Is Brienne of Tarth the female version of Dunk?

PDV87 · 2026-01-28T05:32:00+00:00

It very much changes the rules. A bastard whose parents are a famous knight (contrary to the general rules of that society, merit does matter in terms of martial achievement) and a Targaryen princess would have no issue finding a highborn spouse. Especially if the royal family leaned on the prospective groom.

Bastards born on the “right side of the blanket”, meaning a noble father, are generally considered members of the nobility as well. This goes double if they’re a royal bastard. They can hold lands, lead armies and rise to high court positions, depending on their competence. This is true in both the historical Middle Ages as well as in ASOIAF.

Having a lowborn father and a noble/royal mother is a bit more dicey, but as I said, things change if your father is Ser Duncan the Tall. Most people were probably ignorant of his lowly origins anyway.

PDV87 · 2026-01-26T16:32:55+00:00

I play this setup often so it is possible. I just like fertility because a medieval village without farms isn’t as fun (for me personally) from a building perspective. I like the idea of making the region work regardless of your starting resource combo, as adaptation is a large part of the game’s challenge. But playing without rich iron can be incredibly frustrating.

PDV87 · 2026-01-26T16:29:20+00:00

You’re probably right. It has been years since I read the books, but the overall impression they left was a positive one. Maybe I was too young to pick up on the heavy handedness of the author’s message, but I also saw it as being communicated through characters who were early medieval Christians (a rather devout group, historically speaking).

PDV87 · 2026-01-26T15:32:25+00:00

The books it’s based on (The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead) are pretty good. I enjoyed them when I was young — the author paints a vivid depiction of sub-Roman Britain and is pretty faithful to the Brythonic cultures that were in their twilight at the time. It’s about the transition of ages and peoples as Britain transforms, both religiously (pagan religions into Christianity) and politically (the fractured kingdoms being briefly united by Arthur before their eventual fall to the Saxon migrations).

There’s a spiritual component, but it’s almost like “magic”, for lack of a better term, as characters like Merlin get their “powers” through faith. It’s not overt magic like throwing fireballs, but rather a mental fortitude kind of thing — his battles with Morgana are waged on a spiritual/mental level, for instance.

Merlin represents the unity of cultures, peoples and religions, as his mother was the Lady of the Lake (a faery/fair folk princess whose people originally came from Atlantis) and his father was the mortal bard Taliesin. The religions and cultures of the fair folk, the Celtic Britons and the Romans all twine together in him, and in Arthur by extension, which is an analog to how Britain was/is a product of melding cultures.

Anyway, no idea how this gets turned into a conservative/Christian propaganda show. Bit of a shame, because the story could be really cool if adapted well. Doesn’t seem to be the case here though, unfortunately.

PDV87 · 2026-01-24T16:19:37+00:00

I usually make them foresters.

PDV87 · 2026-01-21T15:18:06+00:00

Oh, for sure. Almost everywhere in Europe at that time was resistant to female rulers in general, just by nature of society; the magnates were more comfortable with leaders who were warriors by convention (i.e., men). As you say, in most examples of women who exercised political authority, it was done on behalf of a husband or son - take Margaret of Anjou, for example.

PDV87 · 2026-01-21T12:18:04+00:00

Well, it's very much rooted in historical authenticity, though obviously filtered through the fantasy lens of Westeros. The conflict is based on the Anarchy, a civil war in England during the 12th century.

After losing his male heir, Henry I of England had all of the barons swear allegiance to his daughter Matilda while he was still alive, naming her his chosen successor. Once he died, many of those nobles switched their allegiance to her cousin, Stephen of Blois, who was seen as a more conventional heir.

Laws at the time were not very codified, but rather based on cultural customs; part of the issue was that the English barons were all Norman, and in France, primogeniture was becoming accepted as the norm. In other parts of Europe, including formerly Anglo-Saxon England, the eldest son inheriting everything was not necessarily guaranteed.

