You're the Head of a Noble House: Riverlands Edition

[James Steller]

You're the Lord/Lady of a lower-sized Noble house in the Riverlands (you're own House, assume it's been around for several generations). You have three children: a son at 18, a daughter at 15, and another son at 5, with the eldest being illegitimate.

Your spouse has died, but his/her family still takes in interest in their grandchildren through you. However, your youngest son is sickly, and there's no telling if he'll get out of this phase later on in life.

Your eldest son, meanwhile, is all you could hope for in an heir, and is readily available to learn the last lessons he needs to know to succeed you as Lord of your house. Your in-laws, who are a much more powerful Noble House than you, naturally despise this illegitimate son and will make both your lives very difficult if you legitimize him and make him your heir over your spouse's children.

Your daughter has gotten a marriage proposal from the heir of the nearby (and wealthy) House Frey, but the heir is three times older than your daughter, and you know she would be miserable. They are very touchy about slights, and you don't want to be in their bad books.

Meanwhile, two other marriage proposals have come from a noble house in the Westerlands, and another from the Vale, both very far away from your holdings. The Vale suitor is twice as old as your daughter, and he is poorer than the Freys, but nobody doubts his honour or good name. The Westerlord lives near the Golden Tooth, and thus prejudices would come up concerning the long history of the Riverlands, but he is wealthy and handsome.

How do you run this household? What paths do you set your children on?

[Floki of the Ironborn]

Definitely the toughest one you've offered so far. Very fitting for the Riverlands.

Anyway, first thing's first. I need to defuse the Frey situation. I love my daughter and I don't want to ruin her life, and I also don't want to make the Freys hate me. So I'm going to remarry myself, and take a Frey wife. Lord knows there has to be some Frey daughters hoping for a marriage proposal, so instead of turning them down outright I'm going to compromise and marry whichever Frey daughter they provide me. I'll aim for an older relation, who hopefully won't be able to bear more children.

As for my daughter, I'll send her to the Vale, to get the hell out of the Riverlands and somewhere safe. As far from my enemies as I can get her.

In the meantime I legitimize my eldest son. I've got problems that need to be dealt with now, and he's clearly the man for the job.

My second son, if he survives childhood, will be fostered with either his sister's household in the Vale or a high-tier Riverlord. He'll be engaged to a Frey daughter as well, if possible. A girl close to his age so they'll both mature at pretty much the same time.

Meanwhile, if my second son dies, and/or if my new wife provides children after all, we'll see where I go from there.

[OmnomnomPomelo]

I remarry with a Frey girl, thus I won't send my daughter to them.

I'd try to marry my sickly son to a bigger house's daughter, then urge them to make children. If my son succeeds and he will have a son then no problem, even if my son dies, my grandson will be the next Lord. However if my sickly son can't even make a heir then there's still the "send to the Citadel" option. In this case he'd understand that I need a heir what he can't provide, so he'd lie to everybody that he can't perform in the bed which is a big shame to him so he wanna be a maester instead of a Lord.

In this case my bastard will marry my other son's ex-wife. If I will have a son from my Frey wife then he becomes my heir, if not, then I try to legitimize my bastard and make him my heir.

And then comes my daughter. As I said I marry a Frey instead of her. And I marry her into the Vale, coz it's safer than the Westerlands.

Another option is that I ask for a Frey wife to my sickly son. Ask my bastard to fuck the girl and make her a son, after the son is born kill the Frey girl in an "accident" and say that her son is my sickly son's son. Problem solved.

[The Mountain That Flies]

1. Marry my daughter to the future Lord Frey. I will feel like shit for making her life unhappy, but inter-regional alliances come first and since the Freys are bigger than me the prospect of me marrying one of their daughters wouldn't be the same thing. Furthermore, I would console my daughter with the knowledge that as the eventual Lady of the Crossing she'll wield a solid amount of influence, and would insist the first few years of their marriage be spent at my castle so I could make sure he treats her right and to ease her transition.

2. Knight my bastard, then send him to be in the service of another noble house, preferably one in another region. If he is as skilled as the OP states he could advance very far as a landed knight or even potential petty lord, and I would want him to be successful away from my deceased wife's family who would always be gunning for him if he were around.

