This is a listing of houses of the Three Sisters that appear in A Song of Ice and Fire.
For the main character index, see here
For the main Vale entry, see here
Three Sisters
- "The Three Sisters were fickle bitches, loyal only to themselves."—Davos Seaworth
The Three Sisters are a group of three islands—Sweetsister, Longsister, and Littlesister—found in the Bite, located south of White Harbor and north of the Mountains of the Moon. House Sunderland rules the Three Sisters, with Houses Borrell of Sweetsister, Longthorpe of Longsister, and Torrent of Littlesister sworn to them. The islands owe loose allegiance to House Arryn of the Vale, but the Eyrie's grasp upon the islands is tenuous at best.
People from the Three Sisters are known as Sistermen. Although part of the Vale, the islands trade primarily with White Harbor, selling them crab, fish, and goat cheese in return for wood, wool, and hides. Sister's stew is a white seafood stew that is served all over the Three Sisters, in every inn and tavern.
Beacons burn along the shores of the Three Sisters to warn passing ships of danger. The Night Lamp of Sisterton is a prominent beacon operated by House Borrell. Some disreputable Sistermen use false lights to lure ships into wrecks to take their cargo.
Tropes related to the Three Sisters:
- Bit Character: House Torrent's only action so far: Lord Alesandor is said to have espied the sails of Salladhor Saan's fleet off of Littlesister in A Dance with Dragons.
- Everyone Has Standards: As nasty as they can be, the Sistermen still respect Sacred Hospitality and are disgusted with the Freys for...well, not doing that.
- The Ghost: House Longthorpe has yet to play a role. Its lord, Rolland Longthorpe, has only been mentioned in the appendix of A Feast for Crows
- Human Sacrifice: The Sistermen would cast dwarfs into the sea as an offering to the gods, but septons stopped the practice after the Andal invasion.
- Incest Subtext: Well, when the demonym of your islands is "Sistermen" and you're said to have webbed feet and hands, those don't exactly sing praises of your familial relations, does it?
- Mirror Character: The Three Sisters, by dint of being resource-poor islands, share a fair amount with both the Iron Isles and Braavos. They were once (and, occasionally still are) reavers and pirates, but have shifted gears primarily to being smugglers and fishers. Had they the opportunity, they might attempt the full-on merchant-and-banking route. Except, King's Landing holds the Seven Kingdom's purse-strings and Oldtown acts like a trade-sponge.
- Never My Fault: The Sistermen's resentment of the Northmen over the Rape of the Three Sisters has shades of this, as the invasion was a reprisal for the Sistermen's depredations on the North.
- Pirate: In past ages, Sistermen were noted pirates and slavers. Now they are content with luring unsuspecting ships and boats with false beacons so they wreck. Even the lords of the islands engage in wrecking.
- Red Right Hand: Some Sistermen have webbing between their hands and feet, which they call "the mark".
- The Resenter: Despite two thousand years having past, Sistermen still resent the Rape of the Three Sisters, during which Northmen invaded the islands to stop their pirate raids and Sistermen had to bend the knee to the Arryns to get the Northmen driven away. The subsequent conflict stripped the Sisters of all their resources.
- Salvage Pirates: Some of the more unscrupulous Sistermen have been known to set up false beacons, hoping to lure unsuspecting ships into treacherous waters and then plunder their cargo when they sink or run aground.
- Wretched Hive: The islands are considered dens of avarice and sin by septons.
Noble House
House Sunderland of the Three Sisters
The rulers of the Three Sisters, House Sunderland reside in Sisterton, although their castle has not been mentioned. The Sunderlands are sworn to House Arryn of the Eyrie.
House Sunderland blazons their arms with three women's heads, white with black hair, on barry wavy blue and green. Their motto does not appear in the books.
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: During Aegon's Conquest, they took advantage of everything to try and declare themselves an independent kingdom. This lasted until Aegon had finished burning the crap out of everyone else and turned his attention to them. They immediately gave up.
Lord Triston Sunderland
The Lord of the Three Sisters and head of House Sunderland.
- The Ghost: He has yet to appear in the novels.
