Littlefinger's History
Petyr Baelish was the head of House Baelish and the lord of an extremely minor holding, so small it has neither name nor a maester, located in a small area within the Fingers, a coastal region in the northeastern shores of the Vale of Arryn.
House Baelish had very meager origins and no distinguished lineage: Petyr's great-grandfather was a lowly sellsword from Braavos who came to the Vale at the invitation of House Corbray. Petyr's grandfather was a poor hedge knight, who managed to earn a minor lordship of a few stony acres in the smallest peninsula of the Fingers.
Petyr's father fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, the preemptive 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 served well under Lord Hoster Tully. Through their good relationship, Hoster agreed to foster his son Petyr at Riverrun, a great honor for a lesser House.
Petyr went to Riverrun when he was eight years old, carrying all he owned in a bundle. At Riverrun, he befriended Hoster's daughters Catelyn and Lysa Tully. Their brother Edmure mockingly nicknamed Petyr "Littlefinger", in reference to his small height at the time and the location of his minor landholdings. The nickname would stick with him throughout his life. Eventually, even Petyr sarcastically embraced the nickname, because it showed how far he had risen, from an impoverished noble-born boy from an insignificant minor House in the "little Finger" peninsula of the Vale, to one of the most powerful officials at the royal court.
Petyr became obsessed and in love with Catelyn, but she never returned his affections. Lysa was infatuated with Petyr, but he only loved Catelyn. Eventually when she was betrothed to Brandon Stark, heir to Lord of Winterfell and Lord Paramount of the North, Petyr challenged him to a duel, thinking he could win through pluck and courage but he was promptly overpowered and nearly killed, though Catelyn begged Brandon to spare his life. Embittered, Petyr was cast out of Riverrun and returned to the Vale. During the course of Robert's Rebellion, however, Brandon was killed by the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen, so Catelyn married his younger brother Eddard Stark, while to secure a political alliance Lysa was wed to Jon Arryn, ruler of the Vale. Manipulating Lysa's infatuation with himself, Petyr ingratiated himself into Jon's services, first as a customs officer at Gulltown, where he increased the port's revenues tenfold. Seeing Littlefinger's financial acumen, Jon was easily convinced by Lysa to later bring Littlefinger to the royal court at King's Landing, and make him Master of Coin on King Robert Baratheon's Small Council. Petyr's blatant ambition often placed him at odds with the Master of Whisperers, Varys.
In charge of the crown's treasury, Littlefinger rapidly grew into a powerful player in royal politics and a master of court intrigues. Of an older mindset, few who did not know him suspected Littlefinger as a threat, seeing only that he was a man from a very minor House, with no distinguished lineage, significant landholdings, or armies. Instead, Littlefinger based his newfound power on money. Baelish is unscrupulous in his search for power and wealth: he has bought multiple brothels in the city. Particularly a high-class brothel catering to the nobles in the city, cynically noting that whores make a better investment than ships because they rarely sink. Baelish makes good use of his brothels to have his agents spy on and manipulate his clientele and owns one of the largest spy networks in Westeros, second only to Varys's. Littlefinger has been known to privately bribe lords who have unusual or violent sexual fetishes if they pay the right price; ranging from supplying lords with amputee prostitutes, to delivering young boys to pederasts, and even delivering prostitutes to be secretly murdered by his clients for thrill-kills.
Due to their past friendship as children, Catelyn Stark continued to believe that Lord Baelish was a friend she could count on at court.
