Oxen are the most important animal in Manor Lords, which naturally makes players emotionally attached to them. Everyone who has played this medieval city builder seems to have a story about their beloved ox, and players shared some of the most emotional memories in a recent Reddit thread.
One of the challenges of owning oxen is having enough hitching posts and small stalls to accommodate them. One player discovered too late that the lack of living space push his ox Thomas to seek greener pastures. Since he had no free spot on the hitching post, the ox simply ran away, which the player discovered too late. The Adventurer Thomas was a great introduction to more tragic stories about oxen dying in the line of duty (or being carried off by game bugs).
Tomás was lucky, since other oxen suffered a more tragic fate. Reddit user Fruzenius’ ox died from a lightning strike that caused a fire that killed the poor animal. You can imagine how they felt when they saw their beloved ox lying on the ground and the villagers walking around. It seems that force majeure is one of the main reasons why oxen die, as other players confirmed that the fire also killed their animals.
The medieval era in Manor Lords was tough, according to players, as bandits had a tendency to kill oxen and leave their corpses in the street. And since the villagers were too busy with their tasks, a dead ox lay in the town square for all eternity as a monument to all the fallen ox comrades.
When I hear those stories, I am glad that my oxen only ran away in search of happiness.
We can only assume that future updates will allow us to commemorate our beloved fallen oxen and give them a proper burial. No matter what happens, we will always have Thomas and his happy adventures as a story to give hope to other oxen. While the memory of the first one will last forever, at least you can always get more oxen at Manor Lords. I know no one can replace brave Thomas, but at least you can try to heal that pain in your heart with a new ox.
While oxen are crucial to success, they are not the only animals in the game. See how to get sheep in Manor Lord in MyFullGames.