Sisterton

Sisterton is the chief town on Sweetsister, one of the Three Sisters islands in the Bite, a place whose name belies its character. It is a vile, muddy sty, a squalid settlement of daub-and-wattle hovels roofed with straw, its streets a mire of mud and planks. The air is rank with the odors of pig shit and rotting fish, and by the Gallows Gate, hanged men dangle with their entrails exposed, a grim warning to those who would defy the local lords. For hundreds of years, the Three Sisters have been a favorite haunt of smugglers and a pirate's nest before that, and Sisterton has long been the center of this illicit trade.

The Seat of House Borrell

The town is dominated by Breakwater Castle, the seat of Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister, Shield of Sisterton, Master of Breakwater Castle, and Keeper of the Night Lamp. The castle itself is a damp, dark, and leaky fortress, built of black basalt and surrounded by a deep salt moat. Its hall is lit by only a few tallow candles, and the sound of the sea pounding against its foundations is a constant presence. Lord Godric is an ugly, fleshy man with a webbed hand, a relic of the old blood of the Sistermen. He rules with a pragmatic, self-serving cruelty, hanging smugglers who are not his friends and using false beacons to lure ships to their doom on the rocky shores. His family has held sway here for five thousand years, and the memory of the Rape of the Three Sisters by the northmen two thousand years ago still rankles.

Davos Seaworth's Arrival and the Political Landscape

Davos Seaworth, the King's Hand, washes up in Sisterton after being betrayed by Salladhor Saan and separated from Stannis's fleet by storms. He is captured by Lord Godric's men in the Belly of the Whale, a vile smuggler's den, and brought before the lord. It is here that Davos learns the dire news that has changed the political landscape of the North. Lord Godric informs him that Tywin Lannister is dead, murdered by his dwarf son, and that the Freys have arrived in White Harbor with the bones of Wyman Manderly's son, Wendel. More critically, he reveals that Lord Manderly has made a pact with the Freys and Boltons, sealing it with a marriage, and intends to bend the knee to the Iron Throne, not to Stannis. This intelligence shatters Davos's mission and forces him to reconsider his approach.

The Lord's Judgment and a Glimmer of Hope

Despite his rough treatment, Davos is given guest right, eating Lord Godric's bread and salt, which guarantees his safety for the night. The Lord of Sweetsister is a cautious man, unwilling to openly side with Stannis, whom he resents for past humiliations. He recalls how Ned Stark once passed through Sisterton during Robert's Rebellion, and how his father, swayed by Stark's words, let him go. Lord Godric ultimately decides to help Davos, not out of loyalty to Stannis, but because he sees the shifting tides of power. He provides Davos with information and a means to reach White Harbor, setting the stage for the smuggler knight's final, desperate gambit to win the north for his king.