, a decision against collective punishment, and the filling of a vacant white cloak.

Record of Ser Willam the Wasp

In the winter of 56 AC, Ser Willam and the men King Jaehaerys had sent to investigate reports of a great beast north of Pentos were led into a trap in the Velvet Hills of Andalos. Their guide, a local who had claimed to know where the creature could be found, had instead led them to brigands. The king’s party fought back, but was overwhelmed; Ser Willam was said to have been the last to fall. His head was returned to one of Lord Rego’s agents in Pentos.

After hearing the account, Septon Barth concluded that there was no monster: the reports were a tale told by men stealing sheep to frighten others away. Myles Smallwood, the King’s Hand, urged Jaehaerys to punish Pentos for the outrage. The king refused to make war on an entire city for crimes committed by outlaws, and the matter was put to rest. The record of Ser Willam’s fate was entered in the White Book of the Kingsguard.

The Vacant White Cloak

Ser Willam’s death left a place among the Kingsguard to be filled. Jaehaerys awarded the white cloak to Ser Lucamore Strong, victor of the great melee in the Dragonpit. The passage thus places the White Book’s record of a fallen Kingsguard beside the appointment of his successor, marking both the loss and the continuation of the order’s service.