Peerage

Property-owning nobility exist in all Civilizations, and titles are often hereditary. The exact holdings and ancestry are encoded in the Ledger of the Peerage, sometimes referred to by the Benedictines as the Blockchain for reasons lost to time. The Ledger is a kind of distributed magical artifact that associates the Title of a Holding with the genetic information of the current holder, indeed, the very definition of being a member of the Peerage is someone listed in the Ledger.

Ledger

Each Castela, Mine, and Urb has it's own copy of the Ledger, which is an immutable history of all titles held by all nobles in all cultures on Mundus. The records of the Ledger stretch backwards in time for thousands of generations, and the vast amount of records in the Ledger means that only the largest Castelas, Mines, and Urbs have the resources to maintain an entire copy of the Ledger. Competing claims are often proposed in different copies of the Ledger, which is resolved by a kind of magical consensus based upon the number of copies of the Ledger that agree with a particular claim. Thus, successful claims are most often registered in the largest copies.

Castelan Titles

Elven Nobility is impossibly complex, and not well understood by outsiders. It is believed to be a combination of ancestry and merit. The exact title is often worn by the the individual as a piece of jewelry which reflects their Ledger entry.

Mine Titles

Amongst the Dwarves and Gnomes of the Mines, the following titles are recognized, in increasing order of precedence, along with the typical holdings and responsibilities.

  • Thane (Clan)
  • Jarl (Mine)
  • King, Queen (Typically all the Mines on a Continent)

Urban Titles

The following are the titles recognized in the Urbs, in increasing order of precedence, along with the typical holdings and responsibilities.

  • Baron, Baroness (Barony, the seat being a Summerday castle)
  • Viscount, Viscountess (Viscounty, Several Baronies)
  • Earl, Countess (County, Several Viscounties)
  • Marquess, Marchioness (March, Several Counties)
  • Duke, Duchess (Duchy, Several Marches)

As a March is the typical roaming area of an Urb, the Marquess or Marchioness is often the titular leader of the Urb. The Duke is often the leader of the Continent.