You're the head of a noble House: North edition II

[Pod The Impaler]

James Steller's series of scenarios were fun; I was definitely a fan. The original one was here.

So here's a second one for the North...

Your house is a minor one in the North, but respectable in the area you live, at the North end of the Neck. The blood of Marsh Kings and Barrow Kings is in your house's veins in roughly equal measure; though most in the North would consider you crannogmen. The last winter was hard on your family, with illness claiming the life of your spouse, and nearly one of your children.

Your eldest child is a daughter: 19 years old, pretty, charismatic, and dutiful. She served as a handmaiden to Lady Stark for a few years, and was well-liked there, but returned home a few years ago. She is due to marry a son of House Dustin in a moon's turn. It was a match years in the making, and quite prestigious for you. Your daughter seems quite taken with her groom-to-be as well.

Your second child is a son and your heir. He is 16 years old (almost 17), and already a warrior to be reckoned with: fierce, sharp-minded, and excellent with both blade and bow, and well above average with most other weapons. He has enough cunning and education to run a household as well, and he is not shallow. He's not bad looking, but his charm could use some improvement. Still, his marriage prospects are numerous: offers have come in from two branches of House Flint, House Hornwood, and even House Mallister. If there is a dark cloud here, it is that he has a tendency to take offense to things very easily, and this has led to trouble.
Your son recently attended a tourney in the Riverlands, which drew in numerous fighters from the North and Riverlands. (You did not attend.) At that tourney, your son had some animosity with a son of House Stout, who was roughly the same age. Whatever happened between them there must have been serious, because your son has just confided to you that he has murdered the Stout boy and 3 of his retinue. Your son says the Stout boy had been hunting with 3 companions, in wild lands roughly between your Lands and Barrowton, when your son came upon him, and your son killed them all in a brief battle. You're not sure how random it really was; knowing your son, it is just as likely that your son was feeling vengeful so he stalked and ambushed him. But your son seems genuinely distraught and ashamed, now that the deed is done. At this point, nobody else knows that the murder happened.

Your third child is a daughter. She is 14, good looking, clever, and tough-minded, but causing you a lot of stress. The trouble is that you believe she is going insane. A few years ago, during winter, she caught a fever, and nearly died. Ever since then, something has happened to her mind - she does not talk in great detail about it, but over the years you figured out she believes she's hearing voices. She became obsessed with the occult, and tales of dark magic from ancient times. Once an enthusiastic and happy child, she has withdrawn from her friends and family, growing more angry with restraints on her behavior, and her actions dismay you more each day. People told you this was typical of children that age, so when she began to talk of going beyond the Wall, you thought it a passing fancy. Your uncle had been a ranger in the Night's Watch, so you tried to discourage her of ever going beyond the Wall, but each tale of fearsome creatures and savage wildlings only seemed to stoke her curiosity. Just prior to her flowering, she ran away from home, and you soon afterwards got a message from Winterfell indicating they had caught her on the kingsroad. You brought her back home, and forbid her from heading that way again. At that point she confessed that the voices were coming from far beyond the wall, and calling her to them. You explained you were not being cruel to her, but explained it was for her safety. (You also had a few vague offers in terms of betrothals for her from other Northern houses, but nothing firm was shaping up.) She grew passive for a short time, but recently, she has started flirting with boys, especially travellers on the road - full-grown men who only want one thing. She acts wanton, and you fear she has actually been secretly prostituting herself to men. Someone heard her speaking with a traveller about Mole's Town, and that's when it seemed clear she intends to make another attempt to reach the Wall. Whatever else she is doing is just a means to that end.

Your last son is 9 years of age. He admires and emulates his elder brother, though he still is very much a child. He plays around your lands, learns to fight with the kids, dreams of adventure, and has a little-boy crush on one of your serving girls. You have been trying to arrange a good fostering for him, and the contenders are shaping up to be either House Bolton or House Umber. Soon you must choose, because you've been telling them that when he turns 10, you shall send him to one or the other. You're not sure he will want to leave his home.