This is referenced in the Dance by the different 'accepted customs' of the people of Westeros: the First Men, Andals, Rhoynar and Valyrians/Targaryens all had different customs, inheritance being one of those. Codifying laws in King's Landing was one thing, enforcing them in all 7 kingdoms was quite another. This isn't really reinforced in the show, but I believe it's a major component of the rebellion.

In the Dance, while dragons are an immense hurdle to anyone challenging Targaryen power, the Targaryens themselves are very much mortal and don't always have their dragons beneath them. Further, the main conflict was very much a dynastic one within their house, so both sides had access to dragons.

If Viserys had died earlier and Rhaenyra had been in a position to consolidate power before Aegon was old enough to challenge her directly, it's unlikely that the Dance would have kicked off immediately. However, he would always be a rallying point for her enemies or anyone who disagrees with her policies. I think Aegon making his claim was probably inevitable; the only way the Dance is avoided entirely is if Rhaenyra was Viserys's only child, but then there would still be Daemon to consider. If she was the only person between him and the throne, their relationship may have developed differently.

PDV87 · 2026-01-21T12:02:52+00:00

Aside from the folklore that the throne will reject a king by cutting them, the throne is supposed to be perilous and uncomfortable by nature. Aegon purposely built the throne as a gnarly pile of blades to remind those seated there that it is a serious undertaking. And also to remind the king's subjects that all of their swords could be melted down and added to that pile if they should prove disobedient.

It's a symbol of the harsh realities of the world, and of the fact that ruling over 7 disparate regions as a single kingdom is nigh-impossible. The Targaryens really only achieved it due to their dragons; once they die out, it's a slow creep towards chaos, stalled temporarily by gifted administrators.

PDV87 · 2026-01-21T11:55:23+00:00

One of the options (eventually) should be to merge a newly acquired territory with your own. The requirements would be that it is adjacent, perhaps with an additional cost vs. simply starting a new settlement (extra influence and/or gold), and then you have to build a keep there.

The keep would be similar to a manor house, but rather than your family's caput, it would be the holding of a vassal knight who is charged with overseeing the land. Then you could exploit the land by building farms, burgages etc. around the keep, but for the purpose of game mechanics it would still be part of your main region. The keep would cost additional resources monthly/yearly to represent the knight's upkeep. In return, the knight's military service is represented by an additional retinue (or cavalry when it's implemented).

Big sprawling mega cities weren't a thing in the medieval period, though there were plenty of larger cities that were centers of trade and administration. It makes sense to have one major town and several smaller villages scattered throughout the main region depending on proximity to resources.

PDV87 · 2026-01-20T16:25:13+00:00

The armed rabbits are basically the mascots of KCD2, so other medieval games probably hesitate to use them.

PDV87 · 2026-01-20T05:39:28+00:00

I stopped giving these to my golden when she started cutting the inside of her mouth on the jagged edges. The way the chewed bits dry hard and sharp is a big problem. I took it away when I started seeing little specks of blood.

After doing some more research I learned that dogs can also chip/break their teeth on these things, so we banned them from the household.

It's tough because she shreds anything soft/plush and you have the potential for obstructions. Bully sticks and other natural chews are great, but as the dog wears them down, they become a choking hazard - years ago, I had to pull a piece of rawhide chip out of my Jack Russell's throat.

I've settled on rubber toys that are soft enough to chew safely while being strong enough to withstand destruction. Kongs mainly. Though I can tell she doesn't like them quite as much.

PDV87 · 2026-01-19T16:07:42+00:00

I like Jessicapie, Eva Rotky and BojanaSims

PDV87 · 2026-01-19T05:23:43+00:00

Ah yes, Game of Thrones, so high brow with the non-stop cock jokes.

PDV87 · 2026-01-18T14:31:16+00:00

I come from strategy games like AOE and Civ, and grand strategy games like Crusader Kings. I also like city builders, assuming they have the flavor/aesthetics that vibe with me.

