Kingdom of the Three Daughters

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A council of the Triarchy, as depicted by Jordi Gonzales Escamilla in The World of Ice and Fire (Myrman to the left, Tyroshi in the middle, and Lysene to the right)
"Triarchy" redirects here. For the Triarch of Volantis, see Triarch of Volantis.

Officially simply called The Triarchy, the Kingdom of the Three Daughters (or, more rudely, the Three Whores, both Westerosi names) was an alliance of the Free Cities of Myr, Lys and Tyrosh, three "daughters" (colonies) of old Valyria. In truth, the "kingdom" had no king; the Three Daughters were governed by the High Council of the Triarchy, a group of thirty-three magisters. This kingdom which was not a kingdom existed from 96 AC to when it dissolved in a civil war that began in 130 AC.

History

In 96 AC, Tyrosh, Lys and Myr put aside their ancient enmities to drive Volantis from the Disputed Lands, thereafter forging the "eternal alliance" of the Triarchy. The Myrish prince-admiral Craghas Drahar then led an invasion of the Stepstones, clearing out the pirate dens of the islands and making safe the trade lanes of the Narrow Sea. In 92 AC, "Myrish pirates" had seized the eastern half of Tarth, and Prince Aemon Targaryen died in the fighting, but whether these were pirates working for Myr or simply pirates of the Stepstones originally from Myr is unclear. Craghas and his co-admirals were greedy with their tolls, however, with the Lyseni enslaving women, girls, and comely boys to bring back to their pillow houses, including Lady Johanna Swann, niece to the Lord of Stonehelm. In time Johanna worked her way to become a powerful courtesan in Lys, called the Black Swan, and the shadow-ruler of Lys in all but name.[1]

In 106 AC, Westerosi forces led by Lord Corlys the Sea Snake of House Velaryon and Prince Daemon of House Targaryen invaded the Stepstones in retaliation, Prince Daemon hoping to make himself a kingdom. Despite inferior numbers, they inflicted a string of defeats on the Triarchy for two years before Daemon slew Craghas Drahar in single combat. By 109 AC, Daemon's armies controlled all but two of the Stepstones, and the Sea Snake's fleets had naval supremacy. Lord Corlys crowned Daemon the King of the Stepstones and the Narrow Sea.

In 110 AC, however, the Triarchy dispatched a counterattack led by Racallio Ryndoon, supported by newly acquired Dornish allies, who were wary of the new Targaryen-backed sellsword kingdom controlling the sea lanes. Fighting still continued in 111 AC, when "King" Daemon withdrew to court at King's Landing for several months, and even still raged beyond 115 AC, when Daemon returned to the Vale after the death of his first wife. Five other men followed him as King of the Narrow Sea before the Triarchy-Dornish alliance ended his sellsword kingdom.[1]

Pentos, bordering Myr to the north, was always wary of this rising new power to their south, and often welcomed Daemon Targaryen as an ally. Old Volantis similarly welcomed Daemon warmly when he visited, though it was in less of a position to fight back against its rivals to the west. The Three Daughters were not, however, so powerful that their influence spread to the northeast, where Norvos and Qohor remained little concerned about them.[1]

In the Westerosi civil war called the Dance of the Dragons (129-131 AC), both Prince Daemon and Lord Corlys supported the blacks. Early in the fighting, the Velaryon fleet blockaded the Gullet and Blackwater Bay. Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand to King Aegon II Targaryen, reached out across the narrow sea to the Kingdom of the Three Daughters whom he knew to be an enemy of Prince Daemon. Otto hoped to persuade them to move against the Sea Snake and break the blockade. The High Council of the Triarchy eventually met in Tyrosh and chose to accept Otto's offer of alliance.

A combined fleet of 90 Myrish, Lysene and Tyroshi warships under the banners of the Three Daughters, commanded by the Triarchy's admiral Sharako Lohar of Lys, swept from the Stepstones, bending their oars for the Gullet. En route they intercepted the Gay Abandon, which was carrying two of Rhaenyra Targaryen's sons, Prince's Aegon and Viserys. Aegon escaped atop Stormcloud, but Viserys was taken as a captive to Sharako Lohar.

Once the news of the fleet's presence in the Gullet reached Dragonstone, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon swept down on Vermax and was soon joined by four other dragons. The resulting Battle in the Gullet eventually ended in defeat for the blacks. The victorious fleet of the Three Daughters avoided Dragonstone and sacked Spicetown and High Tide on the Velaryon isle of Driftmark. Although the Three Daughters won the battle they too suffered tremendous losses. Sharako Lohar took a combined fleet of 90 warships from the Stepstones but only 28 survived to limp home.

The reaction of the Triarchy to this Pyrrhic victory is unknown, but by the time of Maiden's Day the next year (130 AC) the Triarchy had begun to tear itself to pieces.[2] Apparently, amid the turmoil surrounding the loss of so much of their fleets after the Battle of the Gullet, the direct cause of the breakup of the Triarchy was when a Lyseni admiral was assassinated by a rival over the affections of none other than the Black Swan herself. A rival alliance then formed between Pentos, Braavos, and even Lorath (which was normally isolationist) which helped bring down the Triarchy.[3] This rival alliance did not last very long, as several decades later Braavos once again fought Pentos in wars over slavery.[4]

References and Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Rogue Prince.
  2. The Princess and the Queen.
  3. Bad parameter 1: "TWOIAF - The Quarrelsome Daughters" is not a recognized work
  4. Bad parameter 1: "TWOIAF - Pentos" is not a recognized work