Abandoned House Bullock by Pept1c

[Peptic]

Hiya, for my first canon project I found Bullock to be rather appropriate-looking, and I'm a big fan of the crownlands style!
Well here's my app, take a look at it.

House Bullock by Pept1c

House Bullock by Pept1c Resume The Frozen Pony Inn Orme hf1 Orme hamlet 2 Random houses scattered around. Canon Next to nothing is known about house Bullock, but the Bullocks served House Targaryen. Ser Merrell Bullock was a knight who was the commander of the castle garrison at Dragonstone du...

docs.google.com

The doc was too large to upload so I had to just copy paste the link, sorry.
This is my first project, so the app may be a bit rough around the edges, so please do let me know if I missed something or any failures like that, so I can change/add it.
I am very open to feedback (quite sure there will be a lot of it lol) and discussion.

(edit, just to clarify, the minis would be the hamlet/farmstead, and the holdfast if there is one)

 

[Peptic]

Oh and I thought of something. It may not be entirely necessary, just an idea, but based on what Dutch said in the maidenpool app this is about the time that Robb set out from Riverrun and conflict in the riverlands was really going on (not sure though) I could add perhaps a blockade of sorts on the roads going east from the bullock lands (I already have the gate on one of them so this isn't very necessary, just an idea), mainly because the Bullock lands directly neighbor the riverlands and many lords in that area maybe feared an attack from the northerners?

 

[Ric]

Oh and I thought of something. It may not be entirely necessary, just an idea, but based on what Dutch said in the maidenpool app this is about the time that Robb set out from Riverrun and conflict in the riverlands was really going on (not sure though) I could add perhaps a blockade of sorts on the roads going east from the bullock lands (I already have the gate on one of them so this isn't very necessary, just an idea), mainly because the Bullock lands directly neighbor the riverlands and many lords in that area maybe feared an attack from the northerners?

It did happen that a Crownlands lord was attacked, tho not by the Starks:

Spoiler: AFFC - Jaime III

"Ser Amory Lorch," Jaime offered. "My lord father commanded him to harry the riverlands."

"Which we're no part of," Ser Roger Hogg said stoutly. "My fealty's owed to House Hayford, and Lady Ermesande bends her little knee at King's Landing, or will when she's old enough to walk. I told him that, but this Lorch wasn't much for listening. He slaughtered half my sheep and three good milk goats, and tried to roast me in my tower. My walls are solid stone and eight feet thick, though, so after his fire burned out he rode off bored. The wolves come later, the ones on four legs. They ate the sheep the manticore left me. I got a few good pelts in recompense, but fur don't fill your belly. What should we do, my lord?"

I also think that when he points out that the wolves who attacked his lands were on four legs, it might be because the Starks (i.e. the wolves on two legs) were a threat he knew of, even if they didn't attack - what makes sense since he is a vassal to the king the Starks are rebelling against.

 

[DutchGuard]

I also think that when he points out that the wolves who attacked his lands were on four legs, it might be because the Starks (i.e. the wolves on two legs) were a threat he knew of, even if they didn't attack - what makes sense since he is a vassal to the king the Starks are rebelling against.

Agreed, at this point in the timeline the "wolves" are all still assembled under Robb at Riverrun and aren't as hostile as they would later become, whereas Amory and Gregor are destructive from day one.

 

[Peptic]

So they would protect themselves, but more against lions than wolves?

 

[Endymion]

Hey Peptic

Nice app. Keeping it simple and straightforward is always appreciated.

I like the idea of making Bullock a poor farmers community. We always need more of those in Westeros. Stylistically the project is pretty solid. The houses are simple and it works. I would warn you to not make the houses too high. If you look around Gaunt for example, you will see that most houses are only 2 high before the roof starts. This way the houses look poorer. Also when doing the little stone bottoms on your houses try to put the darker cobble on the edges of the house, rather than just randomly distributed. I don't think the project will have enough fields to warrant multiple mills.

On whether you should have a holdfast or a hamlet, I would say neither. If the house can barely upkeep their own small keep I doubt they would have holdfasts. A hamlet would indeed be too big. My radical proposal would be to just leave it empty. I know most builders advocate for filling projects with interesting things to explore in every corner, but I would say empty space is just as important. It provides a nice breathing space between projects and creates the illusion of distance. You just need to keep it immersive enough with some terra and vegetation.

I'm sure we'll be able to iron out these issues along the way, so you have my approval. I want to see the plotting of the village before you open it to builders.

