Cat on fire?

(Year 230, Winter) Curriosity killed the cat? Well, thanks Similius, it was not that bad. The Sutton family celebrated a birthday, I think it was Mrs Carolina H. Sutton (72) herself who turned elderly. One of their 3 cats got a little too interested in those cace candles.

I guess it's on time they teach the cats to not jump onto counters...

House von Fyres Update

(Year 230, Winter) Following this year's Royal Court where Dominic Fyres was granted the newly created Dresden County, the fresh Count Dominic von Dresden paid an obligatory visit to the royal palace for a meeting with HRM King Tarriot.

Count Dominic von Dresden and HRM King Tarriot of Mazaloom.

House von Fyres was strongly affected by the recent repair of the Mazaloom great peerage, where a few older peerages were replaced with better suited titles. Dominic was having 3 illegal titles, Lord von Dresden, Lord von Haunt, and Lord of Deadgrass. Because the latter was even seen as high nobility, despites lacking its own district order, his main peerage, Lord von Dresden, was not replaced with a Baron title like the other lords were, but a brand new county. His new title is Count von Dresden. One could say he jumped 2 levels in rank, but he also gave up on 2 titles.

House de Cavalier: It's a girl!

(Year 230 Spring) Duke Charlopold (39) and Duchess Luna (39) de Cavalier proudly announces the birth of a daughter. The newborn is with good health, and the happy parents can hardly take their eyes off her.

This is their first born, after they got married last year. The little family resides alone with two servants at the large Chateau Cavalier, Brindleton Bay. A Governess will not be hired at this point, but might be concidered if the litle girl gets any siblings eventually.

Y230 Election: The Toughest Battles

(Year 229) With only the Winter until the big Year 230 election is coming up, it's time to highlight a few of the more interesting local battles! Each hood will have its Hood Contact, and normally only in a few hoods there are candidates from all three political parties, RIGHT party, LEFT party and MIDDLE party. Now that the N.A.P. votes are in and the parties have publicized their ranked list of candidates, we finally know who will be running. In 32 hoods there will be minimum one Hood Contact candidate, but only 6 of those hoods will have a full 3 parties battle: Arts Quarter in San Myshuno (Region 12), Sable Square in Brindleton Bay (Region 12), Upperton in Gloomville (Region 12), Oldtown in Windenburg (Region 1), Crafthole Town (Region 4) and Tartosa (Region 3). Let's check out some of them!

In San Myshuno's Arts Quarter LEFT's Anaya Jang is the most merited Politician as she is currently leading the Culture & Entertainment Dept. of The People Chamber.

Abhrin Wusha (58, RIGHT), Anaya Jang (63, LEFT) and Chaos Kessler (35, MIDDLE).

Jang is likely to keep her position as Hood Contact, but also RIGHT party's Abhrin Wusha is a long timer, he might be a serious contender as he was 5 years ago only 4 votes behind Jang.

Nobility: Orders and their Sashes

(Year 229) How about a closer look on those sashes? With the high number of peerages in Mazaloom kingdom, one should expect lots of pictures from gala events with sashes and tiaras all over the place. But this far there were rather few such reports on this blog. That does not mean that there is not a rigid system of sashes, though. So, in this article I'll try to introduce you to the most essential. Keep in mind that although my system is based on real life stuff, some details are not ;)

The Peerage of Mazaloom, also known as the large peerage consists of 4 noble levels: Royals, Dukes, Counts and Barons. Peerages close to the Monarch are granted with a so called District Order (aka friendship orders), which make them high nobility. Peerages with no such order stated in their Letter of Patent, will be considered low nobility (or actually, just plain nobility). While the unique sash color refers to the District Order, the star brooch worn with the sash comes in 4 version referring to 4 different rankes within the large peerage.

1. King/Queen
Top notch of this system is naturally the Monarch. Also the spouse (Queen/Prince Consort) and heir apparent (Crown Prince/Princess) are seen as of same top rank. They all wear the 1st level of the star brooch, regardless of which sash they may use for the occasion.

