Nobility

There are three kinds of titled nobles in Bandagora: 1) Nobles by office, 2) Nobles by merit and 3) Hereditary nobles. 
1) Nobles by office are used in empires, the [file:///C:/Users/Jesper/Dropbox/Bandagora/encyc.htm#Pendesien Pandese] Empire and [file:///C:/Users/Jesper/Dropbox/Bandagora/encyc.htm#Palmyria Palmyria]. Here the emperor assigns the nobility personally and can at least in principle remove them from office. In an empire, the raising and maintenance of armies is the duty of the emperor, nobles are either land owners who pay taxes or those holding important posts. 
2) Nobility by merit was introduced in [file:///C:/Users/Jesper/Dropbox/Bandagora/encyc.htm#Salakand Salakand]. Here anybody with a 100 men under arms willing to fight for the king was a lord. A baron was a person who lent a quarter of a tun of gold (250 gd) to the king, who in turn gave the baron the right to use an estate (a fief). If the loan was repaid, the fief was returned to the king's demesne. A count lent at least a tun of gold. These guidelines are still followed, with the addition of the title duke. A duke lent at least a tun of gold and had a standing army of at least a 1000 men. Today Marentia use these rules in their purest form. 
3) Hereditary nobles are nobility given their title forever, with the right to pass it on to their heirs.
The three forms are mixed in most countries for practical reasons. It is rare for an emperor not to appoint the heir to the father's office. On the other hand most hereditary titles come with obligations, and if these obligations are not fulfilled, a king could well divest the noble of his title. 
In [file:///C:/Users/Jesper/Dropbox/Bandagora/encyc.htm#Penboyn Penboyn] the titles are hereditary with two exceptions: 1) That the heir must prove himself worthy (cf. the Brotherhood of Doom). 2) That a baron, a count and a duke must command a standing army of a 1000, 2000 and 5000 men, respectively. In addition, all nobles pay an annual fee to the king, which may be disregarded if the standing army is larger than the minimum (a lord commanding 500 men does not pay the fee).