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Aristocracy, when in context to the Regalian Empire, refers to the upper-class citizens of its society, including wealthy families known as "new money", titled nobility known as "old money", knights, and other associated government-titled individuals. This Page will set out a variety of both OOC conduct rules, as well as IC mechanics through which there is a class-divide in Roleplay in Regalia, which we believe helps reinforce the historical-like setting in a fantasy world. This page also contains other useful referrals for things to do with Aristocracy, so it should generally be sourced as first to-go place for information.
Classes of Aristocracy
Currently, there are several ranks of Aristocracy. Played nobility currently caps off at the comital level of the hierarchy, but there are several higher titled individuals that exist as NPCs. To give players more freedom in roleplay, they should not be playing the equivalent of bishops, dukes, princes, and royals. Counts are still able to drink with commoners in the tavern, while the other ranks would just be confined to their government position or title lands, and would not be able to roleplay with 85% of the server population, which gets boring quickly.
- Nobility are titled aristocrats who own land around the empire with several cities, castles, and villages attached to them. As dictated by the Creed of Unionism, the Peers or titleholders are the Emperor's secular representation in the Regalian Empire who must rule the small corners of the Empire in his stead. They must embody certain qualities of the Emperor and be above the common folk of the Empire. The Court holds that if any of the peers act outside of the scope of their title, and they disgrace their name and the Emperor, then their peer status may be ignored and all privileges do not apply to them anymore. In short, a Noble who acts like a Commoner, should be treated as one.
- Gentry or Aristocrats are wealthy commoners who have bought their way into high society. With Regalia transitioning into a pseudo-industrialized nation, some families of new money have become more wealthy than old money nobles, so there is a reasonable chance many of the titled nobles are in fact quite poor, because landed titles do not generate as much money as capital investment and business enterprise. In most cases, 70% of the finances generated off land tax are passed off to the higher ranked Dukes and the Emperor, meaning old money can in theory have accrued wealth over time, but cannot spend it as luxuriously as the Gentry could.