Lady Seren

Lady Seren Wynne is a protagonist in Stronghold 2. She is also featured as an AI opponent in Kingmaker mode.
==Appearance and personality==
Lady Seren is a typical medieval lady. She wears a cloth of some description over her head, which is fastened with a headband. In combat, she wears typical metal armor with a griffin, presumably a symbol of her native England, emblazoned on her chest plate. She wears a pink cape and wields a sword.
Lady Seren is quite a calm and gentle soul, but is not afraid to speak her mind and make her thoughts known. She is even known to have some influence over The King, as she persuades him to mend his bond of trust with her future husband Sir William. Despite this however, she could be very defiant when she wants to be: she goes so far as to shout at Barclay, when he tries to persuade the player to join him. She also shows undying loyalty to her king and to Sir William.
==Biography==
Lady Seren is a religious and influential woman, who takes care of a Christian abbey. Her responsibility is traditionally strong, as she works alongside with the Bishop of the church. Lady Seren has command over fortifications and property, along with a loyal army. Seren is known to have had love affairs with Sir William, who isolated himself from her due to her rumoured political acts. Despite their difference, the two secretly love each other.
===Path of Peace===
Lady Seren is courted by Sir William for the duration of the campaign. She attends the feast of the King, only to witness William knocked out of the saddle in a jousting round.
===Path of War===
One of Seren's castles come under attack by Sir William and Matthew Steele, when William intends to break Sir Edwin out of her castle in the hope of obtaining a useful ally. Seren is late to arrive and is helpless, but this makes her persistent in tracking down the party. Edwin tricks his allies into the belief that Seren is an antichrist and witchful heretic.
Soon, Seren gets news that William and Steele confront Olaf Grimtooth and Edwin in the latter's lands. Lord Barclay and The Hawk quickly march to avenge his defeat, which Seren quickly makes use of. She organizes a plot to deceive his allies into a surrender negotiation, arguing that it could prevent an unnecessary bloodshed. Seren commences the 'negotiation' personally, however she tells them of her intentions and the King's whereabouts. As a white flag is waved, signifying surrender, this is the command for Seren's men to turn against Barclay's army and fight to their death. After the two eventually launch the siege, they are beaten back by the defenders. Seren and William mend their relationship, then return to the Abbey, however Steele questions his own intentions.
===The Blue Path===
Seren commands Matthew to defend her abbey from the inevitable attacks of Barclay and the Hawk, in order to preserve the King and the crown. The Bishop manages to secure the Holy Sceptre, an important artifact in ushering a new king. Moreover, Barclay's repeated attempts fail and the King is soon presented by Seren.
Seren is presumed to pursue her love interest, as well as she remains in charge of the Abbey.
===The Green Path===
Matthew Steele is going to attack the Abbey, as he joins Lord Barclay's ranks, in hopes they would overwhelm the King. Although she warns her enemies of their act being an attack against the church, the attackers are not deterred. Seren takes a last stand and fiercely defends her castle, but eventually fails and she falls by Steele's soldiers. As an epitaph, she tells Steele that she loved William. With Seren's death, Barclay takes indirect control over the church.
==Castles and strategies==
Lady Seren is a balanced opponent. She uses a high variety of units, although she takes time to build his defenses and siege armies. Her production in self-sufficient, but takes time to develop.
===Castle===
Seren constructs a confined rectangular castle that has an incomplete thick walling and minimal fortifications. The incomplete stone walling is sealed in with wooden fortifications, however this is highly deceptive as she places plenty Man Traps, Killing pits and pitch in the area. Archers are spread out along the walls and pikemen guard the interior. No traps or wall defenses are present in other parts of the castle.
===Economy===
Seren runs a medium economy. She gathers all raw materials and produces meat and apples for the granary. She places many weapon workshops and builds a church to gain a huge popularity and honor boost, on which she is heavily dependent. She erects the Lord's Kitchen, although she does not produce royal food.
===Unit compositions===
Lady Seren uses an extensive variety of units. Her choice of units are specialized, although not very durable. She uses most of her armored units on the battlefield.
*Defense: archer (guarding walls), spearmen (personal defense), pikeman (guarding spots)
*Harassment/estate force: hobilar, catapult
*Offense: archer, armed peasant, swordsman, catapult, cat, mantlet
==How to deal with==
===Defense===
To deal with Seren's attacks, build a wall with towers around you as quickly as possible. Train as many archers as possible and station them in the towers. Station some spearmen and pikemen near your keep as a last ditch defense and put some swordsmen and/or knights near your lord.
You may wish to build a sally port to ambush Lady Seren's siege. Place some knights (around 10-15) as a task force to demolish siege equipment and attack her troops. If there is a breach, send some men to plug the gap and let your archers deal with the rest. Rolling logs and pitch ditches may be used but are not 100% necessary.
===Offense===
To make attacking Seren easy, it is best to attack from the eastern edge so you do not accidentally suffer heavy infantry casualties from the killing pits placed on the western edge, despite the wooden walls. Use catapults to breach a hole in the stone walls and rush your units in. Several knights should make it extremely easy to kill her.
==Quotes==
For the Kingmaker quotes of Lady Seren, see: /Quotes.
"Oh William! What have you done! Freeing that traitor is the worst mistake you have ever made" - Seren after Edwin is freed
"Fear not, I will set him straight" - Seren to Sir William on The King
"Keep an eye on Sir William and keep him out of trouble" - Seren to Sir Grey on Sir William
"Surrender!? I am on your side you foolish man!" - Seren reveals her true colors to Sir William
"Tell William, I love him!" - Seren upon death in her abbey
==Images==
LADY SEREN.jpg|Lady Seren at her castle (Red)
Screen10.png|A preparing army
Screen12.png|Seren's advancing army
==Trivia==
*Despite being a female, if Lady Seren builds a Bedchamber in Kingmaker Mode, the Bedchamber will house a princess. This is most likely developer oversight as it is likely that the model for her was a customized male Lord.
*Lady Seren is the only AI in the history of Stronghold who uses the 'gap of death', where a heavily defended gap in the wall of the castle is left deliberately knowing that enemy AI troops tend to always choose an open path into a castle if it exists.
de:Lady Seren
ru:Леди Серена
Category:Stronghold 2 Characters