Aristocracy

Aristocracy, when in context to the Regalian Empire, refers to the upper-class citizens of the empire, which includes but is not limited to very wealthy families referred to as New Money, noble families with titled land referred to as Old Money, and 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 links and referals for things to do with Aristocracy, so it should generally be sourced as first to-go place for information.

Social Conduct

Many of the interaction mechanics surrounding Aristocracy rely on common sense and good faith participation. As is expected of any concept that induces conflict, which often occurs among the Aristocrats who compete for power, players who struggle with anxious thoughts and concern over loss of face or embarrassment of their Character should not partake, or remain on the safe sidelines as a lesser component of a bigger family. Secondly, we expect all players who sign up to any of this, to do so in good faith, and to be serious about their roleplay intentions. Lore Staff will moderate what they consider meta-gaming, which in this case would be using OOC connections to provide in-roleplay system benefit, for example by recruiting large droves of unserious roleplayers who barely log on to pad system interactions in one's benefit. We expect players to want to participate, and to show a minimum of effort in return for the services provided by Lore Staff.

Classes of Aristocracy

Currently, there are several ranks of Aristocracy. These currently cap off at the County level of the hierarchy, at least for nobles, but there are theoretically many more titled individuals. We as Lore Staff have just decided that to give players more freedom in roleplay, that they should not be playing the equivalent of bishops, dukes, princes, and royals. Count-level nobles 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. All titles are distinguished as Male/Female suffix/Non-Binary suffix.

• Palatine/Marcher Count/Countess/Countirh, are the prestige-honored versions of Counts who have special regard or some kind of higher prestige among their peers.
• Count/Countess/Countirh, are the current highest normal form of titled nobility. This rank owns several valleys or dozen hectares of property, with cities and castles.
• Viscount/Viscountess/Vicountirh, are a rank lower than Counts, owning usually a city and some hamlets and estates, or a few castles. This title can sometimes just sound nicer than Count.
• Knights (Unisex), are not formally ranked, but even when they are not titled nobles, gain some aristocratic preferential treatment. When in armor, they are treated as Knights, and their higher ranks are ignored.
• Baron/Baroness/Baroq, are vassal families of Viscounts and up. Barons usually only manage or control one city or town, or one castle. This title does not confer wealth, only access to aristocracy.
• Gentry (Unisex), The Gentry are wealthy citizens who to the chagrin of old money must be tolerated to be around other Aristocrats. They don't have any formal titles within the Peerage, but are still part of it.

Social Class Rules

Each Class of aristocracy is bound to specific social conduct rules, and several rules dictate how one is viewed in context to other titleholders. It is especially relevant for Knights and Gentry, who may belong to more than one Rank.

• Palatine Counts, Counts, and Viscounts, are all considered to fall under Court Protocol (see below). Court Protocol is a basic behavior code for the representatives of the Emperor. As dictated by the Creed of Unionism, the Peers or titleholders are his secular representation in the Regalian Empire who must rule the small corners of the Empire in his stead. As a result, 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.
• Knights can be members of multiple social classes at once, as many Knights are also title holders or just wealthy family members of New Money. Knights however socially exist in a rank between the Gentry and the Barons, and higher-titled Nobles. Even if in courtly robes a Knight might be of the same rank as a Count, while a Knight is in Knight duty (in armor), they are ranked as petty nobility and thus are outranked by the Viscounts, Counts, and Palatine Counts. They still however are considered of higher social class than Commoner and retain their higher authority rank while off-duty in civilian clothing.
• Baronial titles are not inherited. This means that while Viscount, Count, and Palatine Counts can ennoble certain families by bestowing them with a Barony, that when the title holder dies, the title reverts back to the person who granted it or their family. It is possible to create pseudo inheritance by re-affirming the title to the next of kin, but generally speaking, Baronial titles are more like managerial positions. While the higher Peer ranks come with some modicum of wealth and prestige, Baronial titles do not afford any money since most of the taxes go directly to the overlord ruler. Barons do get access to noble privileges and social events to some degree but are never pulled up to the same rank. Baron actions are also considered as part of the bigger overarching overlord family. That is to say, if Family A is a Vassal of Family B, and they act out in public and get put on trial for treason, Family B also takes a social hit from this, because they are considered responsible for their Vassal families. Generally speaking though, Baronial families are safe and easy ways into Nobility without too many expectations. There is no expectation for Barons to participate in court politics, they can, but if they mostly just make use of the fruits of their access and prestige legally speaking, then they won't be at much risk of being plotted against.

Formal Adress

One of the most important rights of the Peers is to be correctly titled to show deference to their rank. Refusing to do so after being corrected, is considered a Low Law violation in the Regalian Empire and can land a person in prison. There is no need to memorize them all, title holders will just correct ignorance, the crime is only in continuing to mistitle on purpose. Titles are also streamlined, generally speaking, to avoid confusion. There is some wriggle room with formality, meaning in private some nobles choose to use nicknames and friendship names, but generally speaking, while any stranger or mere acquaintance is present, Court Protocol is in effect.

• Palatine Counts should be called "Palatine Count of such family name or primary title place", or "Your Esteemed Lordship/Ladyship/Lirhship" in all settings.
• Counts should be called "Count of such family name or primary title place", or "Your Lordship/Ladyship/Lirhship" in all settings.
• Viscounts should be called "Viscount of such family name or primary title place", or "Your Lordship/Ladyship/Lirhship" in all settings.
• Untitled relatives of all of the above ranks (siblings, children, cousins, and so forth) should be called "Lord/Lady/Lirhship in all settings.
• Widowed parents of all the above ranks should be called "Title of child-Dowager of such family name or primary title place", or "Your Lordship(Ladyship/Lirhship)" in all settings.
• Spouses of all the above ranks, should be called "Title of Spouse-Consort of such family name or primary title place", or "Your Lordship(Ladyship/Lirhship)" in all settings.
• Adopted Commoner Relatives into Noble Families never have titles, unless they are a commoner married to the title holder, in which case they are just "Consort Name", or "Sir/Lady(Dame)/Ser" in all settings.
• Knights default to Knightly title privilege, meaning just "Knight-Title surname", or "Sir/Lady(Dame)/Ser" in all settings.
• Barons and Gentry both have the same title privilege, meaning just "Sir/Lady(Dame)/Ser in all settings, including their extended families.