House Baelish

House Baelish is a minor and small vassal house that holds fealty to House Arryn of the Vale. The Baelish seat is a rude and small towerhouse on the smallest of the Fingers, the rocky peninsulars that make up much of the Vale's coast along the Narrow Sea.

The sigil of House Baelish is a grey stone head with firery eyes on a light green field. However, the current lord of the house, Lord Petyr Baelish, called 'Littlefinger', prefers to use his personal emblem of a black mockingbird almost exclusively. Since he is the only living member of the house, the mockingbird sigil is more commonly associated with the name.

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Baelish began with a sellsword - Petyr's great-grandfather - from Braavos who travelled to Westeros and took up service with House Corbray of the Vale. The sellsword's son, also a warrior, won great honour, converted to the Faith of the Seven and was knighted. He took the head of the Titan of Braavos as his sigil.

Petyr's father fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, the pre-emptive assault on the forces of Maelys Blackfyre, the last of the Blackfyre Pretenders, before they could attempt an invasion of Westeros. During the conflict Petyr's father came into contact with Lord Hoster Tully. They became allies through circumstances unknown, and Hoster agreed to foster Petyr at Riverrun. Petyr's great skills with numbers and banking led him to become the tax and revenue collector for Gulltown, the principal city of the Vale. At Lord Jon Arryn's suggestion, King Robert Baratheon later made Petyr his Master of Coin for the whole realm, a role he continues to serve in to this day.

Petyr rarely returns home, leaving the keeping of his minor towerhouse to a small staff.