A Guide to Zianna

Traditions of the Teltish Nobility

(I apologize if this one is confusing/a bit of a mess. I just have a lot of information in my head that I'm trying to get out!)

Naming Traditions

Teltans, and especially noble Teltans, value family lines. Every noble family is named after their founder. The bigger noble families can trace their lines back to the time of the Teltan Conquest. Lesser noble families often gained their noble status through wealth or deeds.

Male names are all versions of the family's name. Since these names are very similar, younger sons tend to go by nicknames.

With the Tandrans, this is seen with Tandrin and Tandrix (who goes by Tannix). With Tandrael, Tandar and Tanden, it is actually quite unusual that Tandrael, the eldest, has a nickname (Rael). But in their case it is simply because Tandrael has the longest name. 

For girls, usually the firstborn girl is given her mother's name, altered slightly to match the family name (usually this is simply done by changing the beginning of the name). Younger daughters are often named after other women in the family.

With the Tandrans, this is seen with Tannix's sister Tairia. Their mother's name is Clairia.

Titles

Teltish nobles use the city they are from as part of their name, but how it is used means a lot. Saying they are "from a city" (Lord Atricell from West Draulin) simply means that is where there family comes from. Whereas saying they are "of a city" (Lord Tandrix of West Draulin) means they are part of the ruling family. The ruling Lord and Lady of a city simply have the city name (Lord Tandrael West Draulin, or Lord West Draulin).

The honorific Lord or Lady is considered part of their name, and if they earn any additional titles they go before Lord or Lady. Although, in that case plenty of Teltish nobles will actually drop the Lord or Lady part of their name (Captain Lord Tanden of West Draulin goes by Captain Tanden, Sir Lord Atricell from West Draulin goes by Sir Atricell).

There are specific and complicated social rules about how to address different lords and ladies, based on their importance and the relationships between people. A general rule of thumb is for anyone higher ranking, use their most respectful title unless given permission to use something else.

For example, from most respectful title to most personal name: Lord West Draulin, Lord Tandrael West Draulin, Lord Tandrael, Tandrael, Rael.

Another example: Sir Lord Atricell from West Draulin, Sir Lord Atricell, Lord Atricell/Sir Atricell (these two depend on the situation, they're equally formal), Atricell, Acell.

Inheritance

Teltish inheritance is simple in that the eldest child inherits everything (property, titles, etc.). However, things get a little complicated when talking about marriage, and it is very much a case by case basis.

Even though family names aren't traced through women's names, women can carry on their family line. If a woman has inherited her family's properties/titles, she is also inheriting the family line. Her husband marries into her family, and her children will follow her family name.

The general rule is that whoever is less important socially joins their spouse's family. However, this doesn't always necessarily work. For example, if the less important person is the heir to their family name, then their spouse will marry into their family.

It is very important to the Teltans that the big noble families remain in control of their cities and regions, which is why how inheritance and marriage works can change so much depending on the situation.

Some scenarios to try to explain how this all works:

- Tannix is engaged to Lady Mayah. Although his family outranks hers, he isn't inheriting and she's an only child—therefore he will be marrying into the Macred family. When she inherits the title Lady East Draulin, he will become Lord East Draulin. But she will always outrank him because she was born into the family.

- Tandrin and Mayah would never get married, because they are both heirs. While it technically could happen, it would be very unlikely. Since Tandrin has younger siblings, in this situation he would likely relinquish his claim to West Draulin and join Mayah's family, since she has no one else to continue her family line.

- When Tandrin becomes Lord West Draulin, his wife will become Lady West Draulin. He will always outrank her because he was born into the family. If he were to die before they had children, Tannix would become Lord West Draulin and it would be expected the Tandrin's wife step down. If Tandrin died after he had children, his wife could continue to rule alone until their eldest child was old enough to take over. His wife could get married again, but her new husband would not be given the title.

- Tairia would outrank most men, and they would likely marry into the Tandran family. She isn't set to inherit anything, so her children would be part of the Tandran family but they wouldn't necessarily be considered "of West Draulin". If Tairia was going to marry someone who was an heir, she would likely join his family.

- If Tairia marries into another family, but then something terrible happened and she had to inherit West Draulin, her husband would have to either give up his inheritance to a relative or allow the Tandran family to absorb his family.

- If any of the these three married a commoner, regardless of whether that commoner was inheriting anything from their family or not, they would be joining the Tandran family. Non-noble Teltans don't tend to keep track of their family lines to the same extent, and so they aren't taken nearly as seriously.

- The Lord and Lady of a city do not need to be married. They can be a child and a parent (which sometimes happens when one parent dies, and the other keeps the title for a while to help out), or siblings (this could happen if the heir didn't get married, a younger sibling could take the other title). With very few exceptions, a city must have a Lord and a Lady.

Family and City Heraldry

Every city (and by extension the family that rules it) has a colour, flag, coat of arms, and motto. Members of the ruling family will wear a special crest ring. The Lord and Lady of the city also have special rings they'll wear.

(I have drawn a few of these)