Notes on Rin and her place in the royalty of Calenta

[aldersprig]

Rin is the fourth? in line for her grandfather's throne. Some of those before her in line have recused themselves - not interested in leadership, focused on a calling in the priesthood, interested in romance with someone who didn't want to be in a leadership position, or not interested in creating heirs for one reason or another. Many have died. Her grandfather is quite old, and has outlived handfuls of his heirs.

More than half of the royal heirs went into the army. Calenta has a heavily meritocratic society - their rulers were originally war-chiefs of nomadic tribes - and earning a high position in the Army is one way to prove your merit. However, it's also a good way to die, especially with an active war boiling on the front.

When Rin left to study healing, she was fourteenth in line. When she left for the army she was ninth in line. Her cousin Elen was three behind her and now is one behind her.

Her mother recused herself long ago. Her mother is a scholar and prefers her books to people.

Probably --> recusing yourself is acceptable (being removed from the inheritance is not, is considered very shameful, and it /does/ happen), but it is a one-way street. You can't decide to un-recuse yourself.

While I decided to get rid of the immensely complicated inheritance system I'd originally thought of, it still flips genders. I.e., since the Emperor is male, his heir WILL be female, his daughter or a granddaughter THROUGH a daughter, or, if one suitable cannot be found, from his mother's or grandmother's line.

This has made Rin's uncle, who needs a name (though he might have one in an earlier draft), exceedingly cranky.

Comments

[inventrix]

Oh good. :D I like the gender flip thing because it adds some extra gender-based flavor to political intrigue. For example, 'temporary' rulers; you want to be Emperor but the next in line has to be a woman, so you let a woman inherit and then off her so you can inherit.

[aldersprig]

Ooh, I like that.

I also like the gender politics of society following down from the royals: if the next heir will be male-from-a-male, ensuring your heirs are yours (and possibly cloistering your women as a result) is more important, whereas women usually know their heirs are their own.

[inventrix]

...huh, so I hadn't actually thought about this in detail before but doesn't that really only follow for the immediate heir? I mean... let's say you're a man of the royal line, right? You're never going to have your children inherit from an Emperor, so the question of female inheritance is completely meaningless to you. Your daughters inheriting would have nothing to do with you, as any chance they had of inheriting would be via their mother.

It seems to follow that, rather than "paternity is only important during these eras", paternity would be seen as an important issue, always, for sons. Maternity for daughters is obvious.

This then leads to, again, men more greatly valuing their sons than their daughters, because it's their sons continuing the male line who preserve the royal lineage and thus chance of becoming an Emperor. In that sense, the segregation of women from other men and the limitations on the sexual affairs of one's wife would be important to men all the time, not just during an Empress.

And even for the direct line of inheritance during the reign of an Emperor, while the paternity of the potentially inheriting daughters would be unimportant, the paternity of any of that woman's sons would be vital in determining the future validity of their line.

I am probably assuming some things here about how inheritance works because I don't actually know the details...