So, you do cartography for your profession?

Pembroke came to power during Henry VIII. He was well connected, and well-liked by the king. Pembroke, by good luck and the king's patronage, served Henry for more than twenty years, and became a wealthy landowner, knight, royal relative (related via the Parr family) and member of the Privy Council. Pembroke managed to survive in the Privy Council under Henry, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, and managed to avoid the round-up following the tragic Jane Grey episode. It was from Edward's reign onward that Pembroke showed his mastery of politics. He never instigated plots, but made sure he became aware of them and timed it so as to back the winner. It was that acumen that allowed him to survive when his long-time ally, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland, fell to the axe under Elizabeth.

In my online album, there were three "mon" (aka "kamon") and two maps.

Re: Mon
Doing a bit more research into the Japanese crests revealed to me that Milton-Bradley, while covering their game in delightful artwork, played willy-nilly with the mon, by randomly assigning them to the families. I am going to amend the postings in the album accordingly, and when I find out the correct family associations, mark them so.

Years ago there was a delightful game called "Kingmaker" put out by Avalon Hill. The game designers had to make choices as to who to include while not overwhelming the game with too many nobles. With as many liberties as they took with their titles and offices, they didn't alter the family arms. The Neville arms in the game, 'gules saltire argent' or red shield with a white 'x' cross was the actual arms of the Neville family. If one played for awhile, you would recognize the arms and the family name -- a bit of heraldic education while having a deucedly good time. (I won a lot of times, but I still remember getting caught by my rival, outnumbered 50:1 in little Bath outside Bristol. Argh!)

Historical games are tough to do, but they should have a solid foundation in fact. "Shogun" was a great deal of fun, and the map for the most part accurate. It was a shame to learn their research did not include respect for the family crests as well.

Re: DnD
The fun part of gaming has been watching the interaction. The campaign is old, and 'game time' is even older. Fascinating and delightful watching people interact with grandchildren and great-grandchildren of past players and NPCs, and all the familial interdependencies! Sometimes it's like a bloody soap! I've despaired of finding a good genealogy program to map the lineages, and have had to do it by hand.

I miss the gaming, getting to play only every other week online with friends. But, I've taken up my cartography and writing again, so that's probably a good thing.

In any event, thank you for the compliments.