Approved Project Application : House Charlton by Batelgause

[Batelgause]

Hi everybody !

After months of planning and thinking about it i'm finally applying for the House of Charlton in northern riverlands . (hope i dont drop this one too)

Here is the app!

 

[AerioOndos]

Loving the tests and minimodels Batel! Only thing I'd recommend is having a swampy edge to the green fork with dense reeds and maybe a little bit of peat cutting. To use a witcher 3 example, maybe a shed on stilts like the peat cutter in velen who wants a dangerous old Foglet killed. This could be on a slight slope, maybe 3 blocks a at most above the river level. This could be due to blanket bog developing on a slope, or natural springs combined with high watertable creating a sloped wetland (Carr).

Also what would be good is if you could post a few sample dioramas of terrain for the forest, wetland and rivers edge. These would give us an idea of what you intend for the terrain and how that could blend with Hagsmire and Fairmarket. I'd suggest looking at Alder Fenns, as well as making some transitions from Alder fen->reedy/grassy wetlands. It should feel distinct from the Neck.
Additionally, you mentioned adding forests for extra isolation, which I approve of, but remember that your biggest friend there is the lore about roads. Its close enough to Hags Mire to have very bad roads, so have them twist along the highest points, particularly in wetland, and be regularly boggy, with boards slapped over the top where its not on higher ground.

Otherwise, I approve! Been waiting to see these tests brought onto production for a long time.

 

[lemonbear]

Hi Batel,

Can we see a facade test for the keep/tower?

 

[Desmera]

There is a golden board above hagsmire forest, where used schems are written and smaller trees are made by hand . It would be good to blend the whole style somehow.

 

[Batelgause]

Hi Batel,

Can we see a facade test for the keep/tower?

hey lem!

there are facade tests for the keep and tower in my plot /warp batelgause , you can check them there . I , however plan to adjust them after the migration with new blocks

 

[Ric]

there are facade tests for the keep and tower in my plot /warp batelgause , you can check them there . I , however plan to adjust them after the migration with new blocks

Just out of curiosity, which new blocks you mean?

 

[Batelgause]

Just out of curiosity, which new blocks you mean?

plan to request some new orange brick blocks to create a new proper palette for it , poor orange bricks need some love

 

[Ric]

Hey Batel

Before I give my approval I would like to ask for a couple things:

• First about the terra: I pretty much eccho what Aeks asked for. Would be good to see tests of the terrain design you have in mind, taking into account that making it distinct from the Neck would be nice. Also a test of the house style for houses on stilts too.

• This isn't something you should do now before approval or even right after, but I would prefer that you take into account that you might not get the blocks you want or that, if you get them, they might not be totally in the way you want. So it would be good to know that you would still be okay with making the castle with the current blocks or at least finding a way around it, without dropping the build completely

 

[EStoop]

Hey (soon to be) neighbour!

I'm currently working with Jakethesnake8_8 to transform the vast open swamp between Ramsford, Mandrake and FMseptry to a combination of heath, forest and floodplains in the near future. The goal is to create a wilderness that will create a natural border between projects without turning the area into a second Neck. We could enlarge this area to reach all the way to the Green Fork, encompassing most of the area you dedicated to forest on the border with Fairmarket and Vypren in your app.

Wildernesses like these are historically used for a wide variety of uses, including hunting, grazing and peat extraction. During the middle ages many of these heaths were subject to sand drifts, a result from soil erosion from overgrazing and -farming, as well as extensive logging. We're not sure wether to include sand drifts though.

For the terrain I intend to rely mostly on the Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the Netherlands for inspiration. Here are some vibes:





Let me know if you want to join in!

I also have some feedback for the app:

• I think the scale of your map is slightly off. Using either the hamlet north of the FMseptry or at Vypren castle as reference, the space between the three hamlets and the main town is not enough. I recommend removing the eastern hamlet since it's fairly close to the Vypren one, and maybe even the western one as well since it's kind of awkwardly situated on a slope and close enough to both your castle and the Hags Mire hamlet in order to break up the forest around it and remove the illusion of it being isolated. That would also give you room to move the remaining hamlet upriver, so it isn't right across the castle at Haigh.
• The stream you added is situated on a slope between a low ridge the majority of Mandrake is on and the marshland at Sevenstreams. I recommend not lowering the terrain any further since we need the ridge to prevent the Green Fork from barging into the low lying wetlands and the Blue Fork much earlier than it does. With the current terrain at Mandrake the hydrology on the south and west side is mostly solved already, so there is no need to add streams or rivers on this side.
• There is a road from Vypren that will stop at the border of the lands in the current plans.
• What is the plan for the riverbank of the Green Fork?

 

[Batelgause]

Hey (soon to be) neighbour!

I'm currently working with Jakethesnake8_8 to transform the vast open swamp between Ramsford, Mandrake and FMseptry to a combination of heath, forest and floodplains in the near future. The goal is to create a wilderness that will create a natural border between projects without turning the area into a second Neck. We could enlarge this area to reach all the way to the Green Fork, encompassing most of the area you dedicated to forest on the border with Fairmarket and Vypren in your app.

Wildernesses like these are historically used for a wide variety of uses, including hunting, grazing and peat extraction. During the middle ages many of these heaths were subject to sand drifts, a result from soil erosion from overgrazing and -farming, as well as extensive logging. We're not sure wether to include sand drifts though.

For the terrain I intend to rely mostly on the Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the Netherlands for inspiration. Here are some vibes:

View attachment 14128
View attachment 14129
View attachment 14130

Let me know if you want to join in!