 

[Peptic]

Great! So to summarize, lower the roofs on most of the houses, fix the stone bases on the houses. And remove the hamlet and holdfast.
And only have one windmill? Because I would need at least one right? And I'll get started on the plotting as soon as
I've got another approval and upload a picture here.

 

[DutchGuard]

So they would protect themselves, but more against lions than wolves?

Yes, I suppose so. Though at this point it's against the Lannisters best interest to attack the crownlands as it essentially allied territory. That said, it is recalled later in FfC Ch. 27, Jaime III:

Jaime was more interested in what Hogg had to say of wolves. “We had some trouble with a band of them white star wolves,” the old
knight told him. “They come round sniffing after you, my lord, but we saw them off, and buried three down by the turnips. Before them there
was a pack of bloody lions, begging your pardon. The one who led them had a manticore on his shield.”
“Ser Amory Lorch,” Jaime offered. “My lord father commanded him to harry the riverlands.”
“Which we’re no part of,” Ser Roger Hogg said stoutly. “My fealty’s owed to House Hayford, and Lady Ermesande bends her little knee at
King’s Landing, or will when she’s old enough to walk. I told him that, but this Lorch wasn’t much for listening. He slaughtered half my sheep
and three good milk goats, and tried to roast me in my tower. My walls are solid stone and eight feet thick, though, so after his fire burned
out he rode off bored. The wolves come later, the ones on four legs.

So it's clear at least Amory doesn't care much for regional loyalties.

 

[Peptic]

Alright here are some updated pictures of the houses, with the feedback taken into consideration, hopefully this is better.

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Hey Pep.

I agree with everything Endy said. I'd only drop the dun blocks for the houses. They're used in Mallery to create a buffer zone between the KL area that uses dun and northern Crownlands that use grey stone. For Bullock's location, I'd only use grey stone.

Other than that, I have no major issues. Approved!

 

[Peptic]

Wonderful! This means I can start planning the plotting on my plot right?

 

[Peptic]

Alright I finished the first test for the plotting, I'd say it looks decent but surely there's some stuff you guys would suggest. I labeled some of the more special plots, like the sept.

 

[Peptic]

And I would respectfully like for you guys to reconsider the option of a farmstead, I get the idea of creating distance between projects but I think a mini would allow for more community involvement. And if those parts would be empty it just looks flat, and I think a farmstead could definitely liven those parts up whilst still remaining rather small and not very significant on the larger scale of the surrounding lands. However that's just a thought.

 

[Endymion]

Hey

We've gone over the plotting of the small village together and I am happy to approve it. I would encourage you to mimic the garden style of Gaunt and Mallery for the gardens.

 

[Peptic]

Alright, I finished planning the fields, animal enclosures, and orchard. The shapes aren't final yet, they're a bit too perfectly square I'd say, but I'm pretty final on the placement. I'm of course open to feedback. The yellow is the animal enclosure, blue is the orchard, and purple is the fields.

 

[Peptic]

I haven't yet received confirmation whether or not my fields are fine, Endy said I could make some of them smaller pastures, but he did't point out which, so I'm wondering what WRMD thinks and if Endy could maybe post his suggestions here in the thread, thanks.

 

[Peptic]

Bump? maybe? Idk WRMD said to connect the fields to the yards of the houses to make it feel like one entity, this sounds pretty good, I'm currently trying to rework some of the fields but I haven't gotten very far. But maybe I could get a update on what the mods think?

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Yep, making the fields and yards less detached from eachother will look good once the vegetation is done. This is done really well at Gaunt, so I'd suggest taking most of the inspiration from there. As I advised you in private, I'd build the houses first so you have a better overview of the area and what does or doesn't look good. You don't have to have all the fields planned before starting the building phase. But of course, do as you like

 

[Peptic]

Well I was thinking I could do most of the planning before I open the plots, that way I can have everything visualized and it doesn't just become a drag of terra after all the houses are built. But yeah I'll finish up doing a bit of work on the fields and then open the plots, I've already mostly finished the style guide

 

[Peptic]

Status update, I've been talking to Vis and some others, and overall it seems like the fields are pretty fine, I added some small pastures close to the castle and changed the shape on one of the major fields, as you can see in the picture. I am also doing some stuff with gardens for the style test, but you can hopefully expect the plots to open within the next week or two. I also marked out some paths I am planning on adding going through/around the fields, you cant see that in the picture so you'll just have to check it out in game. If there's any more feedback please do post it here