Sons of the Harlot

The Sons of the Harlot were a free company of sellswords active in Essos in the history of A Song of Ice and Fire. Like the many mercenary companies that fight for coin across the Disputed Lands and the Free Cities, they were a band of hired soldiers serving whoever could meet their price.

Free Companies of Essos

The squabbling Free Cities of Essos, chief among them Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh, have warred among themselves for centuries over the Disputed Lands, and these endless conflicts gave rise to numerous free companies, sellsword brotherhoods that sell their swords to the highest bidder. The most famous of these is the Golden Company, but a great many lesser companies, the Sons of the Harlot among them, have risen and fallen over the years.

Reputation

Such companies took colorful and often boastful names to distinguish themselves and attract recruits and employers. They ranged from disciplined and honorable bands to little better than organized brigands. Sellsword companies are notorious for their fickle loyalty, breaking contracts and changing sides when the fortunes of war or the size of a purse shifted, a reputation that follows mercenaries throughout the histories of Essos.

Context

The Sons of the Harlot belong to this long tradition of hired arms that shaped the wars of the Free Cities and the Disputed Lands. Exiled lords, claimants, and merchant princes alike have made use of such companies, and a man down on his fortune, like the exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont, might find himself drawn into their ranks across the Narrow Sea.