Monarch, Sovereign, and Imperial butterflies

"Monarch"

A new, generic term representing all beings similar to Imperators. In other words, Imperators are a specific type of Monarch. The symbol of the Monarchs as a class is, of course, the familiar orange-and-black Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus), which is poisonous to those who might try to prey upon it.

"Imperator" (also "Imperial", "Emperor", or "Empress")

A Monarch with at least two Estates. These Estates may seem (and often are) utterly unrelated ... at least to earthly sensibilities. Imperators are the celestial analogue of an earthly Emperor: similar in power to a King, but greater in scope. Since most Imperators in Nobilis had two or more Estates already, they need no changes. The Symbol of the Imperators is the Tawny Emperor Butterfly (Asterocampa clyton).

"Sovereign" (also "Royal", "King", or "Queen")

This is a Monarch that has only a single Estate, the analogue of an earthly King. This has some potentially surprising implications, so I will elaborate:

1. I should stress that Sovereigns are not automatically more or less powerful than Imperators, but simply strike a different balance between diversity and defensibility. The more Estates you have, the more resources you can fight with, but you also have more fronts to defend against attack.
2. There are two possibilities as far as the Nobilis are concerned. The first is useful for those running solo games and who don't wish to create an NPC Familia. In this case, the Sovereign has only the one Noble. This is fairly straightforward. The only difference is that the relationship becomes (slightly) more of a partnership between Monarch and Noble.
3. The second option is for those who want a different spin on Nobilis, or who have several players who all want the same Estate. While Sovereigns have a single estate, they are capable of making a Familia of several Nobles that share it (unlike Imperators). This is called a "Noble Line" or "Family Line".
4. The Line option gives the Monarch less fronts to concentrate on in the Valde Bellum in the Spirit World, as well as the possibility of redundant Nobles to maintain/defend that Estate in the Mythic/Prosaic Worlds. The trade-off is that it also limits all of the Nobles to that one Estate, which could create a blind-spot or other liability.
5. Family Lines administer and defend their shared Estate jointly, and may use either the same or different interpretations of the Estate. The Familia is treated no differently than any other, insofar as affecting one another with miracles is concerned, in spite of the fact that they technically all belong to the same Estate.
6. HHGs may rule that if there are multiple Powers to a given Sovereign, those Nobles automatically have the Small Estate limit.
7. Sovereigns (no matter how many Nobles they have) can become Imperators through means such as the Rite of Rescue. In that case, those with Family Lines invariably gather up the multiple Shards of their old Estate and give them all to one of the original nobles (or choose a new Noble entirely). This is usually bad for the Powers in question, so it is never done lightly (or at least never suggested by the Powers lightly).
8. Apparently, each Noble that any Monarch creates is a constant drain on its attention and energy. This is doubly true for Family Lines (the extra drain is probably because Lines require a Shard to be split up further). As long as the Monarch remains a Sovereign, this is a reasonable trade-off (compensated for by the lessend responsibility in the Spirit World). With the multiple Estates of an Imperator, it grows unfeasible.
9. Incidentally, since the new Imperator uses this opportunity to rearrange its energy priorities, diverting some into the new Estate(s) and some into its new responsibilities, the Domain rating of the new Noble with the old Sovereign's Estate is not a simple sum of the old Nobles' ratings or even likely to be related at all.
10. Their lessend responsibilities and increased focus may tend to make Sovereigns potentially (a little) more personable, accessible, and fathomable than Imperators, especially if there is only one Noble. On the other hand, it may instead make them more prone to micro-management and second-guessing.
11. The symbol of a Sovereign is the Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia).

Other terminology

"Blanks'Regal"

Redefined to mean "the Monarch who holds the Estate of Blank." The Pants'Regal might be a Sovereign, in which case Pants is his only Estate. Then again, he might instead be an Imperial, in which case he has additional, unspecified Estates. (So he might also be the Zippers'Regal and the Unmatched-Socks'Regal.)

"Line"

A Familia of several Nobles that were exalted by a given Sovereign and share the same estate (as opposed to a Power who is the only Noble of a Sovereign).

"Holy Heck God"

(As in "Holy Heck, I can't believe I'm actually insane enough to run this.") This is just me poking fun at Nobilis' "Hollyhock God". I feel no need for cute, in-setting terminology for concepts like "Storyteller" or "GM". ^_^ (Agone's term is another one I joke about. For that matter, so is D & D's "Dungeon Master".)

At any rate, symbols for the Holy Heck Gods are as individual as the HHGs themselves, so they are represented by an entire Family of insects, the giant Saturniidae moths, which resemble really huge butterflies (as HHGs resemble players, only moreso). Saturniidae moths have no mouths and cannot eat, symbolic of the fact that HHGs play many different roles (no "mouth", or character, of their own). Examples include the Luna Moth (Actias luna)/Indian Moon Moth (Actias selene), both associated with lunacy. Or the largest moth in the world, the Atlas (Attacus atlas). Or the Madagascar Moon Moth (Argema mittrei).

"Regnant"

This means "exercising regal authority" or "ruling". This is what happens when a Monarch does not have a Noble in charge of one of his Estates, and has to deal with it directly himself. (Rare and usually temporary condition due to the demands of the Valde Bellum.)

"Viceroy"

Someone ruling on behalf of a monarch. Most Nobles are at least nominally acting in this capacity. This is usually only used when the Noble wants to drop the name of his Imperator, or be grandiose. "How dare you?! I am So-and-so, Marquis of Such-and-such, Viceroy to his Majesty whats-his-name" is usually how these things run. Tag on "Imperator of this, that, and the other", if appropriate.

"Majestic" or "Regal" Miracles

These two terms are entirely synonymous. They refer to the class of Miracles that is apart from and superior to "Noble miracles". (Nobilis presently calls these Imperial Miracles, but I needed to shift that one a bit. See below.)

"Royal" and "Imperial" Miracles

A Sovereign uses Royal Miracles, an Imperator uses Imperial Miracles. Other than this distinction in the number of Estates held by the Monarch, the Miracles are exactly the same type: Majestic (aka Regal) Miracles.

Rank Titles and Symbols of the Nobility

1. "Regal" as a title ostensibly refers to the sole and absolute ruler of a people, the highest authority, which the Powers definitely are not.
2. Domain 5 Nobles might be said to be the uncontested rulers of their Estates (if we ignore their Monarch, Doubles, and Excrucian Deceivers), but the same could be said of any of the Nobilis, not just those with Domain 5.
3. In the real world, Kings and Emperors ideally are on a similar level of power and have similar levels of authority, just differing scopes of dominion. At least, this is true in comparison with the rest of the nobility, which theoretically exists by the grace and assent of the king/emperor.
4. In order to include "Blanks'Regal" as a Nobilis rank, one actual title of European Nobility -- the Count/Countess (and local variants) -- was omitted. This rank is supposed to be "higher than a Viscount, but lower than a Marquis".
5. I happen to be fond of this title, and felt ashamed at it being so callously shunned.

The Nobility

• Domain 1 - Baron/Baroness - Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus)
• Domain 2 - Viscount/Viscountess - White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis)
• Domain 3 - Count/Countess (Earl/Comte/Graf/etc.) - Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
• Domain 4 - Marquis/Marchessa - Peacock (Inachis io)
• Domain 5 - Duke/Duchess - Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina)


• The symbol for the Nobilis as a class is the Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus), which bears a striking resemblance to the Monarch (symbol of the Monarch class), but is not poisonous.