Forms of Address

Kingdom of Hu

At Hu court and in high society use of people’s given names is considered overly familiar and a breach of social etiquette. Individuals are normally referred to by their office (e.g. Castellan, Junior Secretary of Foreign Correspondence, Deputy Minister of the Admiralty), rank (e.g. Captain of the Palace Honor Guard, Lieutenant Commander) or title (e.g. Duke of Ursidia, Lord Ailerus).

At court almost everyone has at least one of the three, as members of the baronial class, civil administration and/or military. In cases where a person holds a noble title and a civil or military rank, it is preferred to refer to them by their office.

Confusion may arise when (1) more than one person holds the same title such as “Junior Captain of the Honor Guard”, this is sometimes avoided by numbering them “First Junior Captain,” etc., (2) individual’s ranks and offices change over time making it unclear that the “Minister of the Storehouses” referred to in an older document refers to the current “Minister of the Left.”

Landed nobles can be referred to by the underlying territory while omitting the title, e.g. “Ursidia” rather than “Duke of Ursidia” this is especially common with lesser nobles, and the sons or younger brothers of landed barons who hold customary or “landless” titles (e.g. Ambystoma). Kings too are sometimes referred to by the name of their domain, e.g. calling the King of Hu “Hu.”

Addressing Relations

Relatives normally address each other as such: “cousin,” “husband”, “brother”, “elder sister.” The words “noble” or “royal” are appended if applicable.

Kings and Royals

Pronouns such as “He” are always replaced with “His Majesty.” The king is normally called “the King” but when it is necessary to distinguish the current king from his predecessors his “throne name” is used; this is often mistaken for the king’s given name (and some king’s throne names are identical to their given names). Traditionally, deceased monarchs are referred to by their position in the dynasty e.g. King Smilodon IV. This is less common for kings of the present dynasty. Kings are often given posthumous honorifics such as “the August King Omri”

Merchant Class

Lacking noble titles, the burghers traditionally use family names to refer to one another. Terms such as “the elder’ and ‘the younger’ can be used in order to avoid using given names but often when referring to people other than the head of the family one has no choice but to use the person’s given name.

Those holding public office in the city government are referred to by their office, e.g. “Council Member, Mayor, Judge” and those holding positions in the Merchants League and similar organizations are called increasingly by their position, e.g. Chairman, Representative. Some burghers disapprove of this practice as going against the egalitarian spirit, but others have argued that the use of these titles reenforces their community’s “democratic” nature.

Commoners

Peasants do not observe the avoidance of personal names custom of the higher classes and refer to each other by surname or given name. Commoners who lack a surname are identified using a patronymic (e.g. Jan son of Jan). Those commoners who interact with nobles (e.g. servants) are often addressed by their position or profession e.g. “Nanny”, “Cook”, but also “Farmer.” The main reason for this is the upper-class’s discomfort with use of given names.

Women

Women are less likely to have ranks and titles. Daughters of dukes may have customary titles (e.g. Lady Isanophise) and some women hold titles in their own right (E.g. Duchess of Chiroptera).

The honorific “Lady” is used to address any woman of the noble class. The wives of landed nobles may be referred to as Duchess or Baroness according to their husband’s title, but they are also likely to be styled “Lady” (E.g. Lady Ursidia).

The use of Lady is also spreading among burghers, in particular those of the wealthy “patrician” families. As with the use of rank and office by men, some members of the mercantile class see this use of “lady” as anti-democratic.