Fiction:Valian Empire/Nobility

"Modesty has never been the strong suit of any nobility. The Valians’ is no exception."

- Anonymous Rohsii

The Valian Nobility is the highest social class in the Valian Empire, second in power only to the ruling Emperor and his family itself. It is one of the oldest staples of Volanti government, rooted in some of the richest and oldest-settled planets in all of Rohse. It arose over 100,000 years ago with the unification of the Twin Crowns in 30,060 BF.

The nobility essentially governed every Volanti regime until the Stygian Schism, when the Emperor’s authority began to eclipse theirs. The Volanti word for nobility is sc’irianti; their ranks are divided into six different “Major Houses”, the most prestigious dynasties from which new Emperors are chosen, called the scirits. Noblemen are sometimes called sciritans.

The Ten Scirits
The nobility, as opposed to the hundreds of clans and minor houses of the lower-ranked Valian gentry, is divided into a handful of houses, one of which is the royal house, higher than the rest. These can rotate according to their current status and prestige, and be removed accordingly (such as when a scirit fails to produce viable heirs and disappears). However, there can never be more than ten at a time. Within each house there are tiered ranks according to title, most following the Syr’ganon custom of heredity (passed to the youngest son or in his absence, the youngest daughter).

Veruna
The long-standing scirits of Veruna are House Paizo and House Granden, the first more powerful than the latter. They trace their origins to the original House Vero, the near-prehistoric ruling house of the Pillar of Veroe that originally settled Veruna long before the Volanti unified. Granden was particularly damaged by Emperor Garen the Brutal’s punishment for the Schism that preceded his reign, who executed most Verunian sciritans. House Paizo has subsequently grown to outsize its sister house, though both are much recovered.

Volaris
The scirits of the imperial capital, Volaris, have ruled over the rest for most of galactic history. House Renasta and Illeosa were the oldest. House Rigura was the first to occupy the throne, formed from a marriage between the noble houses of Arcel and Serina at the founding of the Old Empire. The family name went extinct at the end of their reign, eventually supplanted by the Volarisi House Illeosa. The Illeosan dynasty ruled for nearly 20,000 years, interrupted as a commoner from the Petal Rim region usurped the throne, and after his short-lived reign came to an end, House Arabasti, the lovechild of the remaining Illeosan and Renasti sciritans, took the throne. It has ruled ever since.

Others

 * House Verberen – Originating in the ancient world of Tharys, House Verberen was one of the only ones to remain loyal to the Volarisi heirs to the imperial throne during the chaotic Schism. They are one of the more prestigious scirits of the core.


 * House Kalida – The noble house of planet Kanto, in the outer regions of the Centre, is deeply involved in various business enterprises and industrial ventures throughout the Rohse galaxy.


 * House Ballie – The ruling scirit of Bellye, one of the most beautiful noble hub worlds in the Empire.

Extinct Scirits

 * House Teirm


 * House Rigura


 * House Illeosa