Post by seamist on Dec 20, 2018 23:20:54 GMT
A pretty common trope and fairly common occurrence in Westerosi history is the presence of mystery knights in grand tournaments. Bran notes that "...mystery knights would oft[en] appeared at tourneys, with helms concealing their faces, and shields that were either blank or bore some strange device..." (A Storm of Swords, Chapter 24). Major mystery knights who appeared throughout history were the Knight of the Laughing Tree, Aemon the Dragonknight, Duncan the Tall, Barristan the Bold, Simon Toyne, and Jonquil Darke, all of whom (except for the Knight of the Laughing Tree) were legendary fighters and ended up featuring prominently in Westerosi history.
So my suggestion is pretty simple: allow characters to enter as mystery knights at the cost of gold (for bribes and armor without heraldry and such). For any character, male or female, with a personal combat skill greater than, say, 50, allow them the option of joining in as a mystery knight. The rewards could be greater prestige than usual (as mystery knights seem to be considered very romantic and are usually beloved by the spectators), the ability to join in tournaments the character otherwise wouldn't be allowed to (so women in general, plus characters who are currently in rebellion i.e. Simon Toyne or who have other responsibilities like the Kingsguard), and finally, for women, the opportunity to be recognized as a famous warrior (with a trait similar to Shieldmaiden allowing them to be commanders or knights, as in the case of Jonquil Darke or Brienne of Tarth).
So my suggestion is pretty simple: allow characters to enter as mystery knights at the cost of gold (for bribes and armor without heraldry and such). For any character, male or female, with a personal combat skill greater than, say, 50, allow them the option of joining in as a mystery knight. The rewards could be greater prestige than usual (as mystery knights seem to be considered very romantic and are usually beloved by the spectators), the ability to join in tournaments the character otherwise wouldn't be allowed to (so women in general, plus characters who are currently in rebellion i.e. Simon Toyne or who have other responsibilities like the Kingsguard), and finally, for women, the opportunity to be recognized as a famous warrior (with a trait similar to Shieldmaiden allowing them to be commanders or knights, as in the case of Jonquil Darke or Brienne of Tarth).