3. Betroth my sickly son to a young daughter of House Frey, which is demanded as part of the dowry for my daughter. Not only will this solidify a strong inter-regional alliance, it will help establish a clear line of succession; if my son dies before siring an heir, my daughter's second son could inherit my seat without too much fuss. If she has no second son and it looks like I'm approaching the end, I could always recall the bastard and legitimize him then when my dead wife's family wouldn't have as much of a leg to stand on anymore.

I realize people may criticize me for squandering a talented bastard but I'm assuming I love my children in this world, and the fact is bastards have better luck when they try to make their own way in the world than when they get involved in dynastic disputes. I also realize tying myself to such a hated house may seem like a stupid idea, but as a lower-sized house I'm better off joining up with one bigger house than trying to play games with multiple ones simultaneously.

If my legitimate son dies I would consider remarrying, bu that would depend on what situation my daughter is in, how old I am, etc.

[Floki of the Ironborn]

1. Marry my daughter to the future Lord Frey. I will feel like shit for making her life unhappy, but inter-regional alliances come first and since the Freys are bigger than me the prospect of me marrying one of their daughters wouldn't be the same thing. Furthermore, I would console my daughter with the knowledge that as the eventual Lady of the Crossing she'll wield a solid amount of influence, and would insist the first few years of their marriage be spent at my castle so I could make sure he treats her right and to ease her transition.

2. Knight my bastard, then send him to be in the service of another noble house, preferably one in another region. If he is as skilled as the OP states he could advance very far as a landed knight or even potential petty lord, and I would want him to be successful away from my deceased wife's family who would always be gunning for him if he were around.

3. Betroth my sickly son to a young daughter of House Frey, which is demanded as part of the dowry for my daughter. Not only will this solidify a strong inter-regional alliance, it will help establish a clear line of succession; if my son dies before siring an heir, my daughter's second son could inherit my seat without too much fuss. If she has no second son and it looks like I'm approaching the end, I could always recall the bastard and legitimize him then when my dead wife's family wouldn't have as much of a leg to stand on anymore.

I realize people may criticize me for squandering a talented bastard but I'm assuming I love my children in this world, and the fact is bastards have better luck when they try to make their own way in the world than when they get involved in dynastic disputes. I also realize tying myself to such a hated house may seem like a stupid idea, but as a lower-sized house I'm better off joining up with one bigger house than trying to play games with multiple ones simultaneously.

If my legitimate son dies I would consider remarrying, bu that would depend on what situation my daughter is in, how old I am, etc.

My only question would be whether you'd change your mind on the Frey alliance if the time period we're talking about is post-Red Wedding. Or would that matter to you?

[DavosBolton]

Interesting topic. So I am the head of a minor noble house, so lower in the echelon of power than:

-Tully

-the 2 Vances families

-Frey

-Blackwood

-Bracken

Which means my family is equal in prestige to the Pipers of Pinkmaiden or Smallwood of Acorn Hall?

I'll style myself house Morningwood of Rooster's Peak :lol:

Since my eldest bastard son is a rare talent, he must become my heir at any cost.

For my daughter's marriage, I would GLADLY accept the Frey marriage. I do not disdain the Freys as others would. They gave Robb massive reinforcements, same for Roose Bolton. I will honor the Freys, and in turn they will honor me in kind. On top of that, they offer the Frey heir as husband to my daughter, how can I refuse? He might be wise and considerate like Stevron Frey, the heir in the official timeline.

I will even offer to marry a Frey daughter myself to cement this alliance beyond any doubt, and perhaps to get a nice dowry ( not marrying fat Walda though :lol: , maybe a Frey from Walder's Royce or Crakenhall wife )

I will seek to legitimize my bastard son at all cost. I will still care for my five years old son, teach him to hone his mind, but he cannot be my heir, as my bastard is too talented in both mind and body to pass up. I will sternly warn my bastard to avoid harming my 5 year old son, who will be trained to advise and assist him.

I will apologize to the family of my deceased wife, and promise that any children from my union with the Frey lady can marry one of my former's wife siblings. Even my legitimized bastard son can marry a daughter of my previous wife's family.

[The Mountain That Flies]

My only question would be whether you'd change your mind on the Frey alliance if the time period we're talking about is post-Red Wedding. Or would that matter to you?

if it was post-RW my plans would be similar but involve no Freys. Their heir situation is extremly volatile, so I wouldn't want my daughter mixed up in that. If it was right now in Westeros I would keep my plan for the bastard, specifically sending him to the Vale. My daughter I would marry to the Vale suitor, and bethrote the youngest to a daughter of one of the two houses I've just connected with.

