For the most part, on top of existing towns. There’s a lot of towns that could be easily jump-started with the right charter. 

But for new-new, I’d go to my Economic Development series.

Well, we know of two surrenders. One makes sense – the Blackwood forces were inside Riverrun so there was no one to hold the castle – but one doesn’t. The Whents should have been able to put up stronger resistance. That leaves a lot of castles unaccounted for. 
.
And yeah, I think my original post was me acknowledging this. 

graphicpolicy:

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splatterofwolfblood:

racefortheironthrone:

Because in the middle of an ongoing civil war with the Blackfyres, Aegon didn’t want to fight one with the Baratheons. Lyonel would definitely fight to the last, and in the Stormlands, that means a half-hundred grinding sieges. 

Luckily, Lyonel agreed to a trial by combat.

Also, Aegon V knew that he was sort of in the wrong, even if Lyonel was taking honor to an extreme. 

Lyonel Baratheon was rewarded for his failed, bloody (TWOIAF) rebellion with Rhaella. Where the Tullys and Tyrells too weak or too stupid to rebel over Jaehaerys and Shaera?
Aegon V had proved himself so weak, the Reach could have gotten at least all their ports permanently freed of all royal taxes.

The Tullys and the Tyrells hadn’t saved Dunk’s life once. 

0lemat:

racefortheironthrone:

I think those opinions are entirely mistaken. In many, many cosmologies, death is seen as a part of the natural order that should be respected as any other. Assuming that a religious society that venerates the god of death to be evil is the kind of thinking that led Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to depict Kali (who represents both destruction and creation, and is a destroyer of evil forces) as an demon who had corrupted the worshipers of Shiva (who, in addition to being a benevolent god, is also known as the Destroyer). 

GRRM has gone to some lengths to let us know what the Faceless Men are about. They have their own history and legacy, which doesn’t tie back to the White Walkers at all. Assuming everything in Planetos ties back to either the White Walkers or to the dragons is basically arguing that GRRM engaged in bad world-building, because it means the world doesn’t exist outside of the spotlight. 

I mean, while the points here are entirely correct in every way, I do feel the need to point out that the FM do, in fact, tie back to dragons in a semi-major way, i.e. that they opposed the dragonlords.  Like, there are important points here that are correct, but the relation that the FM had to the dragons is also important here.

Sure. But they’re not on their side, which is what I was trying to get at. Nor are they on the side of the White Walkers. They’re on their own side, and Westeros contains many multitudes of sides. 

I think those opinions are entirely mistaken. In many, many cosmologies, death is seen as a part of the natural order that should be respected as any other. Assuming that a religious society that venerates the god of death to be evil is the kind of thinking that led Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to depict Kali (who represents both destruction and creation, and is a destroyer of evil forces) as an demon who had corrupted the worshipers of Shiva (who, in addition to being a benevolent god, is also known as the Destroyer). 

GRRM has gone to some lengths to let us know what the Faceless Men are about. They have their own history and legacy, which doesn’t tie back to the White Walkers at all. Assuming everything in Planetos ties back to either the White Walkers or to the dragons is basically arguing that GRRM engaged in bad world-building, because it means the world doesn’t exist outside of the spotlight. 

spinelladude333:

racefortheironthrone:

theoriginalfluffy:

racefortheironthrone:

We don’t know exactly. Given that it’s said to be one of the richest fiefs in all of Westeros, it must be extensive. 

Incidentally, this is yet another reason why the Riverlands having only 20,000 swords is iffy. If Harrenhal is that significant on a continental scale, it’s got to have more men than the Freys if somewhat less than the Hightowers b/c it doesn’t have a city associated with it. So why did Shella Whent yield Harrenhal to Tywin?

@racefortheironthrone 

 Yeah that’s been my issue with GRRM’s handling of the Riverlands as well hopefully he’ll flesh it out more later on. The Lords of the Riverlands seemed more interested in preserving their holdings from being torched so the troop numbers raised are probably way lower than they would if the whole region wasn’t being turned into a slaughter house. 

As for why Lady Whent yielded Harrenhal, I had assumed that she wasn’t all quite there to be honest. With her family all dead and have been left alone to herself in Harrenhal for well over a decade her mind has probably deteriorated As Cat mentioned in her V POV. If that’s the case then she maybe didn’t even register that there was a threat at all till Tywin showed up at her doorstep with his army, and without having called up her levies she’s left with only probably a small garrison to defend a castle the size of a city. 

So if we’re going by that troop estimate would you agree that Harrenhal could possibly field around 10k?

