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Small Questions v 10008


Stubby

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Ask away. That's what we're here for. Other than saying that, I cannot help you since I know nothing on the subject, but good luck with trying to figure it out. :P

He, thanks.

I think "masterly" is like the northern version of "lordly", but I'm a little fuzzy on that myself. Maybe since the North is, in a way, a country of it's own I think they kind of serve Winterfell the way the Lordly houses would serve the King?

I got it to be the North version of landed knight like The Dornishman's Wife above said. Sounds about right but as you say it seems like they aren't alike the rest of the "kingdoms" in lordly prospects.

Had a small discussion on the chat where I got the answer that you're probably a lord if you can master more than 1'000 men. Lower than that, a knight. Or as it would seem now, a master.

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The 1000 men sounds quite plausible as a rule of thumb. Of course, there's an overlap due to great (lordly) houses falling into decline, or knightly/masterly houses becoming more powerful etc. I think GRRM describes it here.

About how to become a lord: The lordship is granted. We've had several examples where the crown would create lordships. I'm not actually sure, but possibly lords paramount can raise lordships in their domains as well.

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Sam finds boy commanders in the annals of the Night's Watch (AFFC). At least four past commanders are younger than Jon. One Stark was elected at the age of ten and served for sixty years. Why he would even be in the NW at such a young age is another mystery but even considering that all of the other four were relatives of the King in the North at the time... in past generations when the wall was less ignored and the Night's Watch better staffed with qualified Knights and proven leaders, why would lesser qualified, too-young brothers even garner consideration for Lord Commander, let alone actually get elected?

The inherent answer is the familial relationship mentioned but this sort of favoratism is at odds with how Jon is treated, for instance, and Jon was serving at a time when need for someone with his connections and general arms training was more needed ... so favoratism should be more likely for Jon than someone hundreds of years previous, yet it isn't ... (Jon's treatment is somewhat at odds with Royce in the first pages of book 1 as well... but that's yet another matter).

A boy of ten leading the Knight's Watch when it was well staffed with Knights and men of proven capacity? Why?

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A boy of ten leading the Knight's Watch when it was well staffed with Knights and men of proven capacity? Why?

This is interesting. Martin said "the Watch would not give the oath to a boy that was seriously minor, like a 12 year old" but then there had been a 10 year old LC of the NW? I don't have the best answer but me guess, depending on who was the ruling king at that time (maybe when there was still a KitN), boys as early as 10 can join the Watch and be elected as LC (esp. if he's a Stark; the NW loves the Starks :wub:, Bran the Builder built the Wall after all). When the dragons came, the new king of the realm changed most of the rules ("kings can always change the rules if they want") so no more vows given to boys after the last KitN knelt.
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This is interesting. Martin said "the Watch would not give the oath to a boy that was seriously minor, like a 12 year old" but then there had been a 10 year old LC of the NW? I don't have the best answer but me guess, depending on who was the ruling king at that time (maybe when there was still a KitN), boys as early as 10 can join the Watch and be elected as LC (esp. if he's a Stark; the NW loves the Starks :wub:, Bran the Builder built the Wall after all). When the dragons came, the new king of the realm changed most of the rules ("kings can always change the rules if they want") so no more vows given to boys after the last KitN knelt.

It was during a time when there was a KitN and that plays into it I'm sure. The age stills threw me off in terms of even being in the NW.... and then I started thinking about how part of the issue that got Jon elected was a lack of other options and how that wouldn't have existed at the time of whoever this boy was, so the whole thing just threw me off.
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So I'm re-reading the series, and I'm curious why Varys brought information about Daenerys to the small council via Jorah... as he seems to be on the side of the Targaryens, wasn't he essentially risking her life with this?

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So I'm re-reading the series, and I'm curious why Varys brought information about Daenerys to the small council via Jorah... as he seems to be on the side of the Targaryens, wasn't he essentially risking her life with this?

Most readers believe Varys is on the side of the Blackfyres http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Blackfyre_Rebellion
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So I'm re-reading the series, and I'm curious why Varys brought information about Daenerys to the small council via Jorah... as he seems to be on the side of the Targaryens, wasn't he essentially risking her life with this?

Varys deals in information. He has to tell Robert something. If Robert starts hearing vital information from other sources, Varys loses his usefulness and shortly after that, likely his head. The key is in how much Varys tells and when he tells.