Because noble men normally wear a sash inside a tuxedo, rather than over their shoulder, we'll let a female model display the sashes for this article. Some male uniforms come with the star brooch already, and when that is the case I can not replace the brooch with the correct version. But for females these details are followed rigidly as they are separate accessories.

Most Monarchs will at some point in their lives lead a military career. Most reach Officer levels, either through hard work or granted them as they are head of the military organization. For gala events they will often wear the uniform with a red sash.

Chateau Cavalier: It's a great Day for a Wedding!

(Year 229) The couple has been waiting for years - and finally they were allowed to elope! Duke Charlopold got his Lady Luna, and Lady Luna got her Duke Charlopold. Although the event was downscaled a bit due to the groom's father deceasing this Spring, the event that took place in the chateau gardens was not that bad. It looked like the bride and the groom's mother, Old-Duchess Claudine, were both satisfied.

Their full civil names are Charlopold Demitris de Cavalier and Luna V. Heimlich. They met at University some years ago, but their relation was not approved by the Old-Duke until last year, when Luna got her Lady style. It was discovered that she is the daughter of Duke Merlin von Windenburg, and not the criminal Jacques Villareal, like everyone thought.

This was my very first wedding more or less with the use of the My Wedding Stories GP features. Some fun, and some frustration...

House de Cavalier: Engagement

(Year 229) House de Cavalier, Brindleton Bay, announces the engagement between Charlopold Demitris de Cavalier, Duke de Cavalier and Lady Luna V. Heimlich.

Duke Charlopold (38) took over the Brindleton dukedom two years ago as his father, Aquess de Cavalier, stepped back due to health issues. He got his History degree at University of Britechester and has started a career in Military.

House de Cavalier Addresses Rumors

(Year 228) Old-Duke Aquess (82) and Old-Duchess Claudine (78) de Cavalier recently sent out a press note to address some rumors that have been around in Brindleton for a while.

- The former Duchess and I, have been upset by recent debates clearly based on misunderstandings. We would like to address both my retirement and our son's disapproved romantic relation.

New official photo from House de Cavalier shows that both old-Duke and old-Duchess are getting older.

Two years ago I handed the Cavalier dukedom to our oldest son, Charlopold Demitris. Yes, it was done strictly against protocol, but with the Royal Chamber's approval. Dukes can not choose to retire because their commitment is life long, as stated by our dukedom's letter of patent (dated Year 98), but under certain circumstances even a duke can apply for help, often referred to as turnaround agreement. If approved, which is not very likely, the duke can step back.

Castle Cook Emma Sherwood retired

(Brindleton Bay, Year 227) Servants normally get replaced without a lot of fuss. They serve their master and might get publicly noticed only if they cause major failures or ground breaking rumors. But it is different when Emma (Harris) Sherwood (81) must leave Chateau Cavalier due to her high age.

Mrs Sherwood, called Emma by all these high nobility household members, has become more than a servant. She started her castle cook career 14 years ago. Then she lived at Whiskerman's Wharf as a widow with no children. Moving to Chateau Cavalier was like getting her second family, she once expressed.

Cook Emma Sherwood (81) celebrated by her second family: Lord Leon de Cavalier (32), Duke Charlopold de Cavalier (36), Old-Duke Aquess (81), Old-Duchess Claudine (77), Lady Merielle de Cavalier (34) and butler Mehdi Mandir (69). 

Last week it was time for her to retire. For the full evening she was celebrated by the entire household. The now young adult children of the house adore her, and gladly travelled back home for this occasion.

Investiture: Duke Charlopold de Cavalier

(Brindleton Bay Year 226) This year many houses had a busy Investiture Day (1st day of Winter), but only the Cavalier dukedom crowned a new Peer! It's time for Duke Charlopold to success his father, Aquess!

Duke Charlopold de Cavalier with proud parents, Old-Duke Aquess and Old-Duchess Claudine.

Charlopold Demitris de Cavalier (35) is the 4th Duke de Cavalier. He got his History degree this Summer, and started a Military career right away. This peerage traditionally expects Military, but also accept Politician as the main career of the Peer. Thanks to his successful degree, Charlopold already reached Officer level (Lieutenant Colonel), and could wear the royal military uniform for this occasion. The fresh duke chose to keep his father's Coat of Arms.

