Terminology

Royalty

Male Female Description
Emperor Empress An Emperor rules over an Empire - currently, the only people with this title is Charles IV of the Holy Roman Empire, and Ahmed II of the Ottoman Empire. Peter the Great of the Russian Empire holds the title of Tsar, which is roughly equivalent.
King Queen The second highest monarch, the King or Queen rules over a kingdom. Because of the size of some of these kingdoms, especially the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and Great Britain, their actual power sometimes eclipses that of the Emperors.
Grand Duke Grand Duchess Due to a watering down of titles, Duke gradually came to refer to the ruler of a relatively small fief or city. The title of Grand Duke refers to someone who rules over a much greater area, and consequently ranks just above a prince. Currently, Tuscany and Lithuania are the only grand duchys.
Prince Princess Prince is a general term used to describe a monarch, and also a specific term used to describe the heir apparent of a monarch. Someone with the title of prince usually has sovereign rule over their territory, or quasi-sovereign rule as with territories within the Holy Roman Empire.
Duke Duchess A duke rules over a duchy or dukedom, and has the second highest rank below the king. Dukedoms either follow bloodlines, or are granted by the king or emperor. A duke generally has the ear of his king, and command of his own military forces. As noted above, the creation of new duchies has somewhat watered down the power of the title across Europe.
Marquis Marquise A marquis ranks directly below a duke. Their territory is known as a maquisate. Their land is generally smaller, and there are generally more of them.
Count Countess Synonymous with earl (a term only used in Great Britain). The count usually rules over an area which is coterminous with a diocese, meaning that their chief rival for power is usually the local bishop. Count is also a title sometimes conferred by monarchs as a reward for services rendered, even if there is no land attached to it. A count with land is said to rule over a countship, or county.
Viscount Viscountess A rank below count, which, like nearly all of these titles, can refer to a varying amount of land, or none at all (though it is usually small).
Baron Baroness A baron is the lowest rank of peerage, and baronies can be bought and sold.
Baronet Baronetess Not technically part of the system of peerage, but above the rank of knight. Usually given by a monarch or duke, and usually not hereditary.
Knight A title given for exemplary service to the kingdom or empire. It was in the past used to signify the following of a chivalric code, though now it is also given out for non-military service. Isaac Newton, for example, has been knighted. Most knights belong to some sort of Order.

This list is somewhat simplified from the actual historical titles. Because of the different forms of government, and the different languages spoken across the continent, some titles simply do not exist in different countries. While there might be a more accurate way of showing titles, it's unlikely that it would add much to the play experience. Note that it is quite common for people to have more than one title, especially higher up in the hierarchy, and that they are usually announced with all of their titles. Additionally, if someone is the ruler of two different places, those places are said to be in personal union (though they will have their own governments).

Units of Measure

Temperature: Because the Fahrenheit system of measure has just been invented and is not in wide use, most temperatures are taken in the Rømer scale, which can be converted to from Fahrenheit by the following equation: [°Rø] = ([°F] − 32) × 7⁄24 + 7.5. Regardless of this, most people will only measure temperatures relative to other temperatures; “Ice cold” means cold enough to freeze water, for example.

Distance: This gives the best definitions for the time, since this is prior to standardization, and there are few people who care enough to know exactly how long something is. Wizards are the exception to this rule, but they are not in agreement on their standards, and it varies from country to country and even school to school. You should already be familiar with “foot”, “inch”, and “yard”, but be sure to sprinkle in the more arcane “digit”, “palm”, or “shaftment”. For larger distances, “league” is usually appropriate, because it means “the distance a human can walk in one hour” – making this a very useful unit to give to players (assuming 6 squares (30 ft.) per round).

Time: Units of time have not changed much in the last three hundred years. That said, clocks capable of ticking off seconds have only lately begun to be made thanks to the developments of the late Christiaan Huygens. That accuracy is only available in the form of a pendulum clock – pocket watches have only in the last decade or so been able to measure to the accuracy of minutes.

Magic: Because magic involves aetheric manipulation, and because the aether interacts with the world, it can be measured in a number of ways. These terms usually won’t be needed in gameplay. The natural state of the aether is neutral, but any non-neutral aether creates a disturbance which can be measured. The traditional way to do this is with a vial of quicksilver that has a number of markings on it. When in the presence of aetheric energy, quicksilver expands. Because quicksilver also expands with heat, this is not a perfect measurement. This measurement has a number of different scales, but the one most is use is the Newtonian “fluxions”.

Magic

Mage: anyone who uses any sort of magic.
Wizard: someone trained in aetheric manipulation with no natural inclination.
Druid: someone who uses natural magic, with connotations of being uncivilized.
Sorcerer: someone who practices magic through instinct and natural talent, with connotations of being uneducated.
Occultist: a warlock or necromancer.
Warlock: someone who practices demonic magics.
Necromancer: someone who uses magic on the dead.
Conjurer: a low level mage.
Magus:a high level mage.
Witch: a female mage.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License