Archenland operates politically on something similar to a feudal system, meaning the owning of land is what confers nobility. The King of Archenland holds ownership of the region of Anvard, and grants the other five regions as holdings for the five major noble families. There are, of course, conditions to the noble families’ ownership of their regions, such as fairness of rule, and the King may revoke a noble family's ownership of a region if these conditions are not met. But for our purposes, the five major noble families of Archenland own the land in each of their respective regions and swear fealty to the King of Archenland. The land, title, and responsibilities of rulership are passed on to descendants, usually to the oldest child. In the event of multiple children, the heir is chosen by the current lord or lady and is traditionally the eldest son.
Younger children of the nobility (or those not chosen to be the heir) do not rule. However, younger children of the five major noble houses sometimes inherit small properties of their own out of the lands held by their families, thus granting them titles of their own. A few examples of this can be seen in game:
- Stonevale Manor: Lord Darrin, second son of the Coghill family, inherited ownership of a small estate called Stonevale Manor on his 21st birthday. This estate was a former hunting lodge of the royal family in the mountains between Anvard and Coghill, which the Coghill family was granted ownership of some generations ago by a previous king. It has been used as a summer retreat for the Coghill family in the past. Darrin’s title is thus technically “Master of Stonevale,” while his brother Dar’s title, when Lord Shar and Lady Elriya step down from their current positions, will be “Lord of Coghill.”
- Tarragon Place: Sir Tyren, second son of the Chesterton family, has a small two-story townhouse called Tarragon Place in the city of Chesterton, which was given to him by Lord Tyre on the first birthday of his daughter Lana in 1012. Tarragon Place is conveniently located near the barracks of the Chesterton city guard, which makes it easy for Tyren to carry out his knightly responsibilities when he and his family are in the city. Tyren’s title is simply “Sir Tyren,” received when he was sworn in as a knight, because he does not own the property on which Tarragon Place sits; he and his family merely reside there for part of the year.
When younger sons of the nobility do not inherit any property of their own, they often join the military or pursue careers as knights (a common enough practice even for those sons who are intended to rule, as knightly training is considered to provide helpful preparation for the responsibilities of lordship).
What this means, practicably, is that
no commoners in Archenland own the land on which they reside. If your commoner character lives in a cottage in one of the Archenland villages, the land on which that cottage is built is owned by the local lord and your character merely lives there as a vassal of the local nobility.
Traditionally, commoners swear fealty to the local lord on behalf of themselves and their descendants when the lord inherits the title and comes into his rule, while commoners new to a region will be asked to abide by the terms of fealty before being granted residency. Although we have not seen the process of swearing fealty to a new lord in game since Lord Ast inherited Carmichael on the death of Lord Drent, Lord Shar and Lady Elriya intend to retire from the rule of Coghill in favor of Lord Dar and Lady Honour within the next few years, so we may see this happen again very soon.