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Juz curious, are the Children of the Forest the only ones who can make weapons out of dragonglass/obsidian or men can make them as well? Does CotF magic is involve?

I believe that like in the real world, obsidian is the product of volcanic activity, specifically lava cooling quickly. There's supposed to be a lot of obsidian under Dragonstone. Making the weapons is just a matter of giving the pieces a handle/arrow shaft.

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So I'm re-reading the series, and I'm curious why Varys brought information about Daenerys to the small council via Jorah... as he seems to be on the side of the Targaryens, wasn't he essentially risking her life with this?

The theory related to Varys being on the Blackfyre side is that Dany, or perhaps Viserys, was originally meant to be a red herring so-to-speak for Westeros, that she would raise the Dothraki army, only to allow Aegon to "save the day". Hence, the setup for a possible "Dance of Dragons" Part Deux.

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Juz curious, are the Children of the Forest the only ones who can make weapons out of dragonglass/obsidian or men can make them as well? Does CotF magic is involve?

I believe that like in the real world, obsidian is the product of volcanic activity, specifically lava cooling quickly. There's supposed to be a lot of obsidian under Dragonstone. Making the weapons is just a matter of giving the pieces a handle/arrow shaft.

Actually Dragonstone is covered with obsidian and Stannis at one point has people mining it, so I assume they can work it. I doubt there's any magic involved just being formed through volcanic activity seems to make it bad for the Others.
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Actually Dragonstone is covered with obsidian and Stannis at one point has people mining it, so I assume they can work it. I doubt there's any magic involved just being formed through volcanic activity seems to make it bad for the Others.

So, it would also seem if/when the Others breach the Wall and move south, they will probably skip over Dragonstone...

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So, it would also seem if/when the Others breach the Wall and move south, they will probably skip over Dragonstone...

Worth noting Dragonglass is found in abundance in Asshai as well, and is exported.

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The theory related to Varys being on the Blackfyre side is that Dany, or perhaps Viserys, was originally meant to be a red herring so-to-speak for Westeros, that she would raise the Dothraki army, only to allow Aegon to "save the day". Hence, the setup for a possible "Dance of Dragons" Part Deux.

That's a convoluted theory. More likely Illyrio (who is Varys's boss) used Dany to strike an alliance with Drogo and Dany & Viserys to vouch for Aegon.
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Sam finds boy commanders in the annals of the Night's Watch (AFFC). At least four past commanders are younger than Jon. One Stark was elected at the age of ten and served for sixty years. Why he would even be in the NW at such a young age is another mystery but even considering that all of the other four were relatives of the King in the North at the time... in past generations when the wall was less ignored and the Night's Watch better staffed with qualified Knights and proven leaders, why would lesser qualified, too-young brothers even garner consideration for Lord Commander, let alone actually get elected?

The inherent answer is the familial relationship mentioned but this sort of favoratism is at odds with how Jon is treated, for instance, and Jon was serving at a time when need for someone with his connections and general arms training was more needed ... so favoratism should be more likely for Jon than someone hundreds of years previous, yet it isn't ... (Jon's treatment is somewhat at odds with Royce in the first pages of book 1 as well... but that's yet another matter).

A boy of ten leading the Knight's Watch when it was well staffed with Knights and men of proven capacity? Why?

If a KitN said: "You elect my nephew as LC, or I will attack the NW", I think that this nephew would be chosen.

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If a KitN said: "You elect my nephew as LC, or I will attack the NW", I think that this nephew would be chosen.

I really doubt that was the case. I think it's more likely that for a period in it's early history the early Night's Watch unofficially took a sorta dynastic approach where (maybe the first?) Lord Commander was a Stark, and so were the next few, and they kept that tradition going for a while even if the only available candidate with Stark blood was 10 years old.

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I really doubt that was the case. I think it's more likely that for a period in it's early history the early Night's Watch unofficially took a sorta dynastic approach where (maybe the first?) Lord Commander was a Stark, and so were the next few, and they kept that tradition going for a while even if the only available candidate with Stark blood was 10 years old.

Or perhaps there were CotF in the NW at one time and maybe the Andal historians mistook that for a child. We really won't know until/if he tells us.
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