• Estate : Vaux (Orrick)
• Networth : $33,087
• Jobs : Bran – Musician , Abagael – Medical Midwife
• Names : Bran (age: 31), Abagael (age: 30)
  • Adam (age:10)
  • Rowan (age:8 )
  • Sawyer (age: 7)
• Tax’s – $360
  • 2 Adults ($150)
  • 3 Children ($20)
• Mortgage – $15,000
  • $750

Bran and Abagael have just moved into their new house with their sons, at the beginning of the round the house is sparcely furnished but an unexpected chance card soon fixes that. the money from the windfall is actually enough to completely pay off their mortgage but selfishly knowing that Christopher/Orrick are going to struggle paying their own mortgage taken out to expand their estate i only pay off some of it allowing Bran to continue paying a mortgage and use the rest to dec out their house fully including adding a purely decorative stables and horse paddock.

The move was a very good thing as a whole for the howards, not only did they move to an estate with a lower tax rate but the move into the slightly smaller house and therefore lower mortgage has taken them from barely surviving to reasonably comfortable.

the rest of the round passes smoothly Bran and Abagael show no interest in having more children and for a nice change the ACR doesn’t make it happen anyway.

• Estate : Vaux (Orrick)
• Networth : $15,550
• Jobs : Deonte – Solider, Brittany – Baker
• Names : Deonte (age:22 ), Brittany (age:21 )
  • Twins – Clarke/Dawson (age:5 )
• Tax’s – $340
  • 2 adults ($150)
  • 2 children ($20)

This is the first round for this pair as a married couple, marrying Deonte has demoted Brittany and her children to Peasant Class, however at least now she can eat. Deonte is a good provider and came into the marriage with enough cash to settle them into a medium sized apartment with a spare bedroom for future children and enough money to decorate it as well as most merchants and still have $15,000 left over.

Unfortunately as a couple Deonte and Brittany don’t really get along, they have negative chemistry for each other and social interactions are generally reasonably strained, this was very much a marriage of convenience for Brittany and poor Deonte sort of fell down the aisle in love with the concept of being married rather than giving his future partner much thought.

Still for the time being Deonte will continue to be a good provider, providing for Brittany and her children and hopefully having a couple of his own until the story dictates otherwise.

Financially they are stable, as much as Deonte is a good man and will treat the boy’s as his own i doubt private school is on the cards, being peasants Deonte and Brittany’s wages are both capped at a level where a private education for two children is unviable. However goal’s wise i would like to see Deonte buy his way into Merchant class to do this he would need to pay Orrick $50,000 Plus buy himself a house worthy of the class (ie move out of the apartment and into a reasonable sized/decorated home without a mortgage).

• Estate : Vaux (Orrick)
• Networth : $1,719
• Jobs : Hayden (Alchemist)
• Names : Hayden (age: 29)
  • Chloe (age : 4)
• Tax’s – ($170)
  • Adult ($150)
  • Child ($20)
• School Fee’s – $500
  • Private School – Chloe

As I’ve mentioned several times I intend to marry Hayden off to Rose Farmer in a few years but until then Hayden and Chloe are ticking along on their own.

Their outgoings are quite small living in an apartment and with only his daughter to dote on i figure why not have her sent to private school now she’s aged into child, after all he has no-one else to spoil.

The round is very simple really, small households like this one seem to pass very quickly, They survive the round quite comfortably and end it with slightly more money than they started with so thats a good sign.

• Estate : Vaux
• Networth : $555
• Jobs : Farmers
• Business’s
  • Farmers Market $61,000
• Names : Jed (age:55), Maria (age:33)
  • Rose (age:13)
  • Twins – Gregory/Sarah (age:10)
  • William – (age:2)
• Farmhands
  • Twins – Chase/Bailey (age:12)
• Tax’s – $860
  • 3 Adults ($150)
  • 3 children ($20)
  • 2 Farmhands ($150)
• Business Tax – $10,000
  • 10 Star’s

Somehow Jed managed to slip though the net when i changed the system to allow people to only have a certain number of business’s depending on their education so having realized this error i sell the smaller of his two shops upon starting the round, in a way it was a good thing because although i managed to get the house decorated with the bare essentials it was quite spare in the way of furnisher and the added money helped set them up.

