Hogloh vy Aanua
Hogloh vy Aanua /hɑg'lɑ vi aɪ'nɔɪ/ (Order of the House) is a system of ranks that originated in the State of Asdoh in the middle of the 16th CFR. It has generally persisted over the ages and is continued to be used today, although a number of significant power balancing changes have been introduced in Toor and later in Mantareia. Assemblic monarchy has shifted away from many of the household-oriented titles, instead expanding the administrative ranks and effectively elevating the Ooron court to the Assembly.
Hogloh vy Aanua is believed to have either originated or been heavily inspired by a similar system in Dantria. Settlers of the Dawn have exported a similar system to Yammoe, although that system has experienced a more turbulent evolution.
During the Mōroh period, toors frequently used simplified systems of ranks, but ones that were invariably based on the Hogloh vy Aanua. Some ranks, especially those of Murdon and the Murdon Circle system, have found its way into states outside of Tarnaria.
Ranks
Gole
Gole /gɑ'lɛ/ (pl. Golen) is a monarch. In the absence of gole-vy-gole (king of kings), gole is the highest royal title of the land.
The title is used for both males and females. The gole's partner does not hold the title, but is the first in the line of succession to the throne. In some cases, when the spouse takes the throne, due to gole's untimely death, for example, the regent might be referred to as Mel-Gole - "lesser monarch". This is not to lessen the standing of the regent, but to stress the status of the one passed away.
Not all partners of the gole hold the title of a Mel-Gole, even if the relationship is official: golen do not always marry. Instead, a gole would choose a single partner who is to be the Mel-Gole. That choice is then sealed with an investiture, a formal ceremony that installs the gole's partner as a Mel-Gole. This choice is, thus, quite rigid and cannot be reversed, unless the Mel-Gole dies.
Gole Jeenor (King General) is a title frequently used by warlords. It is also sometimes used if the ruler has no descendants or if the ruler does not wish for their descendants to inherit the title, or if the system of government does not permit the title to be hereditary for one reason or another. In most cases gole jeenor is the same as gole and carries a cultural note, but in some cases gole jeenor would be considered of a slightly lesser status than a proper gole.
Gole-vy-golen (king of kings) is an imperial rank used by rulers who preside over several territories and peoples. Some monarchs have used the title to signal an ambition to build an empire and to proclaim their status to be higher than that of other monarchs. In some cases, the usage of the title would provoke a conflict.
Mōrtoh
See: Mōrtoh
Mōrtoh is an institution that represents the line of succession. Literal meaning of the word in Bukk is "rope", in the sense of "lineage". Mōrtoh is one of central concepts in a traditional Tarnarian family, but is of special importance in a royal dynasty.
From a strictly bureaucratic standpoint, Mōrtoh is a list of successors. The first in line is always the spouse of the monarch, the Mel-Gole. The next is Mel-Mel-Gole, the eldest child. The rest of the offspring are part of Hrondeer vy Aanua - Children of the House. The Office of Elders is not in line of succession, but is part of Mōrtoh as advisors.
Members of Mōrtoh hold a special position in the hierarchy in that their authority is considered to be same as that of the gole. To the subjects of the gole, an order from any Mōrtoh is as authoritative as a direct order from the gole themselves. Due to that state of affairs, the Office of Elders is a key element to keeping Mōrtoh in line with the will of the gole. Because of that, it is not uncommon for Mōrtoh elders to wield enormous power and not be afraid to use it, in the name of the future of the royal house.
The spouse and offspring of the gole frequently find themselves living extremely regimented lives, in service of the gole and the image of the royal family.
The role of Mōrtoh has varied between dynasties, eras and countries, and there are many historical examples where Mōrtoh haven't been as powerful. There are also examples when the power of Mōrtoh played against the royal family. A classic example is the court of Gole Tōrmoh, where courtiers were too afraid to confront the Mōrtoh regarding the successor, and when the elderly Gole died, there was still no successor to the throne. The Mōrtoh elders then made the decision to conceal the death of the Gole.
Offices of Excellency
Offices of Excellency are a system of ranks for the employees of the royal household. Each office serves a particular function, such as procuring, storing and preparing food, hunting, providing security of the palace, medicinal needs, laundry and so on.
A person responsible for running the Offices of Excellency will hold the rank of a Prime, which is a high noble title. Only an oora can hold the title of Prime, and if a gole wishes to promote a commoner to the position, they must first give them an oora title, most commonly an honorary title such as broga.
The title of a Grand Prime is given to a senior courtier who runs a whole tier of Offices of Excellency, for instance the Grand Prime of the Cup will have the Primes of the Kitchen, Buttery, Pantry and Cellar report in to him/her.
Being close to the gole, primes are some of the most powerful and influential people in the realm and frequently live like golen themselves, having their own mini version of a royal court.
On paper, a Prime is a lifelong, but not a hereditary position. In practice, the position tends to be passed down from one generation to the next. A new gole will sometimes replace several courtiers with those from his Mōrtoh's Office of Elders, although this is usually frowned upon. This was a more common practice in the court of the Dolysoh dynasty, where each new gole tended to replace a lot of the court with new people, which created power struggles and scheming between the court and Mōrtoh elders. In some cases this even resulted in assassinations.