Deadgrass Lordship 175 Years Anniversary

(Brindleton, Year 225) Deadgrass Island might be small, but means a lot to Brindleton residents. Although Whiskerman's Wharf is the oldest hood, the island captured the locals' souls after a ship hitting solid rocks during a storm and filling the island with cats and dogs. That shipwreck was partly the reason why the lighthouse was built. The other part was the fact that the King could spot foreign ships earlier with the assistant of a Lighthouse Keeper. So, the Deadgrass peerage was introduced in Year 50 - that means 175 years anniversary was to be celebrated this Winter! 

The very prominent group of invitees counted nearly fifty guests, and pictured above are those of noble rank or closely related to either Lord of Deadgrass or the Cavalier dukedom. 

Front row left to right: Baron Charloman de Cavalier, Duchess Claudine de Cavalier, Duke Aquess de Cavalier. Dominic Fyres, Lord of Deadgrass, von Dresden and Hunt. Moira R. Fyres, Lady of Dresden. Duke Merlin von Windenburg. Elvira de Sür-Blyth and Hugo (Villareal), Lady and Lord de Sür-Blyth.

Back row left to right: Lady Merielle de Cavalier, Lord Leon de Cavalier, Siobhan (Fyres) Hump. Duke Victus and Duchess Gloria of Meadows. Jurton Summerton, Lord Foxbury. Morgan F. Saxor, Baroness of Verde. Stephan Ebernizer (Sim City business man, descending from the first Lord of Deadgrass).

High Nobility - Duke de Cavalier

(Current Year: 225) In this series I present the story of each of my High Nobility houses (see index after article), each representing one district (=world). Originally the current Region 12 had ten High Nobility peerages; 4 dukes, 5 barons and even 1 lord. Duke de Cavalier was the forth and last dukedom to be introduced by King Wizar I in Year 98. At this time the three dukes of Windenburg, Rossie and Meadows had been reigning for nearly a full century. The new dukedom was the smallest geographically, covering only the expanded land of Brindleton, today's Sable Square and Cavalier Cove. A high nobility lord was already answering to Whiskerman's Wharf and the Deadgrass Isle - and still is.

Dukedom de Cavalier is currently a well run peerage, with the region's most traditional castle including a highly awarded castle garden. Despite being only 127 years old, the house has an interesting story involving the myth of merfolk.

Coat of arms
Their shield (which is the only coat of arms element that I focus on) has changed three times, for each and every Peer. This is rather special, as a new peerage would be expected to at least keep its centered element which would help branding the peerage.

The original shield had a golden bone on purple background with two orange horizontal stripes. The bone was obviously a hint to dogs. Brindleton Bay had an extreme affection for cats, and dogs were introduced as the Sable Square hood was populated, around year 100. Purple is the main color, set by Duke Clauss Nicolai Ross (Lord of Rossie, he later changed his last name to de Cavalier), while orange might represent origin of the first Duchess (von Klasse).

Duke Leopold Demitris de Cavalier (Y142) replaced the orange stripes by turquoise stripes, probably reflecting his Duchess Mera's unconfirmed merfolk origin.

Today's shield is quite different as the golden bone was replaced by a golden flower (Y176). The background is still purple and turquoise. Duke Aquess Benedict de Cavalier never was clear on this change, and it might be a bit far fetched suggesting that it reflects his Duchess Claudine's love for the castle garden. There might have been some conflict between Aquess and his father, Leopold, but even such a conflict (small enough to escape the newspapers) would not be a legit reason to change a peerage's main symbol.

Lady de Sür-Blyth married

 (Brindleton Y225) Elvira Leonora de Sür-Blyth (41), also known as Lady de Sür-Blyth, finally married! After a full year long engagement to Hugo Villareal (31), they are now husband and wife.

The wedding ceremony took place at Club Calico, and it was a sweet, although small, event.

Lady de Sür-Blyth engaged

Lady Elvira Leonora de Sür-Blyth (40) is not living a very public society life. Her low nobility house, Sür-Blyth Farm, focuses a lot more on raising pigs combined with agricultural science, than red carpets and diadems.

She lived alone and worked real hard, and it’s great news that she is engaged, finally!

