Vassal
Entries
Question: Q: What authority does a liege have over a vassal house in deciding their succession, such as if they disapprove how a lord handled a major issue and would prefer to see a family member of theirs ascend in their place?
A: None.
Sort of. The actual answer is more complicated, in so much that lords have complete local autonomy in their own domains, determine thier own succession, and traditionally there is little outside influence over it. A liege, however, is normally militarily superior, so in theory there is always the threat of force to enforce their wishes, but that would likely alienate all their other vassals who would then see the liege as a threat and then join together against a traditional threat to their autonomy. Still, the pressure is always there and someone might abdicate- in which case, they traditionally also follow a set line of succession or name their own successor, and usually the liege only appoints a regent or new lord if everyone involved is dead or they have been specifically asked to do so by a majority of the noble family as an arbiter.
War, of course, is a possibility- but it should be noted that a defender has an often crushing advantage in terms of castles of the holding, with sieges often taking years, and producing profoundly awkward meetings in Arx from leaders on ostensibly neutral ground under the watch of the Crown within the Ward of the Compact. Further, most families have marriage pacts to other noble houses, which can cause a domino effect of involvement, with a minor holding turning into great houses going to war with one another, something few people want to see happen over Jimbob's Barony.
Suspicious accidents or ridiculous bribery to convince someone to step down are often more common, particularly in the Lyceum, as no one really wants to see an entire city-state under siege for years. Even then though, succession can be tricky, since it would follow along what the previous problematic ruling lord wished to see. Forced abdication typically only happens once someone has lost a war, and the matter is settled.
OOCly, I feel any form of PVP orientated stories should be dangerous and difficult for the initiator as a general rule, but when it comes to leaders, I have strong concerns about a quelling effect on player initiative if leaders feel bold or risky actions that result in social opprorbium will immediately result in loss of their leadership position. It's always important that actions have consequence, but on the other hand, this is a generational game, and changing head of house 4 times in a single generation is more of a sign of a house in meltdown and should never, ever be seen as something standard or thematic. Dealing with problems yes as a result of their actions, nuclear options not so much. They should be possible but very, very difficult.
Question: Q: What would the typical percentage or rate of gross/net income be from a vassal house to a liege house?
A: By tradition, the Rule of Thirteens. They can't pay less than 1/13th of their gross income without being considered an oath breaker, with most typically offering ten percent. Similarly, if a lord calls their banners for war, vassals are obligated to answer the banners for at least thirteen time thirteen days (169 days of service). Lieges by tradition explicitly offer their bannermen the option to return home and tend to their house business after 13 months on a campaign, though many specifically refuse the offer to show their loyalty and stay until a campaign is finished.
Answer: The feudal system of Arvum has existed since before the Reckoning. While numerous houses have oral accounts of lineages stretching back more than a thousand years, no house claims to have any records of an era before the days when a great house dominated a region and acepted the fealty of bannermen in exchange for peace. Before the days of the Compact, the great houses ruled as independent monarchs in their own demesne (domains), taking oaths of loyalty and service from those that lived within their demesne and training many into sworn swords. Some vassals in turn are granted lands to become bannermen under the system of enfeoffment, creating new noble houses to serve and manage their own separate subservient demesnes and creating a tree of noble families all ultimately under a great house.
Even now in the days of the Compact, the feudal system is largely unchanged, with the voice of lords in their own domains carrying the full weight of law. While commoners sworn to a lord might technically seek recourse by petitioning the liege of their lord, in practice most lieges would seldom ever intervene in the internal disputes of one of their lord bannermen. In return for this autonomy, lieges tax their vassals and call upon their support in war, though the oaths of loyalty are only taken directly to their immediate liege. Dukes are sworn to serve the prince ruling a great house, and a marquis might be sworn to a duke in turn, but the first loyalty for that same marquis would be to the duke and his immediate liege and not to the prince- a small distinction that is ever so important whenever a liege quarrels with his own vassals and thusly his vassal's vassals.
Culturally, the rights of the people in the demesne vary by the great house, but there are extremely few restrictions upon the legal authority of a lord within his own demesne. Inside Arx itself, where a great many of the populace are crownsworn and owe loyalty only to the crown, the commons tend to enjoy a greater degree of freedom and Peers of the Realm can expect potential consequences for actions against commoners not within their demesnes. More than one minor noble has been killed for actions against commoners who happened to be proteges of far more powerful patrons.
Succession varies from great house to house, but only House Thrax and its vassal houses still hold to male primogeniture. The head of a noble house is well within his rights to declare an heir not the traditional eldest legitimate child, but to do so invites the potential of an ugly fight of succession after their death if the normal standard successor decides to dispute the claim (the most common cause for civil wars in a great house). In cases when the head of a house dies without issue, often the liege will intervene and name a suitable successor. In the case of the Sovereign of the Compact, when no such liege exists above the reigning monarch, there has only been a scant few examples when the king or queen perished without issue and immediate family, leading to the high lords voting a potential successor in a great council among the Assembly of Peers.