There is also some potential value in sending the bastard to work in Essos, either with some Braavos nobility or a reputable mercenary company, but I suppose that decision could be left up to him.

[Dorian Martell]

Hire a FM to kill the lord paramount of the riverlands and his heir and have him wear the lords face long enough to get betrothed to their daughter. Then I will be Lord paramount and I would bathe in all of the riverland's gold and riches

[Floki of the Ironborn]

I'll style myself house Morningwood of Rooster's Peak :lol:

I salute you.

[shmewdog]

I would do everything in my power to legitimize my bastard so that he can be my heir, my in-laws be damned.

My daughter will marry the highest Frey she can possibly get and she will do as she is bid because she is my daughter.

My youngest son will be mistreated and abused his entire life, I mean what's he gonna do? Shoot me with a crossbow while I'm in the privy? I doubt it.

[John Doe]

You're like Randyll Tarly.

[Floki of the Ironborn]

You're like Randyll Tarly.

No, Randyll would have ordered his son to the Wall while pointing the crossbow at him in the forest.

[Pod The Impaler]

You're the Lord/Lady of a lower-sized Noble house in the Riverlands (you're own House, assume it's been around for several generations). You have three children: a son at 18, a daughter at 15, and another son at 5, with the eldest being illegitimate.

Your spouse has died, but his/her family still takes in interest in their grandchildren through you. However, your youngest son is sickly, and there's no telling if he'll get out of this phase later on in life.

Your eldest son, meanwhile, is all you could hope for in an heir, and is readily available to learn the last lessons he needs to know to succeed you as Lord of your house. Your in-laws, who are a much more powerful Noble House than you, naturally despise this illegitimate son and will make both your lives very difficult if you legitimize him and make him your heir over your spouse's children.

Your daughter has gotten a marriage proposal from the heir of the nearby (and wealthy) House Frey, but the heir is three times older than your daughter, and you know she would be miserable. They are very touchy about slights, and you don't want to be in their bad books.

Meanwhile, two other marriage proposals have come from a noble house in the Westerlands, and another from the Vale, both very far away from your holdings. The Vale suitor is twice as old as your daughter, and he is poorer than the Freys, but nobody doubts his honour or good name. The Westerlord lives near the Golden Tooth, and thus prejudices would come up concerning the long history of the Riverlands, but he is wealthy and handsome.

How do you run this household? What paths do you set your children on?

1 - I find the Ghost of High Heart, and seek her council - a rumoured penchant for witchcraft and the Old Gods will go well with what I am about to attempt

2A - My eldest son will spend some time at Seagard (as a squire if I can arrange it) - the Mallisters are powerful in battle, and also near enough to the crannogmen, whom I also have my son visit.

2B) - My daughter can visit the Tullys with me, and/or the Blackwoods: mainly this is to build up an impression of fidelity and friendship. If Hoster or Edmure Tully have some advice I will consider it.

2C) - For my youngest son, I would seek to arrange with Lord Tully make him a ward in the Tully household, though not for a few years (he is 5, perhaps when he is 10).

So, let the Freys worry about who is friends with me.

3) Dealing with the Freys: The problem I have with the Freys comes down to 2 things: Old Man Walder and Black Walder. There is too much squick there to send my daughter into that mess. (If this is some other era, where the Freys are not so sleazy, it would make it much easier to say yes.) The problem is making the Freys want to withdraw the offer. In my correspondence with them, and through the rumour mill, I make it seem like I've gone somewhat mad and am trying to be guided by prophecy. If the GOHH I contacted earlier has something useful to guide me, so be it, but the point is, without making it seem like I am rejecting the Freys for reasons of disliking them, I make myself seem like some sort of deranged zealot and alliance with me more of a liability than an asset.

4) For my eldest son, my bastard, I seek a Dornish marriage. Preferably, my sights are set on Tyene or Elia Sand (preferably Tyene). The Sand Snakes are bastards, but noble, and more importantly, they stick together and are not shy about vengeance. I will have my son wed Tyene, and then legitimize him upon his wedding day.

5) For my daughter, the Weterlands marriage is most likely.