I also have some feedback for the app:

• I think the scale of your map is slightly off. Using either the hamlet north of the FMseptry or at Vypren castle as reference, the space between the three hamlets and the main town is not enough. I recommend removing the eastern hamlet since it's fairly close to the Vypren one, and maybe even the western one as well since it's kind of awkwardly situated on a slope and close enough to both your castle and the Hags Mire hamlet in order to break up the forest around it and remove the illusion of it being isolated. That would also give you room to move the remaining hamlet upriver, so it isn't right across the castle at Haigh.
• The stream you added is situated on a slope between a low ridge the majority of Mandrake is on and the marshland at Sevenstreams. I recommend not lowering the terrain any further since we need the ridge to prevent the Green Fork from barging into the low lying wetlands and the Blue Fork much earlier than it does. With the current terrain at Mandrake the hydrology on the south and west side is mostly solved already, so there is no need to add streams or rivers on this side.
• There is a road from Vypren that will stop at the border of the lands in the current plans.
• What is the plan for the riverbank of the Green Fork?

so first of all , i'd love to join in that plan of yours and jake's .

- I agree with your take about the eastern and the remanining hamlet to the north but the western one i planned to barely be a hamlet like 3-5 buildings with some of them being sheds the location , however , might be discussed.
- about the stream i added , i added that stream to continue an already existing stream in northern parts of FM and i shall not lower the terrain around but raising both sides of the stream slightly to create a way for it , idk how else could that stream naturally work tbh .
- i shall fix the road from vypren.
- i plan to stay faithful to what aeks suggesteda about the riverbanks.

Loving the tests and minimodels Batel! Only thing I'd recommend is having a swampy edge to the green fork with dense reeds and maybe a little bit of peat cutting. To use a witcher 3 example, maybe a shed on stilts like the peat cutter in velen who wants a dangerous old Foglet killed. This could be on a slight slope, maybe 3 blocks a at most above the river level. This could be due to blanket bog developing on a slope, or natural springs combined with high watertable creating a sloped wetland (Carr).

Also what would be good is if you could post a few sample dioramas of terrain for the forest, wetland and rivers edge. These would give us an idea of what you intend for the terrain and how that could blend with Hagsmire and Fairmarket. I'd suggest looking at Alder Fenns, as well as making some transitions from Alder fen->reedy/grassy wetlands. It should feel distinct from the Neck.
Additionally, you mentioned adding forests for extra isolation, which I approve of, but remember that your biggest friend there is the lore about roads. Its close enough to Hags Mire to have very bad roads, so have them twist along the highest points, particularly in wetland, and be regularly boggy, with boards slapped over the top where its not on higher ground.

Otherwise, I approve! Been waiting to see these tests brought onto production for a long time.

- and last but not least , answering to ric i will of course build the castle with our current range of blocks , however , i shall use the newly introduced blocks if they ever make it to our modpack

 

[Batelgause]

bump

 

[Ric]

Before I give my approval I would like to ask for a couple things:

• First about the terra: I pretty much eccho what Aeks asked for. Would be good to see tests of the terrain design you have in mind, taking into account that making it distinct from the Neck would be nice. Also a test of the house style for houses on stilts too.

Hey Batel, I'm still waiting on the tests Aeks had asked too before giving my approval. Some small dioramas of what you plan on doing should sufice.

 

[Batelgause]

Hey , after some time i think the diaromas are finally done super thanks to Jake , Maj , Aeks and Kor for their help . There are 6 different diaromas that show different stages of my testing and different ideas from several other builders . You can find them all near /Warp monopoly (fly south after teleportation) but i'm putting an image of the one i like the most below.



This one was done by jake as an update over my original test.

I also completed a facade test for one of the towers :




With that being said i think i'm finally ready to start my first(!) project , thank you for reading!

 

[Ric]

I'm happy to approve

 

[AerioOndos]

Alrighty! I'm ready to approve also. Remember to let us check plotting with you before you start on the main settlements.
Also, when plots are open, remember to put the [plot] signs on them. Destroy them after someone takes them but they can be really helpful for quickly figuring out where new builds can happen.

 

[Batelgause]

So a quick appeal , with our dear darling Stoop's suggestion , I think it would make sense if we swapped mandrake and charlton just like we did with norcross and roxton based on canon.
Charlton canon says "House Charlton fought other riverlords for control of the riverlands in the century after the fall of House Justman.[3]" , "Lord Theo Charlton supported Harwyn Hoare, King of the Iron Islands, against the Storm King Arrec Durrandon in the battle at Fairmarket.[3]". Moreover they are a Frey vassal atm just like i planned mandrake to be .We also know they've been around for some time and fought for the crown of riverlands whereas the only thing we know about mandrakes is that mandrakes once loomed large in the histories of seven kingdoms said by joncon.
I personally think the Charlton canon is stronger than the Mandrake one for the location since we dont even know which region mandrake used to be. The change has no affect on my plans but making the castle a little bit more intact than i intended to do so which isnt a big deal at all to me.

I'm waiting to see your comments about the appeal

 

[Batelgause]

I forgot to add this map stoop made a while ago about the houses in riverlands :

 

[AerioOndos]

I'm a big fan of the change as it makes sense considering how close Mandrake is to FM. There are many other places Mandrake could be and Charlton suits being closer to the main action of the Riverlands.

 

[Batelgause]

I wanna make a quick update that i started plotting the castle and i'm waiting for all feedback Images below.

note: these do not include the later additions such as thatch and wood buildings/sheds/barns etc.

 

[Batelgause]

Its been a little more than a year since i last made an update but here we go. Due to the lack of WE commands(cant even shape the hill atm) i've been working on finishing the castle for about a month and i made decent progress. The main keep and the small coutryard is done interiors&exteriors, i'm very happy with how the interiors of the keep turned out they are one of my best. The plotting of the castle is also pretty much done except the souterhn bit which im trying to figure out still.

I desire to work on the project more actively if we get WE to work properly.