Supercastle Westeros.

[eyenon15]

You are building a castle in Westeros.

Where do you put it?

Can be anywhere, you can even tear down an existing castle.

Bonus points if you say what your castle looks like.

Money is sort of an object, has to be in the realm of possibility of castles that have already been built there.

Factors to consider.

Safety

beauty

defense

[OmnomnomPomelo]

I move into Castrly-Rock or Storm's End and problem is solved :D

[eyenon15]

That's not building!

[Skinner]

Harrenhal 2.0.

Demolish the first one.

Rebuild!

Dragonproof it!

[DannyNic]

Without a doubt, and a little bit of DIY, Moat Cailin.

[OmnomnomPomelo]

That's not building!

Then demolish the Eyrie, and build a cheaper version of it at the exact same place.

[eyenon15]

Then demolish the Eyrie, and build a cheaper version of it at the exact same place.

How would you cut costs?

[Kyll.Ing.]

I'd find a nice place by one of the major rivers. Preferrably by a waterfall, but a set of rapids would also suit the purpose. It'd have to be somewhere in a valley, though, so there wouldn't be that many suitable places. The riverlands and Reach are all too flat, I think, but there should be some suitable places in the foothills of the mountains of the Vale.

Then, I'd build a castle wall the likes of which Westeros has never seen. It'd run right across the river, and consist of a narrow, fine strip of clay, or even rudimentary asphalt. It would be reinforced by a layer of fine silt, followed by a layer of sand, a layer of gravel, bigger stones and so on, until the outer layer consisting of large boulders. That's right, I'd be building a proper gravel dam.

A more traditional masonry structure would serve as its waterway, and eventual location of a turbine hall. Not sure if I could get a generator running, but those amounts of torque would be sufficient to power all sorts of power tools regardless. I'd need a skilled smith and maybe a Maester or two, and in the end we could probably make a small fortune selling hardware. And if we did get electricity running, well, at least that'd help the castle defenses. In quiet periods, we could try figuring out electrolysis, or make a telegraph, or just provide the kitchens with a less flammable source of heat.

[OmnomnomPomelo]

How would you cut costs?

The Arryns wanted to build the most beautiful castle in Westeros. They used some kind of white stone to build it which, I think, wasn't cheap. So I'd use some other kind of rock to build. It has 7 towers due to the Seven Gods. I'd make only one big hall-like building, and also since it's on a mountain, I'll dig more down into the mountain to win some space.

[eyenon15]

I'd find a nice place by one of the major rivers. Preferrably by a waterfall, but a set of rapids would also suit the purpose. It'd have to be somewhere in a valley, though, so there wouldn't be that many suitable places. The riverlands and Reach are all too flat, I think, but there should be some suitable places in the foothills of the mountains of the Vale.

Then, I'd build a castle wall the likes of which Westeros has never seen. It'd run right across the river, and consist of a narrow, fine strip of clay, or even rudimentary asphalt. It would be reinforced by a layer of fine silt, followed by a layer of sand, a layer of gravel, bigger stones and so on, until the outer layer consisting of large boulders. That's right, I'd be building a proper gravel dam.

A more traditional masonry structure would serve as its waterway, and eventual location of a turbine hall. Not sure if I could get a generator running, but those amounts of torque would be sufficient to power all sorts of power tools regardless. I'd need a skilled smith and maybe a Maester or two, and in the end we could probably make a small fortune selling hardware. And if we did get electricity running, well, at least that'd help the castle defenses. In quiet periods, we could try figuring out electrolysis, or make a telegraph, or just provide the kitchens with a less flammable source of heat.

You are talking about like a watermill of some sort?

[Kyll.Ing.]

^Pretty much, but with a much, much higher torque output. Enough to start experimenting with industrial applications, with electricity generation as its ultimate goal. But at the beginning, I guess powering a lathe or a grindstone or something would be the first application. Or even a fan supplying air to a blast furnace, although it'd be hard to build a furnace capable of withstanding those temperatures.

Anyway, I'd come up with something. With a sufficiently big dam, there would be torque enough to do pretty much whatever I wanted. And the type of dam I described can be pretty big, so no problem there. Except maybe labour to build it. Guess I could start small, then expand later.

[1000th Lord Commander]

ON the prince's pass. If the Frey's can get rich as lords of the Crossing, I can get rich charging people to move along the pass. Dig into the mountains, and I'll control trade between Dorne, the Reach, and the stormlands

[The Mighty Dragonzzilla]

I build my castle beneath the earth. Good luck bringing siege equipment to a castle that's underground.