Finally, after your spouse died, you have had a tryst since with a widow / widower, and a bastard daughter was born to you. She is now 3 years old, and she does not live with you.

So, how do you manage your house in this situation ?

[Maid So Fair]

1, Prepare the Dustin Wedding - it is a great match and the no1 priority. Don't upset the boat until after this has gone through.

2, Find out all I can about the Stout boy incident to assess how likely it is to come out. Hopefully no one has seen my son and the animosity has not attracted much attention. Hopefully the combination of my marriage link to the Stout's liege lords, my son's battle prowess in a potential trial by combat and the general lack of evidence will ensure that my son doesn't end up dead or on the Wall. Still, it would be good to further secure his position by a good marriage with one of my more powerful neighbours, unfortunately foregoing the Mallister offer. As for my son, he seems reasonably contrite and has hopefully learned his lesson.

3, My daughter's behaviour is troubling but it seems that her obsession with the occult and the Wall is the reason behind it. Perhaps this should be encouraged rather than repressed. I have heard various rumours about Howland Reed dabbing in magic - perhaps he would agree to let my daughter serve as his daughter Meera's handmaiden for a few years? Change of scenery might do her good, and she'd be less likely to consort with vagabonds coming up the Kingsroad.

4, Don't make any decision about my younger son until I know what's happening with my heir. If everything goes well, he is indeed old enough to be fostered. I'm not sure if Roose Bolton is the kind of man I want him to emulate so House Umber it is. We can ride to Last Heart together - it will be an adventure.

[James Steller]

Great scenario!

Well, first off, my elder daughter's situation seems very stable so that's that.

My elder son, well, I don't want him to get caught but I don't want him to feel he can get away with it either. So I'll say nothing about the incident, but I'll have my son embark on rigorous menial tasks for as long as I see fit. Hard labour prison sentence, Northern lord style. After that he marries the Hornwood girl and hopefully nobody found out about his guilt. If he's accused, he'll have to answer for his crimes or else take the black.

The second daughter clearly does seem convinced that she's being called north. So maybe she's going crazy or maybe it's the gods. It depends on how faithful I am, but I'll probably send for crannog wise women to help her through this.

My youngest son will go to House Umber, but I warn him to take them with a grain of salt. They can be a bit overwhelming at times.

[Dale Sams]

Bugger the lot.

I get on the first boat to Essos and live out my life as a sell-sword.

[Winterfell is Burning]

1- The eldest daughter is fine, have her marry the Dustin boy.

2- If no one saw what happened to the Stout kid, it never happened. Marry him to the Mallister girl, is a great match.

3- I like Maid So Fair's suggestion in handling the second daughter.

4- Send the youngest boy to the Umbers.

[Wmarshal]

1. Marry daughter of to dustin sounds good.

What happens in the North stays in the North, unless this comes out to bit me in the ass, role with it, Marry him to the Mallister to girl and send him out to take serve at Seaguard, out o sight is out of mind.

Maid So Fair has the plan.

Umbers.

[Floki of the Ironborn]

Marry my daughter as planned.

I warn my son that if anyone finds out he'll likely be killed, so keep your head down and be a responsible lord without attracting too much attention to yourself. Hopefully that wises him up for life. If not, there's always my second son over at the Umbers.

Have my daughter record what the voices are telling her to do and send it in private to those who know the old gods to see if it means anything. If yes, then find a way to encourage her craft. If not, and she's just crazy, and I send her to live in the Neck amongst her mother's people (I'm assuming I'm the one descended from the Barrow Kings).

[TimJames]

Ok, let's do this!

My oldest daughter is on the right track, marry her as planned.

Try to find out why my first son murdered those men. If they legitimately did something warranting their death, than I will talk to him about honorable verse dishonorable actions (such as challenging people to formal duels as apposed to ambushing them on hunting trips). If my son killed those people for no good reason, tell him to atone for his sins by sitting in the Godswood for a year to pray for forgiveness (I'll give him furs to prevent him from freezing) and by being charitable with his money when he becomes Lord.

