Completed Project Application: House Vikary by Ric_games & Thevikingcorgi

[Ric]

Hi! Me and Viking are applying for House Vikary as a co-op project.

 

[Thevikingcorgi]

huzzah!

 

[AerioOndos]

Just had an idea, the abandoned mines could have previously been in Reyne lands and Vikary was essentially a vassal of that house.

 

[Ric]

I agree, I do believe that it makes sense to think that Vikary was once a vassal of House Reyne that probably sided with Casterly Rock during the Reyne rebellion.

 

[Endymion]

Hey, this app looks good for your first app. But I do have some points where it can be improved.
First of all I would move the village a bit more down the mountain. (See map) Secondly, I would replace it by a large, spread out hamlet. I don't feel like there's a reason a village would have developed there. Also maybe only do a road on 1 side of the river.
In terms of terrain, the project seems to be empty in some places. You could solve this by making the project a little more heavily forested, like most other projects on this coast. At least in the back of the valley and preferably all the way up to the castle. Finally, don't let the streams go up the mountain too high and there seems to be a good location for an extra lake and stream.

 

[AlexIsTragic]

Just to add to Endy's idea of having the lands overall be more densely forested, there's a tidbit of canon about the Westerlands' forests in AWOIAF;

"The westerlands are a place of rugged hills and rolling plains, of misty dales and craggy shorelines, a place of blue lakes and sparkling rivers and fertile fields, of broadleaf forests that teem with game of every sort, where half-hidden doors in the sides of wooded hills open onto labyrinthine caves that wend their way through darkness to reveal unimaginable wonders and vast treasures deep beneath the earth."

With this bit of canon in mind (aside from the nature of the forests themselves) you could maybe consider having some sort of hunting being done somewhere in Vikary's lands.

 

[AerioOndos]

With this bit of canon in mind (aside from the nature of the forests themselves) you could maybe consider having some sort of hunting being done somewhere in Vikary's lands.

And there is a boar in the sigil of House Vikary so.... get King Robert, there are boar to hunt!

 

[Ric]

Thanks Endy, Alex and Aek for the feedback! Taking it into account, here are some changes in our map:


Yellow is farmlands
Brighter green represents the forests south of the valley
Darker green represents the forests around the Crag
Brown are roads, paths and may be bridges if fitting
Blue are rivers and lakes

So, changed the eastern most village to a hamlet as suggested; we added a Hunter Lodge too and a small holdfast near the western most village, as this village would be propense to ironborn attacks, I think it makes sense for the smallfolk there to have a way of defending themselfs (or just a safer place to hide). Also, this village may be changed into a big hamlet instead of being a village.

 

[Antony]

And there is a boar in the sigil of House Vikary so.... get King Robert, there are boar to hunt!

About the boar in their sigil, I would say, as house Vikary is relatively "younger" than the other great and older houses of the Westerlands, that the boar signifies some possible relation to house Crakehall too. As a sigil, in medieval Europe, would more ussualy signify a relation with another family, if that sigil has a similar design that would be considered a unique characteristic of that other family. (Already Vikary has the Lion of Reyne, with reversed colours already.)

 

[Antony]

I have also one more point to make.
As you said in the app, for Tyrion to care about ser Lymond's, as he told Sansa, signifies that they Re surely a somewhat influencial house, and also seeing the amount of mines in their lands I would strongly argue that their castle is somewhat small, to show their power and wealth. I myself would go with something slightly bigger and more castle like, with features like a larger keep, more than three towers etc...

 

[AerioOndos]

Ser Lymond is referenced alongside Jast, Crakehall and Stafford so is obviously of importance. Perhaps Vikary is so well apointed because they were given portions of the Reyne land in return for loyalty during the uprising? I know I've already said this

 

[Antony]

Good point Aeksio.

 

[Ric]

As you said in the app, for Tyrion to care about ser Lymond's, as he told Sansa, signifies that they Re surely a somewhat influencial house, and also seeing the amount of mines in their lands I would strongly argue that their castle is somewhat small, to show their power and wealth. I myself would go with something slightly bigger and more castle like, with features like a larger keep, more than three towers etc...