House of Lord de Sür-Blyth

In my Region 12 there are several high society households that I never told anyone about. I previously shared some info and pics on the Duke de Cavalier household residing Chateau Cavalier. Today I'll introduce you to the noble family running the Sür-Blyth Farm in Brindleton Bay.

(Y220) Still in Cavalier Cove of Brindleton Bay we find another noble family, de Sür-Blyth. They hail from a different region, far south, and the first to settle in Brindleton Bay (Y102) was Lord Edgar Otto de Sür-Blyth. He was a businessman and farmer, and he introduced agriculture to Brindleton Bay. Fishing remained the district's biggest industry, though. It was his extraordinary agricultural efforts combined with science that brought him and his descendants the noble status that they still benefit from.

Region 12 NEWS - Election Y220 Special

Every 5th year there is a huge Election in my Region 12. First the 18 Hood Contacts are found, then each district (=world) decides which 2 Hood Contacts shall be Nominees for the district's Councilor, and finally those 5 Councilors have a last round of votes to rank the new Council and decide the Mayor for the new 5 years period.

This video is 18 minutes. Host Chad P. Mox takes you through the Election Day with the typical voting charts, street reporters and artists in studio. And - I did not know the final result until it was recorded.



This is an extra long edtion. Normally these TV news videos are less than 5 minutes and are posted on end of each sim year (= RL monthly).

The Duke and Duchess de Cavalier

In my Region 12 there are several high society Houses that I never told anyone about previously. There's no King and Queen, but a Duke and Duchess in a castle is not bad, either!

Up there on old Hound's Head rises the Chateau Cavalier.

(Y220) House of Duke de Cavalier is currently the most prominent family of my entire game. They reside the large Chateau Cavalier located on the height previously called Hound's Head, Brindleton Bay's largest lot with a great view to the lighthouse. In addition they own two smaller lots (Dachshund's Creek and Hindquarter Hideaway). They have a Butler as well as a live-in Cook, occasionally also a live-in Governess.

Over the years they developed the most spectacular castle garden terraces and those few days when the garden is open to public visitors, it attracts garden enthusiasts and tourists from far and near. The bone shaped castle spans 2 full floors and has the rare 4-split tower. I will post more about both castle and garden later!

As Sims Go By - New episode out now!

2nd episode of my soap series is called "Growing Farm Rights". So, farming is one of the highlighted subjects, but there is also lots of other stuff going on. You'll learn to know the 5 Councilors better, get a few more ideas about those mysterious people, and there is of course some hints for next episode.

In a week or so there will also be a new film in my "How I Play" series, explaining the Farm Rights a bit more in detail.

Enjoy:

As Days Go By - Year 215 Picture Post

Hello! Year 215 was completed long ago, actually the first As Sims Go By episode released Nov 15th took place in my game's year 215. My current routine is to bring you a picture post every year to show what's going on in my game that counts 50 households.

So, in these more or less monthly As Days Go By updates, you get a chance to learn the small stories and destinies taking place outside the film series. Every here and there you might also find some ideas for your own game, but I'll not be very detailed in these posts. They are mostly meant as easy reads for inspiration. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, and I'll explain more thoroughly.

Starting in Gloomville's poor hood, Muggerdale. The richest household is Mugger Farm, being run by the same family for a few generations. They still grow produce, and this farm has 3 Farm Rights (see the As Sims Go By film series episode 2, or How I Play episode 3 for details on Farm Rights).

The household is a bit odd. Alan and Janet are siblings, and although Alan is young adult and ready to establish his own family, he won't take over the farm. Their parents died when they both were teens, and even if not building his life here, Alan ran the family farm while his sister was a student.

Seasons: One Year In Brindleton Bay

[The Sims 4, Seasons] Yay, I've enjoyed the latest expansion pack for 2 weeks, and I'm planning a series of new movies from my various worlds. Today the first was released, «One Year In Brindleton Bay»!


 I didn't actively play many households in Brindleton Bay yet, but my sims often visit this beautiful world. It's a world liked by many. This movie focuses most on the landscapes and weather, but in some of the others you will also step inside some of my family's homes.