In my most recent game I've been working with the Lady in charge of a faction called 'The Fellowship of Spikes'...
Recently I have received several "drive off/subjugate faction" quests, however I don't understand something about them...
I know that in order to complete them I need to either kill the warlord/lord/lady in control of the site and all of their subordinates, or claim the site and then maim/kill enough people to force the occupying faction to route...
However, regarding the latter strategy, when I returned to my Lady (and requested to be made her hearth-person again, because apparently you can't claim land for your lord/lady, and by claiming it for yourself you disassociate yourself from them) she wouldn't accept the titles I had claimed for her...
...
That got me thinking, how does the AI of landowners actually work in game, or is it just a case of something very rudimentary being dressed up to seem much more sophisticated than it actually is?
Can the various factions grow in power during the course of the game, how does that happen, can the player effect the growth of a faction (can a player completely annihilate a faction), does anything of note happen if a lord/lady gains control over new territories?
I ask because, while playing, it isn't entirely apparent whether helping this lord accumulate power by destroying her competitors is actually having an impact on the world...