Nobility

**Nobles** or **Aristocrats** are members of high society who own a plot of land or *fief* under a kingdom or empire. In other words, feudal lords who are also land owners under the crown. The rulers of most nations, or those holding some other form of political power, were often aristocrats.

Because of their wealth, aristocrats had access to the best schooling and training, and so they could become exceptionally skilled in the fields of their choice.

The aristocratic system had been developed over thousands of years, forming a rather rigid code of rights and requirements that many groups depended on. Book 6, Chapter 146

## Overview

### **Rights**

Nobility was mostly passed on in the family and titles were granted to their successors. Usually, one was born into the role of aristocrat, although in some cases, titled knights who had given enough service to a nation would be granted a barony. These individuals would learn the ways of the aristocracy and become members of this class.

## Hierarchy

### **Monarch**

* Ruler of an empire or kingdom.
* They are usually the strongest power of a nation. In the case of the Sacred Alliance, they were more or less equals with their vassal dukedomes combined.

### **Royal**

* Those with royal blood and had a modicum of talent is considered a part of the true royal family
* They are either prince or princesses.

### **Duke**

* Dukes were the pinnacle of regular nobility in any of the three empires. The next higher status was that of a prince, although both titles were actually more on equal terms depending on the empire. Being a price required royal blood, so the only way for a regular duke to advance was to become a grand duke who had completely independent control of his duchy.
* Addressed as "Your Grace"

### **Marquess**

* It was tradition for the head of every family on the floating islands of Faust to be a marquess at minimum, while those on the sixth level had to be dukes. Honourary titles didn’t count; one had to have the territory to match.
* Addressed as "Your Lordship"

## The Birth of Noble Glory

The book Richard was reading was called The Birth of Noble Glory, a rather gritty account of how the system of aristocracy in Norland was formed.

Glory was a complicated thing. Mishandling the situation wouldn’t just damage the family’s already-poor reputation; there would be a number of hidden losses that couldn’t be calculated directly. Richard himself wasn’t one to negotiate with families that lacked credibility and were known for flouting the rules just for profit. Sometimes, intangibles had more say in decisions than cold hard facts.

### **Pioneers**

Nobles didn’t hesitate to fight for family glory, even waging war to avoid humiliation. Glory was an extremely important thing when the empires were first founded, serving as a banner to which the people flocked. Many intense battles in the past often saw the nobles charging in first, knights from birth that exemplified the prestige of their family names. Those who survived attracted soldiers and grew their might, gaining influence over expanding territory.

Millennia ago, nobles weren’t allowed to desert the army even in the most desperate of situations. Their glory was what brightened the family’s banner; their flesh and blood were what gave rise to the fiefdoms of their families.

### **Current Generation**

Nobles were different from commoners; they resolved conflicts through battles on the field and in court. Bravery and power— those were the domains of nobles. Of course, it has now devolved into a cacophany of scheming in the name of retaining power.

Things had changed once the empires were fully established. Glory inevitably faded when generation after generation was born with a silver spoon in the mouth, and the battlefield of choice had shifted to the political arena. Honourable war was replaced with conspiracies, assassinations, and gossip. Most noble children today lived off the foundations of their ancestors, only looking for wealth and privilege instead of their own responsibilities.

Fortunately, Norland was still a war-torn continent where power meant nearly everything. The system of nobility in the Sacred Alliance just lacked the strength to maintain its operation; when Gaton fell, the Archerons would have been cleared out of Faust if Richard hadn’t lifted the family up on his own two shoulders. In a more stable country like the Millennial Empire, a situation like his would have been much more peaceful even if damaging.

## Conspiracy

Richard had been a victim of conspiracy when his evaluation for dukedom was called forth. He himself hadn’t thought much of getting a title before. His goals were developing his private planes and expanding his rune knight army, all the while growing his own strength. However, the motion to consider his title was extremely malicious; it wasn’t simply an acknowledgement of his might, but an accusation that he didn’t qualify for his island. At the end of the day, the Archeron Family was only held aloft in the sixth level by his wealth and his wealth alone.

There was a simple solution to the assembly’s attempts: leveraging his identity as the royal runemaster to have himself made an honourary duke. There would still be hue and cry about it— it wasn’t the “proper” way— but regulations that weren’t specifically defined could always be bent to one’s will. However, Richard would rather just be an earl than have such a humiliating title. In fact, he didn’t care even if he couldn’t become a duke; his sacrifices ensured the island couldn’t be touched for six months, and by that time he could track down the offender and destroy them.

Laws were laws. Continuing to occupy an island without becoming a duke would be an enormous insult, and this assembly would paint him as a commoner sitting on a noble’s throne. It would harm his reputation significantly, but that was the extent of the damage. There would be no actual losses to bear.

Even after a long period of thought, the only reason Richard could come up with for the motion was to block him from getting a dukedom in the near future. As per tradition, it would be another year before he could call upon another vote to give himself a title, but that couldn’t be the end goal in and of itself. There was some reason for his title to be barred at this moment, but he couldn’t figure out what tangible benefits that would bring to anyone. Book 6, Chapter 147

1. ↑ Book 1, Chapter 44