In addition to this I also noticed Jed had 2 star’s i hadn’t spent so i used them on cash rewards giving him a total of $100,000 more than enough to decorate the entire house and still left enough money to buy 2 statues to place in the girls (rose/Sarah’s) inventory to act as a dowry giving both girls $30,000 more than enough to ensure the both get a decent husband.

As i mentioned last round I’ve decided to pair Rose up with Hayden Huntsman, but as I’ve also mentioned earlier in this round im no longer in a rush to get people paired up and im going to wait a little longer before flinging my peasant/merchant couples together. So Rose won’t be leaving this round in fact i might leave her for several rounds yet but the ultimate plan of coupling her with Hayden has remained unchanged.

Speaking of couples Chase and Bailey Osmond moved into the farm this round they are only 12 but as usual im thinking ahead, the prospects for these boys aren’t great and if they are to marry then it’s likely to be a peasant girl even though technically speaking they are merchant boy’s as becoming farmhands effective demotes them, however it was the best Lynette could do for them under her circumstances. Chase and Bailey will remain with Jed till they are about 18 at which point they will be moved out into apartments on the same lot and take jobs in the shop working in the same way as the Beav farm.

The round it’s self is surprisingly smooth, three teens in the house make the farming and running the shop an easy matter and im glad i moved Chase and Bailey in. Unfortunately as half expected because rose isn’t related to the boys there is some romance interactions going on thanks to ACR. Silly girl doesn’t seem to realist that she’s betrothed, nothing major yet but I’ll have to keep an eye on it or she’ll end up pregnant before she even gets to Hayden. Age wise Rose’s younger sister Sarah is however a good option for chase or bailey but as she’s still i child I’ll have to see a bit later on if she’s compatible with either.

• Estate : Silverhand (Thomas)
• Networth : $50,224
• Jobs : Danson – Knight
• Names : Danson (Age:27)
  • Lorcan (Age:15)
  • Duncan (Age:12)
  • Quillen (Age:12)
  • Joseph (Age:12)
  • Aiden (Age:11)
  • Alistair (Age:8)
• Tax’s – None

Lorcan is now old enough to go to university however i’m going to hold off for another 3 years because sending the boy’s to university is a troublesome process have to organise a ship to send them to the mainland. For this reason teen’s tend to go in batches rather than simply as soon as they age up.

It would be possible for Valdermar to privately charter a ship to send Lorcan and it’s possible other noblemen might do this however with no marriage plan’s for his little brother i can’t imagine Valdermar is in much rush to get it sorted out especially not at his own expense.

At the moment i foresee two University batches, the first will be in about 4 years and will have Loran,Duncan, Aiden and Dawn, Joseph and Quillen.

After that there will be a 2nd batch a few years later which will have Hadrien (Peter hamduns son), Possibly Danica(Tarik’s Daughter), Possibly Eleua (Peter Hamduns Daughter), Alistair, Emma and possibly Adam (Bran Howards Son) depending on who can afford it.

The Barracks it’s self is a tad overfull at the moment, in that after i split it into apartments i didn’t really make the “training school” apartment big enough to house this many children at once. Over the years i don’t think it will be so much of a problem as i anticipate the number of children sent will lessen as the novelty wear’s off.

The reason Knight school is so popular but expensive is because, Although the first son of a nobleman get’s his own land by birthright inheriting from his father, furthe sons are not so lucky and will generally just be granted a nice house on their brother’s estate. Becoming a Knight however is a way of these second son’s to earn an estate of their own making it a popular choice for noble fathers after all the more estates their family control’s the more power the family has. For this reason Knight’s Training is limited to Noblemen and Son’s of the Service Class.

For this reason Danson is classed as a nobleman, i haven’t really written any background for this sim yet but he is starting to feature more and more into the story, not bad for a sim who was promoted to playable for a tempory measure. Danson will certainly for a foreseeable future remain in the barrack’s if he ever manages to wriggle himself fully into the plot i might consider things like wives and children but for now i sort of see him the way Vince Bendett was for Henry his friend and advice though im sure Thomas isn’t very happy with him at the moment haha.

The round it’s self is quite peaceful no major incidents other that lack of bed space.

