Nobility



Nobles (貴族, kizoku) are the aristocratic class of Yurgenschmidt. Despite making up a minority of the population, nobles rule over commoners and clergy with absolute authority. However, the main defining quality of nobles is not wealth or power, but rather that they possess mana.

In Yurgenschmidt, classes are separated by mana first and foremost. While all living things possess mana, commoners generally have so little that it is imperceptible. However, nobles have enough mana to use at will, allowing them to make the land fertile, battle dangerous feybeasts, and otherwise support the territory. As a result, even the lowest-ranking noble holds absolute power over any commoner.

A person is not considered a noble unless they:


 * Have sufficient mana to be baptized into a noble family.
 * Attend and graduate the Royal Academy after obtaining a schtappe.

Noble children who are born with very little mana can either be married off to lower-ranking families, sent to the temple as blue priests or shrine maidens or turned into servants for the family, which loses them their noble priviledges and turns them into commoners. All these practices are equally established and accepted in all levels of noble society. Families so poor they can neither afford the life-saving magic tool nor the cost of sending the child to the temple have no choice but to allowed to them to die of mana exposure. Since children are not considered Humans until their baptism, a family could also choose to just let unwanted chilren die, rather than invest in them without any legal consequences. This issue is usually limited to laynobles, since they do not have the option to "marry down" a child like mednobles and above can and also tend to be the poorest of nobles. Nobles who do not attend the Royal Academy (or who fail to pass their classes) may also be sent to the temple as blue priests. Finally, a noble can renounce their status by voluntarily choosing to enter the temple, as Ferdinand did.

Once a noble enters the temple, they cannot regain their status unless they are given permission by the Aub or someone of equivalent authority. That is usually only done under extenuating circumstances. For example, after the Sovereignty civil war, an unusual number of priests were allowed to leave the temple to address the critical mana shortage.

Nobility are ranked into three primary tiers (laynoble, mednoble, and archnoble) with additional subsets in the archnoble tier. Tiers reflect average mana capacity and hierarchical status, but they do not reflect wealth, land ownership, influence or other factors. The divide between each tier is almost as strict as the divide between nobles and commoners: a laynoble who shows insufficient deference to an archnoble, for example, could be severely punished.

If a child has significantly more or less mana than the rest of their family, they may move up into a higher tier or fall to a lower tier. This is usually done through adoption or marriage. (Alternatively, if the child is young enough, they can be baptized as the natural child of a new family.) Children with extremely low mana, especially in laynoble families, may be sent to the temple as blue priests or shrine maidens and lose their noble status altogether.

Titles (as opposed to noble tiers) denote governorship of land and the right to inherit that governorship. The three main titles (Zent, Aub, and Giebe) each have one or more courtesy titles associated with the position, which can be used as appropriate to the situation. For example, the "archduke of Ehrenfest" is synonymous with the title "Aub Ehrenfest". Likewise, a mednoble giebe such as Geibe Gerlach can also be correctly called "Viscount Gerlach".

These titles do not correspond to any particular status or position, and can be used generally as a term of respect.

Each spring, the duchies of Yurgenschmidt are formally ranked based on their political influence, economic growth, contributions to new research or technology, and the performance of their students in the Royal Academy. The status of nobles within those duchies is likewise impacted.


 * Between Duchies: When nobles of similar status have a conflict, preference is usually given to the one from a higher-ranked duchy. For example, an archnoble from a greater duchy would usually take precedence over an archnoble from a lesser duchy.
 * Between the Sovereignty and a Duchy: Nobles of the Sovereignty always rank above other nobles from the same tier: That is, a Sovereignty mednoble will always rank above a Klassenberg mednoble, although Klassenberg is the highest-ranking duchy. However, a Sovereignty mednoble would still be considered lower in status than any archnoble.

Royal Academy Professors are an exception. For the sake of maintaining order, professors are always considered of a higher rank than their pupils in matters concerning education. However, this rule is often more true in theory than in practice. As Solange experienced, many high-status students will ignore the requests of a professor who is lower in status.

Students who show themselves very capable in their first two years at the Royal Academy sometimes get the option to join the Sovereignty from their third year onwards. However, archduke candidates cannot join the Sovereignty under any circumstances, because doing so could leave the Aub without a successor. The only way for an archduke candidate to join the Sovereignty is by marrying a member of the royal family.

In their third year at the Royal Academy noble children have to choose one primary course that will determin their future careers. The three choices are:
 * Attendant
 * Knight
 * Scholar

The exception to this are the children of archdukes who are obligated to participate in the archduke candidate course.

All students have the option to voluntarily take more than one course to expand their knowledge.

 See "Noble Euphemisms" 


 * When two nobles meet it is common for the one of lower rank to start talking and ask for permission to give a blessing. Once this permission is granted the suplicant uses a small amount of mana to give a blessing of the current season's respective deity. Should both nobles be of equal rank, the guest speaks first and offers the prayer.
 * When a noble has guests it is expected of them to drink and eat at least one gulp or bite first to demonstrate that the offered refreshments and meals are not poisoned.

The country of Yurgenschmidt has a system of polygamy. Male nobles can have up to three wives at the same time. The order of wives is usually decided by status. Should an already married noble marry a new wife from a more prestigeous family than his current one, his current wife will be "demoted" to second wife with the new one taking the spot of first wife.

In the rare cases when a woman is chosen as archduchess, she too can have three husbands. By marrying an archduchess male nobles lose the right to have any other wives.

It is socially accepted for nobles to have concubines. Unlike with wives, concubines can be of any social status, even commoners, without causing any societal stigma.