Three Sisters

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. The islands owe loose allegiance to House Arryn of the Vale.

The islands are considered dens of avarice and sin by septons. People from the Three Sisters are known as Sistermen. Some have webbing between their hands and feet, which they call the mark.

Culture
The Three Sisters are within the dominion of the Vale of Arryn and are ruled by House Sunderland. Houses Borrell of Sweetsister, Longthorpe of Longsister, and Torrent of Littlesister are sworn to the Sunderlands. The Three Sisters are sworn to House Arryn of the Vale, but the Eyrie's grasp upon the islands is tenuous at best.

Ships go between the Three Sisters and White Harbor all the time. The Sisters sell crab, fish and goat cheese to White Harbor and in return they sell them 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.

Sweetsister
Sweetsister is an island of the Three Sisters in the Bite. It is the seat of House Sunderland and House Borrell, who are sworn to the Arryns of the Vale. The town of Sisterton that houses Breakwater Castle and the keep of House Sunderland, Sunder, are located on Sweetsister. The town of Sisterton also houses the Night Lamp, a black tower not dissimilar to the Hightower in Oldtown, and one of the beacons that burns along the shore of the Three Sisters. It is only half the size of the Hightower, but bears an unmistakable resemblance.

Longsister
Longsister is an island in a group of islands, the Three Sisters, found in the Bite. It is the seat of House Longthorpe in the Vale of Arryn. The Chronicles of Longsister describes the Rape of the Three Sisters.

Littlesister
Littlesister is the seat of House Torrent in the Vale of Arryn. Located in the Bite, it is the smallest and easternmost island of the Three Sisters.

Little Light
Little Light is a beacon of black stone built upon a small island in the Sisters’ Sound in the Bite that lay between Sweetsister and Littlesister. Its purpose is to assist sailors with navigating the otherwise extremely dangerous sound, often plagued with rough seas and high winds.

Traditionally manned by the Beacon Keeper of the Sisters, this beacon is, by far, the most dangerous to navigate to and to maintain due to the notoriously rough seas that surround it.

It is rumored by sailors to be home to Squishers and Merlings alike. Sailors who drift too close to the island speak tales of sweet melodies coming from the rocky island, though these tales have never been confirmed. Past Beacon Keepers have been known to develop a fascination with the island and often returned to it, even after their tenure of Beacon Keeper had passed.

Pirate Kings
The Sistermen of antiquity worshiped the Lady of the Waves and the Lord of the Skies instead of the old gods of the children of the forest, who had been adopted by the First Men of mainland Westeros. The Sistermen of that time cast dwarfs into the sea as an offering to the gods. Septons stopped the practice after the Andal invasion and the arrival of the Faith of the Seven, however.

The Sistermen of old were a free people ruled by local kings. These pirates and raiders sent longships into the Bite, the narrow sea, and the Shivering Sea to reave and capture slaves. Raiders from the Three Sisters once captured the Wolf's Den and made it their toehold in the north, and Sistermen also raided the eastern coasts of the riverlands. King Theon Stark conquered the three islands at some point.

Arryn Era
In retaliation for the raids, maesters say that two thousand years ago the islands were conquered by the north in an invasion known as the Rape of the Three Sisters. The Sistermen bent the knee to the Eyrie to expel the northmen, ending the era of native kings on the Sisters. The Kings of Mountain and Vale from House Arryn and the Kings in the North from House Stark fought over the Three Sisters for a thousand years in the War Across the Water, depleting much of the islands' resources. The largest port of the Three Sisters, Sisterton, remembers the northern invasion and some Sistermen still resent northmen.

The Three Sisters have been a haven for smugglers for centuries. Instead of piracy, the Sistermen have turned to wrecking.

Targaryen Era
During Aegon's Conquest, the Sistermen rebelled against Ronnel Arryn, King of Mountain and Vale, declaring Marla Sunderland as their queen. She was deposed, however, when a Braavosi fleet hired by House Stark at the behest of Aegon the Conqueror approached the islands. Lord Steffon Sunderland bent the knee to House Targaryen and ended the Sistermen's Rebellion, while his sister Marla ended her days as a silent sister.

The sweating sickness broke out on the islands in 54 AC.

Led by the Sunderlands, the Three Sisters supported Rhaenyra Targaryen against Aegon II Targaryen during the Dance of the Dragons, along with the Arryns. The Winter Fever struck the islands late in 132 AC. When the Vale of Arryn broke out into civil war after the passing of Lady Jeyne Arryn, the Three Sisters supported Ser Arnold Arryn.

The Three Sisters suffered after the Sunderlands dragged the islands into two of the unsuccessful Blackfyre Rebellions against the Targaryens.

They did not participate in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, learning from their experiences in the Blackfyre Rebellions.

Peace beset upon the island for many years, and during those years, ambitious Sunderland lords sought to integrate the Sisters more with the mainland.

The Three Sisters participated in the Woe of Wolves, blockading White Harbor for the King. On their short journey home, the fleet of the Sisters was beset upon by a massive rogue wave, destroying just over a third of their fleet. Many in the Sisters saw this as a sign, an omen of things to come as their Lord Triston Sunderland had perished as he was dragged out to sea by the wave.

The Sistermen participated in the Second Lyseni Spring, called to war by their King and Master of Ships Marlon Sunderland. Being their first war in one-hundred and fifty years, the Sistermen were eager to participate. They found glory and embarrassment both, as they fared well under their Grafton commander, but lost under their Sunderland commander when their Tyroshi allies failed to perform.

Recent History
Ten years after the Lyseni Spring, son rebelled against father in the Dragon's Defiance. Marlon Sunderland resigned his post as Master of Ships and returned to the Sisters in time to lead the Valeman naval invasion of the Riverlands. They ferried over thousands of troops; vital operations that led to Valeman victories early in the war. Lord Steffon Sunderland and his heir Triston were slain in the war, Steffon being slain by Baelon Targaryen and Triston perishing in the Sacking of King's Landing at the wars end.