Pre-constructed hair pieces made from silk, fake flowers and butterfly wings, so many flowers, and fake fruits. Hair is typically worn loose or in a loose braid/up-do. Ribbons and pearls are used in abundance. Major fairy vibes.
I’ve been away for a while now but here are some of brand new travel posters (Skyrim edition). These were a lot of fun to make. Check them out on my redbubble and digital prints on etsy.
The Order of the Green Hand was a knightly order founded by House Gardener, the Kings of the Reach, whose sigil was a green hand. Only those both virtuous and skilled in arms were offered membership. The last members of the Order died with King Mern IX Gardener at the Field of Fire during the Aegon’s Conquest.
The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach: Highgarden
a redraw of my contribution to last year's Reach Week x
The issue I see with the ESO Dark Heart of Skyrim depiction of Reachfolk is primarily the division between "ethnic/indigenous" stereotypes, e.g. living in "tribes" in the middle of buttfuck nowhere and being hostile to outsiders, and the "civilised" Reachfolk who are depicted as far smarter because they live within the relatively safe confines of Markarth with taverns and banking services and other city crap that are the benchmarks of modernity and Tamrielic civility.
There is no reason beyond blind ethnocentrism that this is a division that exists, either in real life or in fantasy (if we allow the latter to truly break the bonds of fiction into something *better*). So-called "primitive" peoples, be that the Azande or Trobrianders, have been subject to ridicule due to their indigenous knowledge, myths, and beliefs as unaligned with our post-enlightenment, postmodernist, scientific worldview. In the eyes of many writers, projecting what is deemed within their worldview to be "good" for their characters is really a detriment when it comes to original worldbuilding.
At the risk of sounding like yet another unhinged Marxist, my final comment concerns the structures of Reach society. The hierarchical structure of Reach clans is not something I'm super familiar with so I may come off as sounding like an idiot here, but bear with me. Why are Reachfolk, with supposedly primitive and unchangeable belief systems, upheld to the societal structures of mainstream Tamrielic groups? Why would they trade with gold, if they traded at all; and if they didn't, someone needs to do some research on the historical basis of global trade, which cough cough involves cooperation and amicable relations between disparate groups over huge distances and periods of time. Why are the Reachfolk exempt from this cycle of amicability? Is it more thrilling to write them as hostile savages, ready to attack anyone who supposedly threatens their way of life?
Yes, they would be thoroughly aware of the dangers of colonisation. But why have city Reachfolk been portrayed as sensible citizens of Tamriel while their brethren in the wilderness are presented as wild, IGNOBLE savages? Where is the justice in portraying indigenous peoples as they truly are and are capable of, rather than re-used Western tropes surrounding the division of self and savage Other?
Once again, this ties into the prominent Western tradition of Othering those who don't follow the tenets of a monotheistic, hegemonic, organised religion, or similarly prescribed worldview. By not including Aedra worship in Reachfolk culture, they are seen as savages and people who should be civilised and brought into the fold of the Divines. There is a pervasive undertone of violence linked to so-called "primitive" groups in TES, and this may just be to make convenient NPC bandits, but also perpetuates a stereotype that deeply harms real-life indigenous and culturally marginalised groups.
This is why careful worldbuilding is so so so important because we can project the world WE want, free from the socionormative biases that taint fantasy writing. Yes it's necessary to draw inspiration from real life, I do it all the time, but there's a point where you say "what if real life isn't that great of an idea to project here?"
I'd like to conclude by saying that I'd like to see this decolonisation of fantasy writing extended to other socially marginalised and misunderstood groups in TES, such as Bosmer, Argonians, giants, minotaurs, and the Bandaari (I could rant about them all day but I have other writing to attend to). We can do so much better not only with our ability to create some truly original fantasy worldbuilding, but also by showing others that by decolonising our own writing, we are becoming more sensitive to the worldview of others and incorporating that in an insightful and respectful manner.
House Hightower of the Hightower, also known as House Hightower of Oldtown, is one of the most powerful of the noble houses in the Reach. Their seat is the Hightower, located in the city of Oldtown. The sigil of House Hightower is a stone white watchtower, with a fire on the top. Their motto is "We Light the Way", and they possess a Valyrian steel sword called Vigilance.
The Hightowers are among the oldest and proudest of the Great Houses. They have often preferred trade instead of war, and have also avoided many wars because of their support for the Faith of the Seven.
Have you ever asked yourself what a book for tourist traveling to Westeros would look like ? Well, my intrusive thoughts and lack of sleep helped me come up with this idea. It's just the first part of 9 I'll do one for each region of the land of Westeros, but I already have plan to do it to the region's of Westeros too. I based myself not just on the cultures of the real world but also Westeros, and what they would look like in a modern setting, so yeah enjoy my crazy shit because I sure did when I woke up today and decided to do this.
NORTH. VALE. RIVERLANDS. WESTERLANDS. STORMLANDS. CROWNLANDS. IRON ISLANDS. DORNE
So I have been taking a photoshop course and I got the chance of a pretty generic assignment so i made my first attempt on how I immagine Highgarden should have looked like
It isn’t perfect, the walls should be white and the nature just isn’t enough fertile and glorious, but it’s all I was able to do with the time I had.
Hope it’s a better version than the show one and It would be nice to get some advice and suggestions
Some random fashion/hairstyle/accessory headcanons for asoiaf. total and complete mashup of historical periods of the middle ages
I think women in the Stormlands are all about those wimples, snoods, cauls, etc cause you know, wind and all that. I think the higher up the chain of nobility a woman gets, the less she covers her hair up - it shows a pretty high level of wealth and privilege to have the time to sit for hours while a servant pins hair up in an elaborate style made to hold in the wind. As well as the privilege noble ladies have of being able to just go inside when the weather is stormy, as opposed to smallfolk who potentially don’t have that option when they’re running farms and shops (and therefore need something to hold their hair with little effort 24/7)
I think the Riverlands are pretty similar to the Stormlands in that they are generally a more practical sort of people, and wealth is displayed more through impractical items to wear and/or make. Fuckoff big and weird headgear, ruffs that take a lot of time and fabric to make, farthingales (even if that is pushing it on the “middle ages” time period) and especially French farthingales on special occasions
Westerlands on the other hand? It’s precious metals, jewelry, gemstones embroidered into clothing, gold braid, velvet, fur, every ostentatious display of wealth you can think of. I also like them wearing farthingales, since they’re right next to the Riverlands and I like them in similar but slightly different styles (for reasons that will go in another post). In general I also like the idea that clothing gets less structured as one gets further south, so the Riverlands and Westerlands are the only ones wearing farthingales
The Reach is a very romantic culture, so I think the women there would want to show off their hair while still staying within the realm of Westerosi modesty. Unmarried women wear their hair “down” but still held back with braids in some way, while unmarried women wear something close to a balzo so they can show their hair while still keeping it “covered”. The Reach is a pretty big region, so as you get closer to the Riverlands you start to see some escoffions, as you get closer to the Stormlands you start to see more elaborate braids and cauls, etc.
So we been knew that Iron Islanders are Vikings but I do actually love Viking clothing for them specifically because of the little brooches/pins/patches they wear to hold the straps on their strap dresses. Vikings historically would have used these to attach and carry various items, and it does feel very Iron Islands for their few bits of decoration to also serve a practical purpose.