Applications for nobility

[Arawn]

Hello all,

After some discussion with the team, it has been decided that there will be a requirement imposed on those who wish to play a noble in Port-ŕ-Lucine and the Core more broadly. While increased interest in the city is and remains to be a productive, powerful, and positive force for roleplay on the server, the granting of nobility to players has historically been a privilege awarded for excellent roleplay elsewhere and based on the discretion of the DM team. This policy has been unenforced for some time now, but given the massive upswing in activity (and a plethora of new noble characters), the team has decided to re-impose it. Therefore, no new noble houses may be created for or in Port-ŕ-Lucine (this includes nobility from elsewhere, such as Richemulot, Mordent, and so forth), nor may new nobles be created for existing houses, without a PM request, sent to the team, which states clearly:

Name:

Character Name:

Account:

Other Characters/Accounts:

Brief Biography (no more than a paragraph):

Statement of goals and methods (no more than a paragraph):

Description of Heraldry:

House Words (If Applicable):

It will be significantly easier to join an existing House than it will be to make a new House; these require no application, only the permission of those who created the house and/or the team's assent. Additionally, all sanctioned Houses will have to submit a write-up for the thread of Dementlieuse Houses (or the Other Noble Houses thread, for those who are not Dementlieuse), so information is consistent and available to those who want it.

Resources for nobility applications:

A Guide to the Nobility of the Serene Republic of Dementlieu
A Guide to Hazlani Nobility and the Law

[Dread]

Attention:

Effective immediately, all who apply for Dementlieuse nobility (and, indeed, nobles in general) must start out as being landless. Land can be acquired in-game through your character's actions, but neither your character nor their immmediate family can start out as owning land, property, a village, and so on.

Our reasoning for this has to do with the clutter that covers much of Dementlieu's map as it presently stands; a new player can research the domain extensively, pulling upon the Gazetteers, sourcebooks, and the RPGA adventures for guidance, and they would still be left largely confused by the details concerning every noble family and their holdings. We also wish for the focus of Dementlieu to shift back towards the areas represented in-game and away from off-screen holdings, which we wish to keep deliberately vague outside of when DM events and plots. We hope that by implementing this new policy, it will help to simplify things overtime and make the domain less overwhelming to newcomers.

This does not affect the noble houses that presently exist, nor is it retroactive or affecting pending applications.

For those who submit applications for Dementlieuse nobility in the future, consider the following:

- Why would your family start out as being landless?  Perhaps your family had its origins in wealthy merchants who “purchased” a title, with the Council of Brilliance offering them as a way to finance the state. No land was associated with the title, either because no land was available or because the family simply wasn't interested in it, believing the upkeep would make it more of a burden than a boon.

Our players are creative and gifted, and so I know they will come up with an interesting story behind their new character's origins. We may review this policy in time, should the situation require it; for now, however, we would ask that future applications sent to us adhere to these new prerequisites. If you have any questions and wish to workshop with me about this for your own noble family, do not hesitate to reach out.

Thanks bunches, and happy roleplaying,

- DM Dread