When the Prime is dismissed, they are usually provided with a hefty pension for their services. Former Primes have a good chance of landing a Grand Veraa title in the Court of Ooron.
Murdoh
Main article: Murdoh
Murdoh is the title of governor, designated to a non-elected public official with the power to run a non-sovereign level of government, typically a city or a region of a state. Appointed by the head of state, it is usually the second-powerful rank in the country. Murdon have their own court that has the same structure as that of a Gole, including having their own Goler Poton (the Royal Guard).
Oora
Main article: Oora
Oora /'ʊrɑː/ (pl. Ooron, Uron), spelled as Uroh before the second revolution, is a noble. The title of oora is usually translated to "lord", and is a member of a gole's court and/or trusted circle in a broader sense. Most courtiers of a monarch are ooran.
Oora titles are hereditary and rank immediately below royalty, enjoying a higher social status than the rest of the classes.
An oora can be appointed to virtually any position. For instance, although a Jeenor is a position usually attained through an army career, any oora can temporarily or permanently be appointed as Jeenor on the order of a gole or a murdoh.
The Court of Ooron is the administrative arm of the royal court. It consists of four chambers - Land, War, Law and Honor - with each headed by the principle, who must be at least a pōntim, but is usually a Grand Veraa.
The Chamber of Land deals with immovable property. In order to own land, one, one's family member or one's patron must be a member of the Chamber of Land. Natural resources, such as water and mineral resources, are also under the purview of the Chamber of Land.
The Chamber of War deals with the ooron's obligation to serve the gole during war and provide military support at a moment's notice, as well as raise money for warfare. It is also the Chamber usually responsible for collecting various taxes.
The Chamber of Law deals with judicial matters.
The Chamber of Honor is dedicated to foreign affairs, religion and moral laws of the land. In states, developed enough to have the Court of Ooron, negotiators become part of the Chamber of Honor.
Social mobility
Hogloh vy Aanua is notable for a number of features:
- It's the longest-used system of ranks, introduced in the middle of the first revolution and being used to this day
- It is the only system of ranks in the history of the Continent that does not exhibit a gender preference
- It introduces a number of independent institutions that are meant to balance each other's power and reduce the incentives to overthrow the monarch
- It provides mechanisms for power succession that allow to at least partially alleviate the uncertainty of who should be the next monarch; it even has a provision of when the ruling family can be challenged
Nevertheless, quite a number of mechanisms in the Hogloh vy Aanua are used to actively reduce social mobility. Specifically, temporary-hereditary titles are a way to reward commoners for services rendered to the monarch, but not induct their family into nobility forever. In fact, ennoblement of commoners requires a "nod" from the Court of Ooron, which is a formal approval from the nobles of the land. The nod is basically always given, but the way it is done may signal the degree to which the Court approves the ennoblement.
Typically, a commoner being ennobled into a low ranking noble position like a broga may receive a generous several-generation temporary-hereditary title. But if a commoner attains a high noble position, like that of a prime, the Court would expect the gole to limit the reward to a single-generation title, like broga I.
Succession
Hogloh vy Aanua postulates a hereditary monarchy, but with a twist: there seems to be some recognition of the value of the "state", so in cases when succession by members of the royal family is impossible or too difficult, it deems it preferable to depose the royal family and replace it with another one.
There are two basic concepts that relate to the succession of power: Mōrtoh-noh and Emmoh-noh. Mōrtoh-noh speaks to the continuity of the dynasty's rule: the royal family's rule should not have gaps, just like a rope (Bukk: mōrtoh) should not have gaps. Emmoh-noh is the pool of all potentially eligible for succession.
Mōrtoh-noh
The continuity is preserved if the successor makes a claim to the throne within 12 hours after the previous monarch's death. This also holds true in cases when the monarch steps down from the throne for other reasons.
The claim is made in front of the previous monarch's court and the elders of Mōrtoh. In the vast majority of cases being first is enough. Very rarely a conflict might happen between several Mōrtohs, for example if gole had a sibling and their Mōrtoh happened to make the claim first. Typically, this claim is discarded if there are no valid reasons as to why gole's own Mōrtoh should not be preferred. However, the claim will stand if no representative of gole's Mortoh is available at the time. An example of this is the ascension of Beejetoh Dolysoh who was secretly called in to Gaskal and when her brother was killed in a contest immediately made the claim to the throne. As Mosk-Sopoh had no spouse at the time and his daughter was not there, Beejetoh's claim was judged to be valid.
Any conflicts within a Mōrtoh are to be decided internally and Hogloh vy Aanua provides no procedures for this.
If, however, a successor cannot be produced within the first 12 hours, some of the ooron (lords, nobility) will make the claim. These ooron are specifically chosen by the gole to be in the Emmoh and cannot hold any office in the royal house. They are typically called Friends of the Gole, although this is more of a tranditional name and Hogloh vy Aanua doesn't call them that.
Emmoh-noh
Emmoh is the pool of successors. It consists of any of the Mōrtoh of the members of the royal house, as well as Friends to the Gole, who are nobles from families especially close to the gole.