• Estate : Silverhand (Thomas)
• Networth : $50,295
• Jobs : Both – Servants
• Names : Pheonix (age:23 ), Heather (age:24 )
  • Lucy’s Children
    • Dawn (age: 11)
    • Emma (age:
  • Phoenix’s Children
    • Elle (age: 5)
    • Annora (age:4)
• Tax’s – none
• Schooling (paid by Thomas)
  • Aiden – Knights
  • Private
    • Dawn
    • Heather
• School Fee’s – $1000
  • Nelle / Annora
• Tax’s – $100
  • 2 kids

Heather started this round pregnant and quickly gives birth to a baby girl called Lauda.

The rest of the round tick’s along quite peacefully, their tax’s are low as service class, Thomas pay’s for Lucy’s Children’s Education making life reasonably easy.

• Estate : Ostbridge (Thomas Silverhand)
• Networth : $117,149
• Jobs : Vince – Retired Knight
• Names : Vince (age:54)
  • Tara (age:12)
  • Harmony (age:9)
  • Melisant (age:7)
• Tax’s – $100
  • 2 children ($50 each)
• Schooling = $3000
  • Knights Training – $2000
    • Joseph
  • Private School x 2 = $1000
    • Tara ($500)
    • Harmony ($500)

Tara age’s upto teen this round meaning she is now old enough to send off to live in a noble household. Politically the Vaux’s and Hamdun’s both quite strong, but Hamdun’s have the wealth right now.

Couple this with the fact that Vince has made an agreement to marry Persia is eldest to Abel Hamdun meaning Vince is looking to keep the Hamdun’s happy.

Mean’s it makes sense that that is where Tara is sent. I hadn’t played the nobles yet so i don’t see any reason not to send her straight away so she’s moved out at the beginning of the round and sent to play out this round as part of the Hamdun.

The Service class is a strange class really, Vince is classed as a Yeoman meaning he owns his own lands and politically that makes him sit somewhere between noble and merchant.

Boy’s of the Service class who become Knight’s will like noblemen knights will be entitled to their own estate’s if they prove worthy and for those lucky ones it will promote them into noble class. Girls of this class are good candidates for 2nd / 3rd noble son’s but aren’t really worthy of 1st son’s unless there is a serious candidate shortage as they are deemed better than simple merchant girls.

Both Sax’s of this class are expected to serve the nobles till they are at least 30 which means that Joseph won’t be granted land till that age if at all, while the girls will all serve a noble till 30 meaning i have to consider that when picking out marriage candidates, hence Persia married Able a knight also in service to the crown.

I don’t have any plan’s partner wise for Tara yet it’s something that will come much later when she’s older if at all. But Joseph is set to marry Brenna Orrick Vaux’s 2nd daughter to Nicole. Brenna is a good choice for him because she isn’t likely to get better from the noble class’s as her mother is a merchant and he’s not likely to be granted the hand of a full noblewoman unless he earn’s lands first. So this is a good comprimise for both family’s i feel, it gives the couple a good chance of actually making it into the ranks of full nobility eventually and being reasonably respected when they get there.

The family as a whole are on a downward spiral financially but they have plenty of cash on hand and i hope it will last them until Joseph ret urn’s home from University and can help with the bills.

• Estate : Graymont (Daniel Silverhand)
• Networth : $27,965
• Jobs : Mathew Priest
• Names : Mathew (age:54), Neve (age:25)

• Paige (age:5)
• Twins – Bethan/Robin (age:4)
• Triplets – Wilona/Faina/Sorcha (age:3)

• Tax’s – $300

Ok you may or may not have noticed that my rounds got abit turned around and im actually one round behind playing “eek” im not quite sure how it happened but i got abit turned around and jumped into 1041 abit early by accident and rather than try and fix it in story im trying to simply catch up here and hope none of the “important” couples ie ones who appear in story have baby’s haha. (and if they do i will be having the baby’s be born in 1041 storyline wise rather than this round).

Generally speaking i should be head in the game rather than the story so i know who’s died and who’s had baby’s ready so i can add it to the plot. Anyway it’s bit of a mess right now, so i’ve slowed the story RIGHT down while i catch up.