- Impoverished Patrician: Lord Triston has low resources due to the economy of the Three Sisters being based solely for the most part on fishing - and the occasional wrecking. His seven sons want to be knights, and good armor is not cheap.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: He has seven sons.
Historical Sunderlands
Queen Marla Sunderland
Marla Sunderland was a member of House Sunderland that briefly ruled the Three Sisters as Queen.
- Puppet King: Far as we know, she had no will of her own.
- Taking the Veil: She was deposed when a Braavosi fleet, hired by House Stark at the behest of Aegon the Conqueror, approached the Three Sisters. Marla's brother bent the knee while Queen Marla ended her days as a silent sister.
- Tongue Trauma: Before being forced into Silent Sisterhood, her tongue was torn out.
Lord Steffon Sunderland
Lord Steffon Sunderland was the brother of Queen Marla and Lord of the Three Sisters after her desposal.
- Alliterative Name: Steffon Sunderland.
- Cain and Abel: Deposed his sister. A rather more sympathetic example, since his choices were either that or die along with thousands of his subjects.
- I Have Your Wife: Was forced to hand over two of his children as hostages.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Rather wisely decided surrender was the smarter option over immediate death from dragon flame.
- My Nayme Is: Steffon instead of Stephen.
Vassal Houses
House Borrell of Sweetsister
The rulers of Sweetsister, House Borrel resides in the castle of Breakwater in the port town of Sisterton. They are responsible for maintaining the Night Lamp, one of several beacon towers in the Three Sisters. The Borrells had once been pirate kings until House Stark put an end to their attacks. Now the inhabitants of Sweetsister simply turn off their lighthouses or light false ones and plunder the wreckage of ships that crash. They are sworn to House Sunderland, who also reside in Sisterton.
Their arms are a white spider crab on grey-green. Their words do not appear in the books.
Tropes related to House Borrell:
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Gallows Gate, which the Borrells hang criminals from after gutting them.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: House Borrell's titles include Lord of Sweetsister, Shield of Sisterton, Master of Breakwater Castle, and Keeper of the Night Lamp.
Lord Godric Borrell
- "Every smuggler has friends on the Sisters. Some of them are my friends as well."
Head of House Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister, Shield of Sisterton, Master of Breakwater Castle, and Keeper of the Night Lamp.
- Adipose Rex: He is a fat lord.
- Bald of Evil: He is a corrupt lord who consorts with criminals and causes shipwrecks, which kill the crew and leaves him free to loot the vessels.
- Corrupt Politician: Lets smugglers who are his "friends" operate with impunity on Sweetsister. Those who aren't his friends he hangs from the Gallows Gate.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Godric may be corrupt, but he does love his family. He praises the sister's stew that his granddaughter Gella makes, and comments that he would have killed the Freys if they had the nerve to kill his hypothetical son and then bring his bones to Sweetsister.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He may cause the occasional ship to wreck for some plunder, but he respects the law of Sacred Hospitality and is disgusted by what the Freys did at the Red Wedding.
- Fat Bastard: He has grown fat and rich off of causing ships to crash and then robbing them.
- Papa Wolf: Invoked by Godric while talking with Davos; he notes that if the Freys dared to show up on Sweetsister after killing one of his sons the way they have in White Harbor, he would have killed them without a second thought.Godric Borrell: Had it been my son, I would have returned the courtesy and thanked the Freys before I hanged them.
- Sacred Hospitality: Puts Davos Seaworth in the deepest dungeon while Freys are on the island. Once they leave, he gets him out, shares his own supper with Davos (even offering him expensive spices like pepper) and then puts him on a ship and helps him with his mission. His father did the same with Eddard Stark, minus the dungeon part. Sacred Hospitality is serious business for Borrells.
- Wild Card: Like his father during the early days of Robert's Rebellion, he makes no move to overtly support either the Iron Throne or Stannis because of the uncertainty of either side's victory following the death of Tywin Lannister and the rise of Cersei to regency. He offers food and shelter to the Freys en route to White Harbor. When Ser Davos Seaworth arrives at Sweetsister, Lord Godric refuses to support Stannis but gives his hospitality to the Onion Knight and helps him reach White Harbor.