Do some research, trying to find out if her voices are just signs of insanity or if the fever turned her into a Greenseer/Warg. I'll be sure to consult Maesters and other scholars who know about the Old Gods. If they say she is a Greenseer, encourage her and teach her skills needed to survive the journey (fighting, hunting, foraging, etc.). If she is just mad, find a house to marry her off to and include a warning of her condition.

Send my son to the Umbars. The Boltons arn't exactly trustworthy.

Start raising my bastard daughter as my own. I'm sure I can find a marriage for her later on.

[BadWo1f]

1. I would take care of that marrige with Dustin's and see that everything goes as it should.

2. Nobody saw what my son did, so it will remain a mystery. Would marrie him to girl of house Flint, they have two branches so marring in their house will give me more friends. I would also take him with me to see how lord should rule, teach him about ruling more than fighting at this point. Also some talking about what he did, did he have a reason? Why didn't he come to me? And so on.

3. I would try to keep her here, but letting her study with maesters and people who know more about Old Gods, saying I will let her go but when the time is right. Some research about what is happening to her would be needed, maybe it is not insanity afteall. When the time comes and I let her go I'll give her personal guard. Sending her to Reeds is also an option.

4. I would send him and the girl he has a crush on to House Umber, as said he maybe has a problem with leaving his home so being with that girl may help him having someone he knows, also Umbers would in my opinion be better with kids than Boltons. I also don't want any brother's finghting over who will rule after me so Umbers look like a good choice.

5. I would bring my bastard to live with me, after my daughter leaves for Dustins and my second daughter probably wouldnt care and my youngest son goes to Umbers I would disscus with my eldest son whould he have a problem with me making my bastard officially mine.

[Pod The Impaler]

2, Find out all I can about the Stout boy incident to assess how likely it is to come out. Hopefully no one has seen my son and the animosity has not attracted much attention.

Perhaps I should clarify it better above...

It is very likely that other people saw them at odds with each other during that tourney. Nobody you know of saw the killings later, but obviously the Stout boy and 3 of his men never made it home when they were expected to.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Perhaps I should clarify it better above...

It is very likely that other people saw them at odds with each other during that tourney. Nobody you know of saw the killings later, but obviously the Stout boy and 3 of his men never made it home when they were expected to.

Still, no one saw them getting killed. They could not have returned home from a number of reasons, and the North is very big after all. There is no proof he did anything.

[The Broke Howard Hughes]

The oldest daughter Is fine. I leave her alone.

My oldest son I drag him kicking and screaming to Winterfell for judgment by Lord Stark.

My second daughter. I don't know. Silent Sisters? Let her go north of the wall when she comes of age? Maybe with an escort as far as Castle Black. Seems she'll get there anyway may as well prepare her. Hire her a dancing Master.

Youngest son? Raise him as a new heir. Prepare him to rule.

The bastard daughter, see about legitimizing her. Bring her home and raise her as a spare. Who knows. May work out.

[King of Vaes Tolorro]

Better than James Steller's version. No offence, Steller, most of your proposed scenarios were great. The North was the only one Ididn't like, too easy.

As a rule , I will be trying to make as many connections to the Barrowtons as possible. I stand with the ancestors, not the frogs.

1. The Oldest daughter. I see no issue here. Let her be married.

2. Send my son to the Wall. He is a murderer. He is lucky he is my son or he would be dead.

3. Warn my daughter that unless she stops whatever she is planning, I will wed her to the Southernmost Dornishman that will have her. I will not have her journey to a land that will eat her and spits her out as wight. If she behaves, and stays home, I will let her study the magics and the dark arts, as long as she hurts no one.

4. Make my second son my heir. Send him to the Umbers. The Others can come down from the Wall, the dragons can return and Dance again, but no child of mine is going to a place called the Dreadfort. He will learn to be a great warrior from the Umbers. I will warn him not to be too much like his brother and to control his passions.

