Hey Scubooty, I've read through your post and thought about it at length. I'm not sure I agree but I admit that I am 100% biased as the builder so I'd love to hear others' opinions on this as well!
These are my arguments for the current size of the Septry:
Firstly, I used Peasedale Septry a lot as inspiration for my build, including the size. My rough measurements are as follows:
Peasedale:
North/South = ~102 blocks
East/West = ~107 Blocks (~118 with orchard)
Field Of Fire:
North/South = ~89 blocks
East/West = ~139 blocks
Both images were taken at 160 y, and the ground level is very similar (~49 vs ~47) so I think they give quite a good comparison. I would argue that while my FoF build is larger than Peasedale septry, it's not by that much. I tried to make the buildings of the septry itself significantly lower and thinner to balance the larger footprint.
Secondly, regarding industries, you're right, there is a lot going on, although again I would argue that it's fairly justified. IRL monastries tended to be self-sufficient and producers of many goods, particularly cheese and alcohol. Again, taking Peasedale as inspiration, the smaller septry contains apiaries, candle making, cheesemaking and a cidery. Canon (based on the wiki of ice and fire, which I
think is pretty accurate) says that a prosperous septry in the riverlands worked "dozen milk cows and a bull, a hundred beehives, a vineyard, an apple arbor, a mill, and a brewhouse." A vinyard, orchard, and hundred beehives (and the necessary facilities to process those products) is quite substantial, even if this is a particularly wealthy spetry.
I would say the need for this level of industry is twofold. Practicality and money. Things like cheesemaking and the smokehouse are basic medieval necessities to allow the preservation of food, and are not much work to manage (based on my limited knowledge). Parchment making and candlemaking serve the purpose of providing the septry with vital resources (pretty sure septs use a lot of candles, and septries are noted to store books/scrolls) which would otherwise be very expensive to purchase. Excess stock can be sold for money to help with maintaining the septry. The meadery is just an extension of the candle-making. If you have honey, processing it into mead is a fairly simple and value-enhancing procedure and also one deeply associated with monastries irl (and in canon, I believe, as the Quiet Isle Septry is said to make good mead)
The ability to support this industry is a good question. I initially suggested a few farmers houses for non-septon inhabitants but as Cashbanks pointed out there are already nearby hamlets and villages that could provide volunteer workers. I haven't thought much about it since then. Looking at a map I would agree that the surrounding villages might be a little far, but I think it's not inconcievable for Girdle and Bechester to send villagers. I think the septons themselves can also do a lot of the industry work. I've built the septry with around 20-40 septons in mind, which gives a lot of labour to suppor this. There isn't that much room in the septry to graze cattle or goats, but I have assumed they could graze them on the northern FoF.
To address your point about the need (or lack of need) for defence, I didn't intend the size or layout of the septry to be particularly defense oriented. The boundy wall is low and thin, and is mostly just to demarcate the septry grounds, keep thieves out and provide a sense of seclusion from the outside world. The gatehouse is large but mostly ornamental and lacks any true defensive features, instead providing lodgings for the porter/doorkeeper.
When considering its purpose as a memorial, I actually deliberatly went for the opposite of "quaint", as I imagined it as less a "memorial" as we think of today and more as a statement of power and intention by Aegon. It is - to my mind - intented to invoke a sense of power and authority. To remind people of Aegon's mercy and faith in the Seven, but also as a quiet reminder of his wrath. Both Battle Abbey and Batalha Monastary were/are grand and imposing structures which, to my eye, celebrate the power and wealth of the kings who built them as much as they pay homage to the gods. I have tried to keep the sense of power and prestige with my build, while attempting to avoid it becoming imposing.
I agree that the server scale might make the more realistic depiction of monastries/septries inapropriate in places, however I still feel that the FoF is a large enough area that the current layout doesn't feel overly intrusive and while the footprint is indeed larger than many castles, I personally don't think that's a bad thing. I intended for it to feel sprawling, in a way that smaller castles often aren't, with their focus on defense.
Finally, I would echo the point made earlier in this thread, that a lot of septries could be fine. Medieval england had a
lot of priories/abbeys/monastries and convents, I don't see any great reason why they should be that rare in Westeros.
I really hope this post doesn't come across as hostile to your feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know your thoughts, it just happens to be something I've thought long and hard about and have a different opinion on, and I wanted to lay out my full thought process for you.