I believe that the importance of Vikary comes from the size of their lands, which I pointed out to justify their rule over the hole valley (I think I didn't make that clear, sorry). As pointed by Aek, the size of it's lands were most likely extended after the Reyne defeat, which was kind recently and I believe this "newer" wealth could be demostrated in castle furnishing rather than in a bigger castle. If needed be, I think we can extend the walls and make an "outer yard" with some more places a proper castle would have, but for now I don't feel sure about doing it.

Regarding the Crakehall relation, it makes sense, but I don't know a way of representing that in the project, as the house, especially for it's location, has deeper connections with the Reynes apparently. But, the proposed hunter lodge can have hints that point to the existence of boars in the area, giving more meaning to the sigil and the keep may have too signs of boar hunt (if that is possible).

 

[Antony]

I totaly agree with your points Ric.
As for the Crakehall relation, that can be easily represented in an armor with crakehall colours, or in one grave perhaps in the crypts. Belonging to the mother of the bastard who was the founder, for the first probability, or the bastards wife, so the founder's mother, for the second probability. Still i'm sure that even if you don't use any of that, you will make vikary work.

 

[zanji]

like it

 

[Veggie]

Pleased to see you guys working together on your first application,

I'm enthusiastic at the idea of you guys populating those lands between The Crag and Castamere.

I'd be happy to approve this on a few stipulations;

• Please address the terraforming divide between The Crag and Castamere. Understandably, the shoreline at Castamere is more dated than that of the Crag. The river you would like to add (which I agree is only logical in the trough of a valley) would only highlight the differences in terraforming. I would like to see the coastline Banty used at the Crag rolled out across that shoreline.
  If you feel this is unreasonable for your first project I understand, it may be the case that a separate task is needed in the future on the part of mods/editors to bring things like shorelines into a more cohesive state. If you don't feel you are able to do this, then do not feel shy to say so, I don't think it should be a barrier to you starting this project.
• The house designs are very flat, I can see that it's a stylistic choice, but don't feel they are appropriate on those smaller houses. I think they work to an extent on the two story ones but am apprehensive whether these would work in a small village. I think the roof overhangs of the half blocks actually accent how flat the houses are and make them like rather squat and stunted. I would appreciate some further tests which seek to bridge the divide between The Crag and Castamere rather than having such a distinct style.
• I would like to see a more detailed layout of the castle, I do like the keep bit itself as one cohesive 'lump' of buildings, but am always reluctant to approve castles which feel like separate buildings connected by thin walls at odd angles-- I was guilty of this myself when first starting out. Just a quick screenshot with an explicit layout and I'll be happy.
• I'd like you to run any plotting at the villages past your approving mods (hopefully I'll be one of them) before you open them up to building (if that's your intention) just so we can give you a green light on it.

Hope this makes sense, I know I'm a complete shit for being overly wordy sometimes, but I mean well, I promise!

Veg

 

[Thevikingcorgi]

Hey veg thank your for the feedback on the app.
- for the shoreline we can update the portion to the crags style but will need help from an editor as none of us has WE yet.
- I have made some updated house designs for Vikary that are less flat and hopefully combine its two neighboring styles, the two level houses are gonna be very scarce and only in the larger hamlets. (there will be a wattle daub variant similar to these houses)

- regarding the keep layout i believe this is what you want but please correct me if I have misunderstood or it is not detailed enough. Also inside the test it self are interior layouts for the rooms. The test is at /warp ric.

- as for the plotting we happy to let go through the mods first before building

 

[Veggie]

Thanks for responding to my feedback,

I think the new house tests are great and straddle the styles at both The Crag and Castamere well.

Thanks for sending a top-down view of the castle over, I'm fine with what you have proposed.

Keep me informed of any big changes you make as you go (if you make them) rather than me finding them at the end.

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Approved. Just please get rid of the wattle crenellations xD

 

[Ric]

Hey, I would like to apply for editor lite, as I believe I will need some WE help to properly do the intended rivers and forests.