5. Raise the bastard myself. Maybe she can start a cadet branch.

Under the skeleton with the bronze sword it says Our Might Persists.

[Cladinator]

My eldest daughter would indeed marry the Dustin boy. Her future seems to be about the least of my worries at the moment and I'm hoping that one less child to worry about will make some of the other issues in my house a little more tolerable.

If my son did murder the Stout boy in cold blood and without provocation justice will be swift. Though, he is my heir, I will not have a murderer claim my house and lands. Distraught and ashamed? He ought to be. He just murdered somebody and he will pay the price, as will I since he is my heir.

I will give him two options: 1) He confesses his crime in the sight of gods and men. House Stout will have a hand in the justice that is to be served. This justice could be his end and it will always be a blemish on my house's image. 2) Take the Black. The Night's Watch is an honorable order. His crimes will be excused and he can use his skills to serve the realm on the Wall.

He chooses option number 2: The Wall.

My 14 year old daughter is in a delicate situation. If I am too bold with her she may just run off again and do gods-know-what.

I've decided to allow her and a small guard made up of some of my trusted men to accompany her brother to the wall.

I've arranged for them to go on a ranging with some brothers of the Watch with the permission of the Lord Commander (nothing too dangerous). After giving the Watch some much needed provisions and a small troupe of low-born criminals recently caught poaching and raiding, the Lord Commander was glad to oblige. Only time will tell.

My 9 year old son will become my heir. I no longer have any intentions of him being fostered somewhere. Instead, he will learn the role of a Lord at home where he will one day rule.

[Lord Lannister]

So... everyone traditionally plays the nice guy on these scenarios, so in contrast to this I'll formulate my response to this scenario by the following criteria: What would Tywin Lannister do? A man who puts his house prestige, situation and family name above the actual concerns of my family. With that, here's my answer:

My eldest daughter is to be commended. She has put her duty to the House ahead of all other concerns, has influence at Lord Stark's court and has earned us a powerful ally in House Dustin. There's no reason to have concern about her, except of course to encourage her children to keep strong ties with our own house, perhaps even arranging for a fostering for some of my nieces and/or nephews.

My son seems to be a strong heir who will suffer no sleight to our family name. Privately I will congratulate him for proving himself a man and defeating his enemies. At this point, we keep quiet about it. If we're confronted on the murder I will have my son claim they attacked him and he defended himself. Regardless we will be keeping a close eye on House Stout. If things do go sour, my eldest daughter marrying into the family of the Stout's overlord, along with being a known voice in Lord Stark's court will be invaluable. For my son, I will accept the marriage contract with the Hornwoods, given there's no other trueborn son and lady Donella Hornwood is quite old. This would make his children heir to their lands and increase our influence drastically. To say nothing of the Flints are less prestigious and the Mallisters are not northmen and there's already talk that we're not true northerners.

The situation with my second daughter is awkward and not to be tolerated. Simply put, I will inform her she it so stop speaking of her madness, act like a lady and not some common whore and if she fails to do so she will no longer be a member of this family. To test her a short time later I'll hire someone to offer to take her north in exchange for her charms. If she accepts he's to kill her(he'll be killed by me at a later point then to keep it quiet) and I'll inform the rest of the family she ran away and was accosted by bandits again. If she declines and keeps faith, good, but I'm still marrying her off as quickly as practical. Perhaps to the Flints, or better yet the Mallisters who are further away so she can be their problem.

The situation with my younger son isn't so bad. I'll choose the Boltons to foster them with, they're a more powerful house with an ancient name and they'll teach him strength. If he doesn't want to go, I'll explain to him that he must and if he shames the family name, he'll be sent to the Wall instead. That will take care of that, though as a boon to the boy, I'll also see about having my bastard daughter fostered by the Boltons as well so he can have some family about. Perhaps that would produce a marriage to someone in his household?