6) For my youngest son, my main concern is that he is 5 and sickly, and I want him to reach age 10+ before I make any plans for him. Survival comes first, and if my in-laws do not see that, they don't really care for their kin.

7) As for myself, I will try to remarry and father a couple more kids. The idea of a Frey wife is not so bad, if she is comely and untouched. Though I am tempted to marry some crannog-woman just to piss them off.

[mvd10]

Well, technically I could marry my daughter to the Frey, make a ''little accident'' for old lord Walder (well I probably wont do that, but he will die in time surely), so my daughter will be the new lady Frey. Than I should have the protection of the Freys and safely legitimize the bastard son, he won't be my heir though, but I assume the young son will die and the bastard son will become lord. If the young son doesn't die I just hope the bastard son is trustworthy and will serve the young son as an advisor and will be his strong right hand.

[The Dragons Hand]

I'm the lord of house Blackwood so I must be epic and your rules don't apply to me.

You're the Lord/Lady of a lower-sized Noble house in the Riverlands (you're own House, assume it's been around for several generations). You have three children: a son at 18, a daughter at 15, and another son at 5, with the eldest being illegitimate.

Your spouse has died, but his/her family still takes in interest in their grandchildren through you. However, your youngest son is sickly, and there's no telling if he'll get out of this phase later on in life.

Your eldest son, meanwhile, is all you could hope for in an heir, and is readily available to learn the last lessons he needs to know to succeed you as Lord of your house. Your in-laws, who are a much more powerful Noble House than you, naturally despise this illegitimate son and will make both your lives very difficult if you legitimize him and make him your heir over your spouse's children.

Your daughter has gotten a marriage proposal from the heir of the nearby (and wealthy) House Frey, but the heir is three times older than your daughter, and you know she would be miserable. They are very touchy about slights, and you don't want to be in their bad books.

Meanwhile, two other marriage proposals have come from a noble house in the Westerlands, and another from the Vale, both very far away from your holdings. The Vale suitor is twice as old as your daughter, and he is poorer than the Freys, but nobody doubts his honour or good name. The Westerlord lives near the Golden Tooth, and thus prejudices would come up concerning the long history of the Riverlands, but he is wealthy and handsome.

How do you run this household? What paths do you set your children on?

[Ali Colak]

Marry my legitimized eldest son to my daughter, Targaryen style, and let them inherit my lands and title jointly.

[EastTymor]

The status quo does not appeal to me- I deserve far better!

With this in mind, I'll attempt the following:

1) Dress some of my soldiers up in Tully colors, insignia, etc

2) In a public place, have them kidnap any high ranking Lannisters that pass through the Riverlands

3) Quietly murder said Lannister, possibly the soldiers as well, and dispose of the bodies and Tully livery

The stage is now set for war, which for a low ranking noble like myself means opportunity.

If I think the Tully's are in a good position to win (i.e. are able to count on the support of all their bannermen, one or more neighboring regions, and the Iron Throne), I'll throw them my full support, while attempting to off as many of my neighboring Riverlords as possible without blame being attached to me. Hopefully, the combination of my valor in battle and dead neighbors will yield better marriage offers for my children and more lands for myself.

In the more likely scenario that the Riverlands are isolated and divided, I'll flip sides and throw my full support to the invading Lannisters. Specifically, I want to see the North, Iron Isles, Vale, and Reach be uninterested in the conflict or too busy with something else to send much support. I will time my false-flag kidnapping with this in mind. As best I can tell, the Iron Throne is generally slow to grasp the true extent of threats even to itself, much less the peace of the realm, and is rarely able to put together a coherent response. Further, there is an excellent chance that the Freys will sit on the fence until there is a clear winner. There are also a number of other internal divisions in the Riverlands that I will seek to exploit. Hopefully the combination of the Westerlands advantageous geographical position with respect to the Riverlands, Lannister gold, and my own example will encourage a number of other houses to stay out of the conflict or turn on the Tullys. I will seek to vastly expand my lands at the expense of my neighbors, make a fortune off looting and ransoms, and, depending on how successful the war is, seek to supplant the Tullys as Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.

[PrinceHenryris]

Thanks to the OP for a fun topic!

Assuming that I'm a minor lordly or knightly house, I guess it would come down to the religion of the House I was sworn to.

