Kingdom
The realm’s laws and borders, war declarations, ducal appointments, royal taxes, pardons and exiles.
Won by: Total conquest: a coalition of duchies besieges and holds the royal capital.
Titles and Offices
From King to Mayor: who rules what, and how it is won.
Land runs Kingdom, Duchy, County, Barony, then the towns and estates. Titles are not cosmetic: each grants real powers and carries real risk. Offices are separate from titles, so anyone can hold power without being noble. Every seat is vacant until a player takes it.
The five tiers of land
The feudal ladder
Duchy
Several counties, the region’s choke points (great rivers and passes), levies and ducal taxes.
Won by: Grand alliance: a great guild or an alliance of guilds raises its leader to the duchy.
County
County courts and prisons, market taxes and resource permits; a small share of every tax raised below.
Won by: Guild siege: a guild captures the county seat’s castle.
Barony, Lordship or March
A keep guarding the barony’s ground and resources; a march is a fortified border holding facing hostile land.
Won by: Small tactical sieges, suited to small, well-drilled combat guilds.
Chartered City, Town, Village or Estate
Guard patrols, ordinances, housing rules, market permits and public works; an estate feeds farm, mine or timber up to the towns.
Won by: Not by siege: by investment, production, political favour or municipal election.
Royal and noble roles
Consort
The sovereign’s partner: ceremonial and diplomatic authority, and regency rights where the law allows.
Crown Heir
The first successor: may serve as regent, and is a target in every succession quarrel.
Secondary Heirs
Backup successors: claimants, bargaining pieces and the fallback in a civil war.
Regent
Rules for a sovereign who cannot: defence, emergency contracts, limited law and treasury.
Royal Council
The senior offices that confirm successions, issue warrants and can block a decree.
Knight, Landed Noble or Guild Lord
Holds an estate by deed: its guards, labour contracts, rents and access.
Offices
Held by appointment or election, without a noble title.
Mayor
Runs a town or chartered city: ordinances, patrols, markets and housing.
Reeve
Manages a village or estate’s land, harvests and dues.
Sheriff
Keeps the peace in a county: warrants, arrests and the road patrols.
Magistrate
Hears cases in the county court and passes judgment.
Steward
Keeps a lord’s accounts, stores and household.
Castellan
Commands a keep or castle for its holder.
Warden
Guards a road, a forest, a border or a public trust.
Marshal
Leads the levies and the field force of a lord.
Clerk
Records deeds, contracts and court proceedings.
Guildmaster
Leads a chartered guild and its workshops.
The Wardenship of Seal and Market
The Heartlands are not a sixth kingdom and have no crown. They are governed by the Wardenship from Codexis, home of the High Court, the Royal Archive and Oathstone Hall. The Freeland lets players who swear to no kingdom live and build there.
High Warden of the Seal
Head of the Wardenship of Seal and Market, which governs the Heartlands day to day.
Market Chancellor
Markets, the mint and the Heartlands’ taxes.
Provost of Records
The Royal Archive: titles, deeds and the record of coronations.
Oath Bailiff
Enforces the oaths sworn at the Fivefold Oathstone.
Treaty Marshal
Keeps the peace of Oathstone Hall and the treaties between the kingdoms.