I could have bought Crusader Kings II, if my laptop hadn't gotten a lethal virus and I were not broke as hell. So, while the depressed high schooler that I am waits for digital salvation, i'll give a try to the first chapter, to taste the waters. And I'll give it using the Westeros mod, since I am an huge fan of Martin's saga. This does not mean you have to spoiler me the book series, since I have read only the first two books, and I am reading the third one.
For the ones that have no idea about the world in which the saga is set, let's just say that Westeros is a continent nearly equaling South America in size. It was first inhabited by the Children of the Forest, a people that lived in a Stone Age-like society, practicing a shamanistic religion and, legends say, magic. They were conquered by the bronze-wielding First Men, but in the North of Westeros, many of them survived, and their bronze-clad invasors even adopted their religion. Then, the First Men got in turn handed their asses on a plate by the Andals, that had iron instead of bronze, and whose religion, the Faith of the Seven, became dominant in the South.
They are responsible for bringing medieval-like civilization to Westeros. While it seems that the continent is in a bit of typical fantasy medieval stasis, it's very likely that it is just apparent: after all, the inhabitants of our own Middle Ages were not keen on history, and thought that Romans lived and talked exactly like them.
Politically, almost the entirety of Westeros has been unified first into seven kingdoms and some smaller entities, then in a single kingdom (still referenced to as the "Seven Kingdoms") by the Targaryen dynasty. Three centuries of Egypt-like inbreeding made so that every Targaryen king was madder than the other, leading to the fall of Aegon the Mad King by means of a revolt against him by the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms (descendants of the ancient independent kings).
I'm going to slip into the clothes of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, long before the events of the books took place, hoping to keep his ass safe. And possibly, to keep Cersei's arrogant ass far from Robert Baratheon.
For the ones that have no idea about the world in which the saga is set, let's just say that Westeros is a continent nearly equaling South America in size. It was first inhabited by the Children of the Forest, a people that lived in a Stone Age-like society, practicing a shamanistic religion and, legends say, magic. They were conquered by the bronze-wielding First Men, but in the North of Westeros, many of them survived, and their bronze-clad invasors even adopted their religion. Then, the First Men got in turn handed their asses on a plate by the Andals, that had iron instead of bronze, and whose religion, the Faith of the Seven, became dominant in the South.
They are responsible for bringing medieval-like civilization to Westeros. While it seems that the continent is in a bit of typical fantasy medieval stasis, it's very likely that it is just apparent: after all, the inhabitants of our own Middle Ages were not keen on history, and thought that Romans lived and talked exactly like them.
Politically, almost the entirety of Westeros has been unified first into seven kingdoms and some smaller entities, then in a single kingdom (still referenced to as the "Seven Kingdoms") by the Targaryen dynasty. Three centuries of Egypt-like inbreeding made so that every Targaryen king was madder than the other, leading to the fall of Aegon the Mad King by means of a revolt against him by the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms (descendants of the ancient independent kings).
I'm going to slip into the clothes of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, long before the events of the books took place, hoping to keep his ass safe. And possibly, to keep Cersei's arrogant ass far from Robert Baratheon.