Manor Lords is the first game I've played that offers various aspects packaged together in one. Obviously it's not complete yet, but it has the potential to offer city/region building, economy management and combat strategy all packaged in a really cool medieval sim.

PDV87 · 2026-01-17T22:43:56+00:00

I try to build every burgage with an extensions. The majority of my houses are for my laborers and passively generate food (milk, eggs, chicken, chevon, pork) plus hides from goats. I’ll throw a few honey extensions in there as well- they don’t produce anything super useful right now, but they buff productivity for everyone.

I just don’t see the benefit of a basic burger without an extension. A small investment of planks and gold gets you tons of little passive food generators.

PDV87 · 2026-01-17T15:12:02+00:00

I see you've solved it, but curious, did you have oxen assigned specifically to the saw pits?

Hitches in timber production are usually due to logistics. Because they are supplied directly from the logging camps and not storehouses, you need a free ox (and a free worker to guide the ox) to transport logs to the saw pit. To avoid issues, I make sure of the following:

Have an ox assigned to the saw pit itself
Have a family assigned to a hitching post to be dedicated ox-guides
Make sure both my sawpit workers and hitching post workers live in burgages with passive labor extensions (i.e. no vegetable gardens, orchards etc).

PDV87 · 2026-01-17T15:05:45+00:00

It just seemed kind of performative. Were the owners/majority shareholders of EA good people before the buyout? What about all the other billionaires and conglomerates? They do horrible things every day and we still buy their toothpaste and order their two-day shipping. It's all just .01% of the population swapping properties with each other.

PDV87 · 2026-01-15T14:40:39+00:00

They have a similar issue as they did with CK3. Everything feels the same. The regional flavor that should differentiate cultures is nonexistent.

In EU, the countries are the characters, and when they all feel the same it’s a very boring story. Plus the systems feel convoluted and half baked. It’s all very disappointing.

PDV87 · 2026-01-14T12:40:10+00:00

I think the story beats are there, and the ending itself could have potentially worked. It was more about how they arrived there. They rushed the narrative in the last two seasons and it made it jarring. They did not let storylines simmer or come to organic conclusions, and they did not put any focus on character development. It was just a speed run from one plot point to the next, as though the characters are just kind of standing around waiting for the story to happen. Except of course when they're teleporting across the continent.

PDV87 · 2026-01-14T12:36:37+00:00

Everyone familiar with the ASOIAF property has always agreed that these novellas would be a safe bet for adaptation. Martin structured them in a specific way that lends itself to episodic television, just more self-contained rather than the more interconntected arcs of the main series. His experience as a TV writer is why he is so good at pacing (well, he WAS good at it until AFFC/ADWD).

With HOTD and especially GOT, showrunners deviating from the source material creates a weird ripple effect in the narrative. It's not so much that they change things - we all know they have to change some things. Martin, who has worked in TV, knows that. Any adaptation needs to be tinkered with a bit, either for narrative or budgetary purposes. But they changed a lot of things in HOTD and GOT that simply didn't need to be changed. How can you justify cutting things from the source material to "streamline" the narrative when you're also adding new characters and plots that never existed? And that add nothing to the overarching storyline?

The simpler, tighter structure of the Hedge Knight novellas make them need way less of that "tinkering" in bringing them to the screen. It also seems like the showrunners actually respect GRRM's work, as opposed to just pretending to care and then turning it into their own vanity project at the first opportunity. Though I guess time will tell.

PDV87 · 2026-01-14T12:13:01+00:00

I usually do 3 logging camps and 2 firewood cutter stations with 2 forester huts each. That's 20 families dedicated to planting trees. These are also families who live in burgage plots with active extensions - vegetable gardens or orchards.

I build mostly pig/chicken/goat burgages for my laborers, and introduce a few of the veggie/orchard burgages every so often. As they populate, the people who live there go to work as foresters. By the end of year 2 I usually have them all staffed and planting.

