Mōrtoh

Mōrtoh is the line of succession. The concept is important in Tarnarian families. In the context of a royal house it is also the literal list of successors, as well as the institution that represents and prepares successors to the throne.

Etymology

Literal meaning of the word in Bukk is "rope", in the sense of "lineage".

In a royal house

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.

From an organizational standpoint Mōrtoh is an institution that prepares and represents successors to the throne. It is managed by the Office of Elders, which themselves are is not in line of succession, but are nevertheless part of Mōrtoh as advisors, teachers and servants. It is customary for each family member in line of succession to have a personal elder, although it is not unusual for one elder to manage more than one child.

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 this 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.

Successors frequently find themselves living extremely regimented lives, preparing for their royal roles, and in service to 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. For example, Mōrtoh was a very powerful institution in Toor, but almost nominal in Barud and Asdoh. It is very strong in assemblic monarchies, for example in today's Mantareia.

There are also examples when the power of Mōrtoh ends up hurting 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.

Because Mōrtoh elders are able to wield so much influence, they might at times challenge the royal family. Hogloh vy Aanua doesn't have a mechanism to prevent the overtaking of power by any of the Mōrtoh elders, but culturally this is extremely frowned upon: a Mōrtoh elder is considered to be unsuitable for the throne, although reasoning varies. In Toor large emphasis was placed on the elders' loyalty to the gole. Any elder making a claim to the throne would be considered a traitor and, thus, unworthy of the royal title.

Additionally, it is common for elders to be selected from intelligent, but otherwise disadvantaged candidates. For instance, elders tend to have either a physical disability, be old or unpresentable due to their origin or appearance in a given cultural context. In Toor and Barud elders were selected from experienced Jeens who were too crippled to take part in new campaigns. It is also not uncommon for the elders to be chosen from dishonored soldiers, nobles and non-violent criminals: an important feature of being an elder is that it is not a public position and elders largely live outside of the public eye. Being dishonored tends to make elders dedicated to their role and prefer to live in the shadows.

Nevertheless, there are examples in history when an elder would succeed the gole. Kles Dormon was a Mōrtoh elder who came to power in Tonaran, although even she did not assume the title herself and installed her son Davi Dormon as gole. It was also done under extraordinary circumstances, with the gole having vanished and there being no viable successors.

Mōrtoh of siblings

Strictly speaking, there are several Mōrtohs in a royal house, since a gole can have siblings. When a gole is chosen, there might be a claim for the throne among his siblings over gole's children or spouse. The mechanism to resolve this is not specified in Hogloh vy Aanua and frequently comes down to the internal power struggle between the Mōrtohs.

Normally, when a gole ascends to the throne, their first concern is to establish their own Mōrtoh and then weaken the Mōrtoh of siblings. This is frequently done by recruiting elders from that Mōrtoh into one's own, as well as distributing the ownership of lands between siblings, so as to move them out of the royal house and weaken their relationship with their elders. Gole's sibling might be given the role of Jeenor (head of army) and be sent to campaign, the idea being that in case of success Jeenor would assume rule over that new land and not have incentives to challenge the rule of the gole.

The weakening of Mōrtoh of siblings is not necessarily an adversarial process: gole's siblings might look forward to actually begin actively serving under the new gole and take their place in important posts of the state.