How you characterize Duskendale’s political status for most of Westeros’ pre-Conquest history? Although they were conquered by the Stormlands a few times, I always got the impression that they were independent for large swathes of time (or only lightly ruled by their overlords). Would it be fair to describe the Crownlands, while not a kingdom in its own right, as a region characterized by its own political history of fragmented rule centered on Duskendale?

opinions-about-tiaras:

But yes, I would call the Crownlands characterized by fragmentary rule, a buffer zone and battlefield between kingdoms. 

Do you think this might explain why nobody had ever built a city or military fortification at the mouth of the Blackwater before Aegon did?

Because I gotta say, that always struck me as… very contrived. The Blackwater Rush and its tributaries penetrate deeply into the Riverlands and are navigable for much of their lengths, the mouth of it is wide and deep enough to provide a protected anchorage for ocean-going ships, and there’s even a convenient high, rocky hill perfect for building a fortress on right there!

It seems like one hundred percent primo real estate, the sort of place that would have long since been settled and controlled. The Ironmen could have established a fortress and protected anchorage there and used it as a base for raiding the Stormlands, the Stormlands would have liked to control it to raid into the Riverlands, the River Lords would have liked to control it in order to have access to the Narrow Sea and all the trade implied there… but nobody does anything at all with it. There’s a small fishing village and that’s it. Nobody touches the place or even begins to develop it until Aegon comes ashore, and it seems like that’s almost purely for meta reasons; it was being “held open” for him so he could build his own city.

Although I suppose that if we need an in-universe explanation, perhaps the area was so hotly contested that nobody felt like they could hold the mouth of the Blackwater? Although that seems like weak, weak tea.

Mmm…that’s not quite accurate:

racefortheironthrone:

Well, Duskendale spent time under both the River Kings and the Storm Kings and the Iron Kings, but they also were independent at other times, and when they were conquered they tended to be on the periphery and thus more difficult to control. 

But yes, I would call the Crownlands characterized by fragmentary rule, a buffer zone and battlefield between kingdoms. 

“In the days of the Hundred Kingdoms, many petty kings had claimed dominion over the river mouth, amongst them the Darklyn kings of Duskendale, the Masseys of Stonedance, and the river kings of old, be they Mudds, Fishers, Brackens, Blackwoods, or Hooks. Towers and forts had crowned the three hills at various times, only to be thrown down in one war or another.”

People had definitely built fortifications, but because it’s located right on the border between several kingdoms, the fortifications kept getting destroyed in the back-and-forth fighting. And that border was especially back-and-forth, given the various military talents or lack thereof.