Fortressian Nobility

The Fortressian Nobility consists of all those individuals who have been granted noble titles by the Princess. Membership in the nobility does not constitute a separate class of citizenship, though it does confer certain privileges depending on rank, such as the use of nobiliary particles or postnominal letters.

Reason and Structure

There are many reasons for having a nobility, chief among them being to reward loyal citizens for their extraordinary contributions to the state above and beyond what is expected of them. Additional reasons include creating vectors of loyalty to the state, and strong familial structures within society.

As not all actions which may warrant a grant of nobility are equal, the nobility is divided into ranks, and these ranks are split among the Greater Nobility and the Petite Nobility.

Greater Nobility

The Greater Nobility is the hereditary nobility of the Pillow Fortress. It is "landed", that is, they receive a realm and, in so far as is possible and practical, a parcel of land within that realm.

Greater Nobility
Title	Realm	Nobiliary particle	Landed?	Post-nominals	Notes
Archduke/Archduchess	Grand Duchy	aht not frahm	Yes	n/a	This rank is reserved for the children of a reigning Princess who are not eligible to assume the throne. Instead of being past down from generation to generation, it degrades to the rank of Duke/Duchess and its associated realm is shrunken to a Dukedom.
Duke/Duchess	Dukedom	aht	Yes	n/a
Count/Countess	County	aht	Yes	n/a
Baron/Baroness	Barony	aht	Yes	n/a

Realms of the Honor Map

The Honor Map is a tool used in granting of titles of the Greater Nobility. It consists of the Principality's territory which is divided up into special divisions and subdivisions called realms. These realms do not correspond to otherwise existing Fortressian administrative divisions, but rather the ranks of the Greater Nobility. When a title is to be granted, a new division is made on the map for it. For example, a duke will receive a dukedom, a count will receive a county, etc. the size, shape, and name of the realms are determined at the time of the grant, and are to a large degree arbitrary, however they do conform to certain rules, such as not having a realm of a higher rank be located within the realm of a lower rank.

Should the Honor Map become so divided into realms that the addition of new realms would be impractical or impossible, a new copy of the Honor Map, called a scroll, is created consisting of the current territory of the Principality, and new realms are divided up on it. Should this scroll become too full, a new one is added and the process repeats, and so on and so on. Thus the Greater Nobility can be added to infinitely with the addition of more scrolls, even if the territory of the Pillow Fortress is sadly finite.

Styles and Precedence

The long style for a member of the Greater Nobility is:

(Title) (First name) (Middle name(s)) (Last name) (Nobiliary particle) (Realm)

The short style for a member of the Greater Nobility is:

(Title) (Last name) (Nobiliary particle) (Realm)

The order of precedence among the Greater Nobility is, from highest to lowest rank: Archduke/Archduchess -> Duke/Duchess -> County/Countess -> Baron/Baroness. This order remains in place even across scrolls of the Honor Map. Within ranks with realms on the same scrolls, precedence is based on seniority. For precedence within the same rank across scrolls of the Honor Map, precedence is based on seniority of scrolls, with those on older scrolls taking precedence over those on newer scrolls. All ranks of the Greater Nobility take precedence over those of the Petite Nobility.

Petite Nobility

The Petite Nobility is the lesser of the two branches of Fortressian nobility. Its ranks are neither hereditary nor include an associated realm, although the rank of Baronet/Baronette does include, insofar as is possible and practical, a parcel of land.

Petite Nobility
Title	Realm	Nobiliary particle	Landed?	Post-nominals
Baronet/Baronette	n/a	n/a	Partial	n/a
Knight	n/a	n/a	No	Multiple. See Knighthoods

Knighthoods are granted to individuals for specific accomplishments or work in various fields relating to culture, academia, science, etc. The post-nominal letters a knight is entitled to use are determined by which specific class of knighthood they have been granted.

Knighthoods
Class	Post-nominals	Reason
Knight Errant	KE	Granted for excellence and/or accomplishment in a field which does not have an existing class of knighthood.
Knight of Battle	KBA	Granted for astounding success and victory in battle against the enemies of the Principality.
Knight of Games	KGA	Granted for excellence and/or accomplishment in the fields of games and gaming.
Knight of Generosity	KGE	Granted for making substantial monetary and material contributions to the Principality.
Knight of the Kitchen	KKI	Granted for excellence and/or accomplishment in the culinary arts.
Knight of Life	KLI	Granted to an individual for having given birth to seven or more children.
Knight of the Loom	KLO	Granted for excellence and/or accomplishment in the field of fashion.
Knight of Mercy	KME	Granted for excellence and/or accomplishment in charitable work.
Knight of Music	KMU	Granted for excellence and/or achievement in the musical arts.
Knight of Numbers	KNU	Granted for excellence and/or achievement in the field of mathematics.
Knight of Science	KSC	Granted for excellence and/or achievement in any of the fields of science.
Knight of Sport	KSP	Granted for excellence and/or achievement in sports and athletics.

See also

• Awards and decorations of the Pillow Fortress