Should the Dustins build a strong castle-city adjacent to the Manderlys? 2nd: Who controls stony shore?

[honorable men]

Barrowtown could be White Harbor 2.0. Looks like all the power houses are on the east side. 

 

2nd Question: Who owns the coastal lands where the Stark Kings slew the last Warg Kings down to the area West of the Ryswells.  SouthWest of the Glovers... ? Should be developed IMO

[300 H&H Magnum]

1 hour ago, honorable men said:

Barrowtown could be White Harbor 2.0. Looks like all the power houses are on the east side. 

It's not a small thing to build a castle.  Very expensive.  

[aryagonnakill#2]

There are 2 main problems, the Ironborn, and distance.  Sailing all the way up there takes a lot of time and there is not a lot of wealth to be made, so there would not be many ships making the journey.  Now if a viable trade system could be established, and the Ironborn could be made traders instead of reavers, it could work, but it would require moves on the part of the King and Lord of WF, the lord/Lady of Barrowtown couldn't make it work on their own.

[Stormking902]

Horrible idea because there is noone to trade with besides the IB who are going to pay the iron price and sack your city, also building castles takes major wealth which IMO the Dustins do not have. The fact the town hasnt evolved past wooden structures in thousands of years suggest its just not worth it to invest in stone. 

[Shouldve Taken The Black]

15 hours ago, Stormking902 said:

Horrible idea because there is noone to trade with besides the IB who are going to pay the iron price and sack your city

I'd say it's more the first point than the second one. At least for most of the time post-conquest, the IB weren't reaving on the mainland. And they do trade. If they literally paid the iron price for everything their society would be unworkable.

That being said, the main reason is like others have mentioned -  White Harbour faces Essos. Granted, you might be able to trade with the Iron Islands, Lannisport and Seaguard, but that's nowhere near as sustainable as trade with the Free Cities.

[Trigger Warning]

You don't just build a city, they have to grow organically. If there was trade enough to warrant a city being on the West coast it would already be there, chances are most traders unload anything of worth at Lannisport and then turn back for home. 

[Hammers1895]

Barrowton doesn't give the Dustin's the resources to finance building their keep/town into a castle/city. It would take a resource being found that would make them wealthy and drive trade. Say, a certain fish or shellfish only found in the rivers & lakes in their domains that Southron people go nuts for. Or they find a huge precious metal/stone deposit and begin quarrying it. Something of that ilk. 

Geograpically, it seems like the Stony Shore would fall under the watch of the Ryswells, but that can only be based on what we know. GRRM hasn't given us more specific info on where houses like Slate, Condon or Branfield, Redbeard, Holt, Ironsmith, etc. But it's the Tallharts who ride in response to Theon's raid of the Stony Shore, so who knows. 

[Canon Claude]

5 hours ago, Hammers1895 said:

Barrowton doesn't give the Dustin's the resources to finance building their keep/town into a castle/city. It would take a resource being found that would make them wealthy and drive trade. Say, a certain fish or shellfish only found in the rivers & lakes in their domains that Southron people go nuts for. Or they find a huge precious metal/stone deposit and begin quarrying it. Something of that ilk. 

Geograpically, it seems like the Stony Shore would fall under the watch of the Ryswells, but that can only be based on what we know. GRRM hasn't given us more specific info on where houses like Slate, Condon or Branfield, Redbeard, Holt, Ironsmith, etc. But it's the Tallharts who ride in response to Theon's raid of the Stony Shore, so who knows. 

To be fair, Benfred Tallhart was spoiling for a fight, so he may have been riding out of his family’s jurisdiction.