[Ivan Tsarevich]

I build my castle beneath the earth. Good luck bringing siege equipment to a castle that's underground.

Lord Reyne advises staying away from rivers.

[eyenon15]

Be sure to build plenty of exits. Seems it could be east to keep someone underground and not let them out

[The Mighty Dragonzzilla]

Be sure to build plenty of exits. Seems it could be east to keep someone underground and not let them out

Plenty and more, yes. Many. If budget is no object, go straight up dwarf and build some Deep Roads.

[Poodle Pup From Astapor]

Winterfell, it's almost perfect. Dig a moat outside the walls, rebuild the abandoned watchtower. Expand the winter garden or add one more in another place.

I don't know if they have such things in Westeros, but it would be a good idea to expand the water gardens vertically by adding some floors or tunnels for growing mushrooms, snails and such. They don't need sunlight, just warmth and good soil with some poop. That way you could feed hundreds of people through the winter, instead of maybe dozens.

[Kyll.Ing.]

If neither money, labour nor location was of object, I'd go to the Inn at the crossroads, buy a pastry at the bar, and tell them to start building another wing or two, because they've got the best landlocked estate in Westeros.

I'd then proceed to raise walls around the crossroads. Not a palisade, or earthen dike or anything, but something akin to the city walls you find throughout China (that article is a friendly reminder that the Chinese had medieval times too, and they were serious about them), and at no point would the walls run closer than a kilometer to the crossroads itself. Within, I'd clear a big square, raise a large market hall, a couple more inns (might as well get in on the business), granaries and a small river port (quay?). Being located at the bank of the Trident, where the Kingsroad and the River Road meet the High Road, the place has a prime central location, and it would command traffic between the Vale, the Westerlands, the Crownlands and the Riverlands. This necessitates massive defensive facilities, as most armies eager to make war would have to seize the fortress before being able to move. Massive barbicans would protect the roads themselves, meaning no army would ever reach the crossroads without walking through a hail of arrows and stones, even after breaking the outer gate.

The next step would be bridges across the Trident, and continuing to build my city on the other bank. The main purpose of the town on the Northern bank would be to be the best place to trade by land in all of Westeros, primarily targeting trade from the Vale, the Riverlands and the Westerlands. That means, low taxes, well guarded facilities to keep crime down, and that big, indoor market hall that would mean items such as wool, spice or fabrics could be stored dry. The secondary purpose would be commanding the crossroads. People would live primarily at the south bank, seeing as development on the north bank would be limited by the main square, the storehouses, barracks and other facilities necessary for trade. I wouldn't want it to be too crowded there.

Okay, my town would prevent development in Fairmarket (it'd be downriver, that is, easier to access from the sea), and bridges crossing the river would prevent larger ships from sailing there. The Tullys would thus find Riverrun cut off from the sea. On the other hand, the lords in Saltpans would probably be more than happy to see a major trade hub pop up just a few kilometres inland from their nice little harbour town.

I'd also try to win the favour of the crown and the smallfolk by keeping the roads up to shape and as safe to travel as I can manage. This would not only be a popular move, but also make travel to and fro my little town go a lot smoother. Ing. Castle/City would be dependant on a steady stream of travellers to survive after all.

[King Viserys Targaryen IV]

double post

[King Viserys Targaryen IV]

I would build my castle at the fork in White Knife, putting me half way between my Liege Lord at Winterfell and the prosperous port of White Harbor.

It would be built on the North side of the Fork over looking the rivers. I would build a series of bridges across all three banks of the fork at the White Knife.

My main focus would be to build a road north and south connecting Winterfell and White Harbor following the White Knife, therefore drawing traders and merchants back and forth to support a growing town in the shadow of my castle, The White Fork.

I would also build a road east and west from the Torrhen's Square & the King's Road to Hornwood, making my castle the center of trade between all four cities & essentially the entire North.

The next focus would be to build a good sizes dock/port for river travel to make it easier for people/ goods to move up and down from White Harbor to my lands. I would start my own river fleet to move goods to sell to the surrounding Norther Lords.

My castle would be built from the local stone mined from the bluffs of the White Knife and would harness the power of the river with huge water wheels.

It would have huge towers overlooking each direction of the Crossroads I had built.