If I were sworn to the Blackwoods, I would do the following:

1) Have already sent my supremely capable bastard North. While I don't think the Mallister idea is bad, I'd have done my best to foster him with the Frogeaters;

2) Send the daughter to the North/Vale as a cupbearer ASAP;

3) Find my son the Riverlands equivalent of Sandor Clegane.

If I had to wed and bed a "Stoat", so be it.

If I were subject to the Seven:

1) Give my son some quality arms and armor and a bag of Silver and tell him to find his way in one of the free companies;

2) I wouldn't let her serve the Freys. She'd be a cupbearer to a better Family.

3) Sandor Clegane

[MyLittleFinger]

I would marry my daughter to this Frey. They're now the most powerful house in the Riverlands and I want to be on their good side. She won't love me for it, but this is a feudal society and it's expected.

I would try to woe Gatehouse Ami Frey and get a piece of that Darry pie. I would be a better match as a minor lordling than a second son like Lyle Crakehall. That way I can claim Darry and increase my position.

With Darry, I name my bastard son as the Castellan on Darry, I'm assuming his "rare talents" are of the war variety, ergo a reasonably strong hand to hold our new castle.

As for my youngest son who is sickly, sadly that's the heir I've been given. Hopefully Ami can give me another son, but it is what it is. Depending on the nature of his illness I might just forgo physical training in fighting and focus on his education instead. He couldn't lead men to war, but he might lead the household to prosperity if he's smart.

[Kynan]

*Done as of this starts about 5 years before the books begin.

Eldest Son: Edmure

Daughter: Olenna

Youngest Son: Samwell

Well, as a lower level house, I would obviously be honoured to have my daughter wed to the Frey heir. I would request that she be given a year to adjust to the marriage, which would involve regular, regulated visits between my daughter and her betrothed. That way she can at least build up a relationship with him, if not a friendship.

Then I would send my eldest son, who I would imagine has squired before, off to earn his knighthood. The I would very strongly advise him to gain a spot on the Kings-guard. I would tell him to befriend the King and Queen, while also garnering a relationship with the princes and princess.

I would then wed a Bolton if one was available, or a Frey if one was not. I need more than two heirs, especially if one is wed to a Frey and one is sickly.

I would begin my youngest on a healthy life thing, lots of good food and regulated exercise. In the meantime, I would be wed an hopefully have at least one more child by the time everything begins.

In that time I would begin to prepare for the winter coming. The castle would be fortified and there would be a push to save and preserve food wherever possible. I would request that my son and heir be a ward of the Tyrells at the end of my five years, so that he can be connected to a winning team. I would discretely look for a betrothal for him, possible a Frey or one of the girls in the Reach.

In this time I would expect my brilliant eldest son would be either part of the popular at court, but hopefully not a Kings-guard member. I would ask him to be sure that we are still in royal favour.

As the series begin, I would try and stay neutral. My house will not be brought into this silly fight. We would send any arrested people's to the Wall. They're more mouths to feed and these are dangerous times.

Finally, after my eldest son makes his eventual visit home, I would as him of the court. Who is most interested in him? If it is Renly, I would tell home to make sure that the young stag doesn't do anything stupid or rash, like declare himself King. If it's Robert, then I would tell him that he needs to support Ned Stark when Robert needs confirmation. If it's any of the Lannisters, he needs to keep his distance. Don't offend them, just make sure they know he is loyal to the crown, then them. If it is Littlefinger or Varys, he needs to do the same, but more subtlety.

If he hasn't made the Kings-guard he must return home to act as an adviser to me and his brother. I would find him a bride in this instance and gift him a small parcel of land to look after in my name.

I expect that I have another child by now, a boy (named Jon). I also expect that another (a girl) is on the way. The boy, once he is weaned and walking (about 4/5) I will send him off to be warded either with a non-Bolton/Frey family or in the Vale as the Arryn's ward.

My daughter, who would have at least two or three children at this point, come home for a visit before the North begins rebelling. She will bring all of her children (something that has been happening for years now, so it isn't suspicious) and when Ned Stark's head is struck from his body, I shall not let her go back to the Frey's announcing that I am sickly and Ned her here to keep me company as I die. My eldest son will go to bring back my heir and his possible bride (I hope she is one of Margery Tyrell's cousins). He will learn our people and become popular.

That is my game plan.