[Winterfell is Burning]

So... everyone traditionally plays the nice guy on these scenarios, so in contrast to this I'll formulate my response to this scenario by the following criteria: What would Tywin Lannister do? A man who puts his house prestige, situation and family name above the actual concerns of my family. With that, here's my answer:

My eldest daughter is to be commended. She has put her duty to the House ahead of all other concerns, has influence at Lord Stark's court and has earned us a powerful ally in House Dustin. There's no reason to have concern about her, except of course to encourage her children to keep strong ties with our own house, perhaps even arranging for a fostering for some of my nieces and/or nephews.

My son seems to be a strong heir who will suffer no sleight to our family name. Privately I will congratulate him for proving himself a man and defeating his enemies. At this point, we keep quiet about it. If we're confronted on the murder I will have my son claim they attacked him and he defended himself. Regardless we will be keeping a close eye on House Stout. If things do go sour, my eldest daughter marrying into the family of the Stout's overlord, along with being a known voice in Lord Stark's court will be invaluable. For my son, I will accept the marriage contract with the Hornwoods, given there's no other trueborn son and lady Donella Hornwood is quite old. This would make his children heir to their lands and increase our influence drastically. To say nothing of the Flints are less prestigious and the Mallisters are not northmen and there's already talk that we're not true northerners.

The situation with my second daughter is awkward and not to be tolerated. Simply put, I will inform her she it so stop speaking of her madness, act like a lady and not some common whore and if she fails to do so she will no longer be a member of this family. To test her a short time later I'll hire someone to offer to take her north in exchange for her charms. If she accepts he's to kill her(he'll be killed by me at a later point then to keep it quiet) and I'll inform the rest of the family she ran away and was accosted by bandits again. If she declines and keeps faith, good, but I'm still marrying her off as quickly as practical. Perhaps to the Flints, or better yet the Mallisters who are further away so she can be their problem.

The situation with my younger son isn't so bad. I'll choose the Boltons to foster them with, they're a more powerful house with an ancient name and they'll teach him strength. If he doesn't want to go, I'll explain to him that he must and if he shames the family name, he'll be sent to the Wall instead. That will take care of that, though as a boon to the boy, I'll also see about having my bastard daughter fostered by the Boltons as well so he can have some family about. Perhaps that would produce a marriage to someone in his household?

Hmm...playing like Tywin Lannister, having your second son be fostered at the Boltons...Someone's got a death wish.

[Dale Sams]

To test her a short time later I'll hire someone to offer to take her north in exchange for her charms. If she accepts he's to kill her(he'll be killed by me at a later point then to keep it quiet)

That is crazysauce and not something Tywin would do...BECAUSE:

You can't just hire some random person to do that. If word got out that he hired someone to kill his own daughter, the consequences would be serious. That kind of special mission requires a special person. Someone utterly trustworthy. You'd need Luca Brasi or Al Neri for a job like that. And you're sure not going to kill your Luca Brasi or Al Neri over such a relatively small problem.

Now throwing someone in the way of harm? Yeah, that's more Tywin's modus.

[Pod The Impaler]

You'd need Luca Brasi or Al Neri for a job like that.

Luca Brasi ? A man sleeps with the fishes.

[Cladinator]

Kinslaying? I'm not sure Tywin would go that down that road.

[the conquering bastard 25]

My eldest is fine leave her where she is, her ties to WF might be invaluable if her brothers crimes are found out.

As for my second daughter, she gets a roundtrip to the Citadel and beyond the wall. After which she weds Hornwoods bastard on the con diton. He's made heir upon her death.

My first son can't rule in the north. Out of sight out of mind and if found out of WFs reach and seen to be punish. So find him an heiress Dorne or house Lefford or if these are no goes I'll even take that cow insikk Tarth.

While my second so is due to be fosters but neither the Bolton's to foster or Umber. He does a stint at the Iron Bank and then with the McAllister's and wed into house Stout.