However as a necessity i have rolled up the death’s in advance for this round and for next, and you will notice in the story line that Father Mathew has just died. (jan 1041) meaning game wise i need to prepare for this. At the moment they are surviving on Mathew’s pension and the wages of their pets, granted they don’t need much money anyway so hopefully when he dies next round the pet’s will be able to continue to upkeep the family as just because the priest is dead their tax’s won’t suddenly go up.

I’m also going to let Mathew die of old age when his time comes so he gets the lump sum, i figure that it’s reasonable to assume the crown will give Neve some sort of compensation for having her Husband killed by Tarik almost hush money to make sure people don’t have reason to rally on the Tarik hate wagon more than they are.

Neve finally gets pregnant this round with Mathew’s legitimate child and i spend the round hoping for a boy so his surname will continue on after he dies, Just as the round end’s Neve gives birth to a baby boy she call’s Oswyn.. yay.

• Estate : Graymont Crags (Daniel Silverhand)
• Networth : $66,749
• Jobs : Forrest – Military, Taye – Worker (Lysanders Fish Shop)
• Names : Forrest (age:32 ), Taye (age:27 )
  • Neo (age:11 )
  • Clara (age:6)
  • Amaria (age:2)
• Tax’s – $350
  • 1 Adult (Forrest military so free) $200
  • 3 Children – $50
• School Fee’s
  • Neo – Private ($500)

Neo has settled into private school well and the sudden drop in tax’s bought about by the estate change has been welcome (Daniel’s Tax’s are for the moment much lower than Valdermar’s where). Still i don’t anticipate sending either of the girls to private school as i think sending female children would be seen as a waste of money to all but noble family’s, who even then see it as a status thing rather than an actual benefit to the girls future.

When i made all my changes to the book of death making it a little more lethal one more addition i made was a misscarriage/still birth tweek.

While i do have a miscarriage hack it was fairly dependent on me letting my mother’s needs run low and even though misscarriages where fairly comman in medieval times I’ve never been good at “planning them” im just a bit of a softy i think. Same go’s for child deaths.. adults i can handle but i have this horrid tendency to let my children live even when the death calc says otherwise.

I’ve decided to be much more harsh with my death calc from now on if it says die then people ARE dying.

Unfortunately this means Taye loses the baby boy she was carrying during childbirth. Still the i stick the newborn into the family tree and carry on the round as usual i have to admit it made me abit sad but i really think that i need to stop protecting my poor sim baby’s especially when their parent’s keep insisting on having so many of them.

• Estate : Graymont Crag’s (Daniel Silverhand)
• Networth : $88,026
• Jobs : Fishermen (shop owners)
• Names : Lysander (age:18), Ebony (Age:17)
  • Clara (Lysanders Mother) – (age:68)
  • Emeline (age:2)
  • Milen (age:1)
• Tax’s – $500
  • 3 Adults – $200
  • 2 Children – $50
• Business Tax – 250 x 10 = $2500
  • 10 star’s

Because Valdermar has left the estate it has fallen back into “silverhand” control. Daniel will ultimately be taking control of it though technically Thomas has it for the moment. I anticipate Daniel taking it sometime during 1041 so what ive done for the purposes of tax’s is set all the payments to be made to Daniel now, this way because Daniel lives in the castle with Thomas they will just go into the “castles” family funds and when i move him and Sophie out into the old Beaumont house it will save me re-setting the payment mod’s.

Emiline thier eldest grow up into a toddler and bless the poor little mite she seems to have inherited Lysander/Gabe’s nose… oh well that’s why we breed in the odd ugly townie haha so we get some variety but now im struck with this naughtie urge to grow her up into an adult to see how she turn’s out.

Either way im pleased she has red hair, with the way colour dominance works I’ve found it’s quite easy to accident breed out blonde/red hair.So this is the main reason why i coupled Lysander and Ebony as they both have red/blonde parents so i was bond to get red/blonde children. (Jonas/Elena carpenter are another example of a red/blonde couple i purposely matched to keep the blonde/red gene’s flowing)

Their fishing business is quite successful these days and as a whole they are doing rather well for themselves. I could afford at this point to move them into a bigger fancier house but honestly they are quite comfortable where they are and really don’t need it. Instead im going to save the money so they can provide well for their children future and perhaps send Milen to private school.

This said it the house was built way way in the early days so this round i’ve started to give it abit of a re-fit starting with the bathrooms which where frankly quite poor.