Southern Federation of Kingdoms: Difference between revisions

Line 12:

== Religion ==

In [[Aetherian Faith|Aetherian]] lists of national patronage, the '''Southern Federation''' is associated with [[Darg|'''Darg''' (the Wise)]], in contrast to [[Directionland|Directionland’s]] veneration of [[Simonius]] and [[Ruulran]]’s association with [[Odivia]].

== Society and noble houses ==

Surviving civic registers and later southern legal commentaries consistently portray the Southern Federation of Kingdoms as a rigidly stratified society in which noble Houses were the primary unit of law, property, and identity. House affiliation governed inheritance, titles, heraldry, and most forms of political legitimacy. In practice, a person’s name was treated as an assertion of legal belonging, not merely a personal identifier.

=== High Houses ===

Within the Federation’s aristocratic tradition, High Houses were chartered lineages recognized by state and temple record. They held the greatest estates and offices and served as the formal backbone of the Federation’s internal order. Legitimacy was narrowly defined: children were considered of a House only if born to a recognized union or later publicly acknowledged and legitimized through the proper registry process. Without such recognition, an individual had no automatic claim to House protections, inheritance, or heraldic standing.

=== Heartnames (bastard-names) ===

Children born out of wedlock and unclaimed by any House were recorded under a standardized class of registry surnames commonly called Heartnames. These names followed a fixed pattern: a place term, often geographic, paired with the suffix “-heart”. The suffix was legally and culturally reserved for unclaimed births and was not used by legitimate Houses, making it immediately recognizable in Federation lands.

Heartnames functioned as a clear declaration of status: the bearer belonged to no House and, by default, held no rights of House inheritance unless later legitimized. If legitimization occurred, the Heartname was typically replaced with the legitimizing House surname in official records. After the dissolution of the Federation, Heartnames faded with it.

== Foreign relations ==

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 == Religion ==
 In [[Aetherian Faith|Aetherian]] lists of national patronage, the '''Southern Federation''' is associated with [[Darg|'''Darg''' (the Wise)]], in contrast to [[Directionland|Directionland’s]] veneration of [[Simonius]] and [[Ruulran]]’s association with [[Odivia]].
+== Society and noble houses ==
+Surviving civic registers and later southern legal commentaries consistently portray the Southern Federation of Kingdoms as a rigidly stratified society in which noble Houses were the primary unit of law, property, and identity. House affiliation governed inheritance, titles, heraldry, and most forms of political legitimacy. In practice, a person’s name was treated as an assertion of legal belonging, not merely a personal identifier.
+=== High Houses ===
+Within the Federation’s aristocratic tradition, High Houses were chartered lineages recognized by state and temple record. They held the greatest estates and offices and served as the formal backbone of the Federation’s internal order. Legitimacy was narrowly defined: children were considered of a House only if born to a recognized union or later publicly acknowledged and legitimized through the proper registry process. Without such recognition, an individual had no automatic claim to House protections, inheritance, or heraldic standing.
+=== Heartnames (bastard-names) ===
+Children born out of wedlock and unclaimed by any House were recorded under a standardized class of registry surnames commonly called Heartnames. These names followed a fixed pattern: a place term, often geographic, paired with the suffix “-heart”. The suffix was legally and culturally reserved for unclaimed births and was not used by legitimate Houses, making it immediately recognizable in Federation lands.
+Heartnames functioned as a clear declaration of status: the bearer belonged to no House and, by default, held no rights of House inheritance unless later legitimized. If legitimization occurred, the Heartname was typically replaced with the legitimizing House surname in official records. After the dissolution of the Federation, Heartnames faded with it.
 == Foreign relations ==