See, that still doesn’t make sense to me. Because Twin marches across the Riverlands at speed, capturing Pinkmaiden Castle, Atranta/Wayfarer’s Rest, Raventree Hall, Darry, Harrenhal, without taking a scratch. Given that he didn’t have the time to starve them out, he had to have been assaulting them. If the Riverlords were keeping their men home, those assaults should have been high-casualty affairs like we see later in the series, given the defensive advantage that castles offer. Yes, there are some exceptions, but not enough to explain why Tywin’s army is completely untouched. 

I would say that Harrenhal probably has 5-6k at the least, 8k at the most, given that a lot of revenue probably gets eaten up on upkeep. 

Is that taking into account that Tywin had sent marauders into the Riverlands first?  The Riverlords could’ve sent their forces to chase and apprehend them and fallen into traps or quagmires, leaving the castles vulnerable.  If the initial castles on the western end of the Riverlands fall so quickly, the time or awareness of the eastern Riverlords could account for their fall so quickly.  From the History of the Rynes of Castamere, Tywin is favorable to blitzkrieg tactics, and given that Jaimes forces might’ve been assumed to be the main and only force of the West, the Riverlords were once again caught off guard when he came from the south with his own force.

No, that really doesn’t solve the problem. In the phase of the war we’re talking about, Tywin sent Gregor in to hit known locations at the far west of the Riverlands, and we know exactly how many men were sent after them and what happened to them – Ned sent 120 men after Gregor and they got ambushed and 80 died. The splitting up to chase the marauders doesn’t happen until after the Battles of the Green Fork and the Camps. 

And the word had already gone out from Riverrun way in advance back when Tywin was marshaling his forces at Casterly Rock. 

The whole point of castles is that they’re supposed to be very difficult to take even with a tiny garrison. If the explanation for the missing 20,000 Riverlanders is that they’re all staying at home, their garrisons should be even bigger and harder to shift.  

theoriginalfluffy:

racefortheironthrone:

We don’t know exactly. Given that it’s said to be one of the richest fiefs in all of Westeros, it must be extensive. 

Incidentally, this is yet another reason why the Riverlands having only 20,000 swords is iffy. If Harrenhal is that significant on a continental scale, it’s got to have more men than the Freys if somewhat less than the Hightowers b/c it doesn’t have a city associated with it. So why did Shella Whent yield Harrenhal to Tywin?

@racefortheironthrone 

 Yeah that’s been my issue with GRRM’s handling of the Riverlands as well hopefully he’ll flesh it out more later on. The Lords of the Riverlands seemed more interested in preserving their holdings from being torched so the troop numbers raised are probably way lower than they would if the whole region wasn’t being turned into a slaughter house. 

As for why Lady Whent yielded Harrenhal, I had assumed that she wasn’t all quite there to be honest. With her family all dead and have been left alone to herself in Harrenhal for well over a decade her mind has probably deteriorated As Cat mentioned in her V POV. If that’s the case then she maybe didn’t even register that there was a threat at all till Tywin showed up at her doorstep with his army, and without having called up her levies she’s left with only probably a small garrison to defend a castle the size of a city. 

So if we’re going by that troop estimate would you agree that Harrenhal could possibly field around 10k?

See, that still doesn’t make sense to me. Because Twin marches across the Riverlands at speed, capturing Pinkmaiden Castle, Atranta/Wayfarer’s Rest, Raventree Hall, Darry, Harrenhal, without taking a scratch. Given that he didn’t have the time to starve them out, he had to have been assaulting them. If the Riverlords were keeping their men home, those assaults should have been high-casualty affairs like we see later in the series, given the defensive advantage that castles offer. Yes, there are some exceptions, but not enough to explain why Tywin’s army is completely untouched. 

I would say that Harrenhal probably has 5-6k at the least, 8k at the most, given that a lot of revenue probably gets eaten up on upkeep. 

We don’t know exactly. Given that it’s said to be one of the richest fiefs in all of Westeros, it must be extensive. 

Incidentally, this is yet another reason why the Riverlands having only 20,000 swords is iffy. If Harrenhal is that significant on a continental scale, it’s got to have more men than the Freys if somewhat less than the Hightowers b/c it doesn’t have a city associated with it. So why did Shella Whent yield Harrenhal to Tywin?

Because in the middle of an ongoing civil war with the Blackfyres, Aegon didn’t want to fight one with the Baratheons. Lyonel would definitely fight to the last, and in the Stormlands, that means a half-hundred grinding sieges. 

Luckily, Lyonel agreed to a trial by combat.

Also, Aegon V knew that he was sort of in the wrong, even if Lyonel was taking honor to an extreme.