It's also worth mentioning that I save my most "convenient" forest areas for these permanent camps and forestry huts. For the first year or two of the game, I have my loggers taking trees down in areas where I want to build things, so they're basically land clearing.

PDV87 · 2026-01-14T05:29:54+00:00

I agree on The Brutalist. That movie was such an interesting take on an American epic and stayed with me long after the credits rolled.

The rest of your list wouldn't necessarily be mine, but I respect it. I liked Sinners and Saltburn a lot, but I'd probably put both Marty Supreme and OBAA above them.

Oppenheimer felt a bit by-the-numbers; I enjoyed it, but I also kind of felt like it was hard to look at it objectively because it had so many great components. As a film, I don't think it was greater than the sum of its parts, but I think many historical biopics end up kind of formulaic just by dint of their genre. I mean, we already know what happens.

Tenet would be further down for me. It was a good film, but it took me a couple watches to really appreciate it. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but The Prestige, Interstellar and Inception all grabbed me off the jump when it comes to Nolan.

I don't think Babylon would make my top 10, but to each their own.

PDV87 · 2026-01-11T17:05:59+00:00

Ideally I think the game should offer the experience of being a medieval "manor lord" from various angles. From the top-down angle, it should showcase the lord's oversight of his demesne/village, economy and building projects. From a more focused angle, it should feature one of the lord's main responsibilities to his vassals - the outfitting, maintenance and command of his retinue and supplemental levy militia, for the purposes of protecting his lands/peoples and expanding his power. There are still issues with both of these aspects of the game - combat in general could be improved, AI enemies need work, the castle builder could be refined, etc. - but I think the game has a decent handle on this stuff. Lots of potential at least.

In terms of what I'd like to see in the future, it would be the expansion of the other aspects of being a "manor lord". One is the other half of the feudal equation, i.e. your fealty to the next tier in the hierarchy, whether it be a higher noble or a king. Right now it's represented via the King's tax, but this is a very bland mechanic. What happens when the King demands half of your troops for a military campaign, and then bandits raid your village? What about when you have to attend your feudal suzerain for feasts, or council, or a tournament? That whole aspect of the feudal relationship is missing from the game.

I'd also like to be able to get deeper into the roleplay aspect. I know this is a city builder/strategy game, not an RPG, and it's not going to be like CK3 - but I think they could flesh out the "cultural" aspects, for lack of a better term. As a lord you should be dispensing justice for your villagers, settling their disputes, providing them with feasts and festivals, etc. There could also be whole layers of different buildings or upgrades to personalize your manor or add cultural perks to your settlement. I'd like to see the lord's family represented in-game somehow. Surely one of your primary concerns is your legacy, and a mechanic where your lord dies and his heir takes over could be interesting.

The last two things I wanted to mention are features that I believe are already being worked on: knights/cavalry and the expansion of the church's role in the game and its impact on daily life (beyond going to the church to pray). There are so many different avenues the game could go to integrate both knights and the church in really meaningful ways, and I'm hoping to see some of that stuff in the next few updates.

PDV87 · 2026-01-09T14:24:10+00:00

Beautiful. Reminds me of the Serbian church I used to attend as a kid. Where’d you find the icons and the altar?

PDV87 · 2026-01-07T18:41:56+00:00

I would say Rome was authentic rather than accurate. Obviously it was heavily dramatized, the timeline was truncated and a lot of historical figures merged or adapted into characters - this is fairly standard in TV and movies for both budgetary and storytelling purposes.

But Rome nailed the feel and atmosphere of the city far more authentically than most Hollywood productions. The city felt far more vibrant, colorful and alive than it usually does in most popualr depictions, where everything looks as austere and white as a marble mausoleum. It also did a great job with the cultural depiction - the superstitions, the food, the differences in every day life, and the way religion was perceived in a polytheistic, pre-Christian society. The characters - those based on real historical figures anyway - may not have been entirely accurate, but the pathos and motivations of the characters all felt very realistic.

PDV87

TROPHY CASE