Viscount
A viscount (female : viscountess) is an unlanded title of the higher nobility in the Kingdom of Akerlan. The dignity is automatically granted to every third-born (or younger) legitimate child of the reigning King or of each of the eight Duke, as well as to any royal or ducal child who is displaced from succession by the birth of heirs senior to them. Although viscounts possess no hereditary fief, their blood relationship to the Crown or to a ducal house places them in the tier above all landed counts and margraves and immediately below princes/princesses.
Viscounts serve as versatile instruments of royal and ducal policy—high-born enough to command authority, yet unattached to landed fiefs that might dilute their liege’s power. Their attire, arms and standards proclaim allegiance to their parent house, ensuring that each cadet visibly reinforces the prestige and reach of Akerlan’s dominant families.
Viscounts serve as versatile instruments of royal and ducal policy—high-born enough to command authority, yet unattached to landed fiefs that might dilute their liege’s power. Their attire, arms and standards proclaim allegiance to their parent house, ensuring that each cadet visibly reinforces the prestige and reach of Akerlan’s dominant families.
Duties
Royal & Ducal Service: Sit in the Privy Chamber when summoned by the Crown or their ducal parent. Supervise temporary administrations of counties, cities, or abbeys during interregna or minority. Manage diplomatic receptions for foreign legations.
Diplomatic & Dynastic: Undertake marriage alliances that secure the political interests of the Crown or ducal house without alienating land. Act as formal host or hostage-guardian for wards exchanged in peace treaties.
Military: Hold the brevet rank of Banner-Captain (≈250 troops) in royal or ducal armies. Command advance guards or rearguards on campaign; rotate through frontier fort captaincies.
Judiciary: Conduct assize circuits—mobile courts that hear appeals from baronial and county tribunals.
Patronage & Culture: Endow guild chapels, cloisters or university lectureships; sponsor troubadours and scholars as displays of family prestige.
Diplomatic & Dynastic: Undertake marriage alliances that secure the political interests of the Crown or ducal house without alienating land. Act as formal host or hostage-guardian for wards exchanged in peace treaties.
Military: Hold the brevet rank of Banner-Captain (≈250 troops) in royal or ducal armies. Command advance guards or rearguards on campaign; rotate through frontier fort captaincies.
Judiciary: Conduct assize circuits—mobile courts that hear appeals from baronial and county tribunals.
Patronage & Culture: Endow guild chapels, cloisters or university lectureships; sponsor troubadours and scholars as displays of family prestige.
Benefits
Annual Stipend: 800 – 1 100 silver crowns, drawn from the royal treasury or ducal exchequer of origin.
Heraldic Augmentation: May quarter or canton the Silver Steed (royal viscounts) or the primary charge of their ducal house (ducal viscounts) on their personal arms.
Juridical Immunity: Tried only by the Royal Bench or a panel of three dukes.
Hospitality: Guaranteed forty nights’ accommodation each year in any royal or ducal palace; may claim three nights’ maintenance from any baronial seat while travelling.
Wardships & Fees: Eligible to foster heirs of lesser nobility, collecting associated incomes.
Succession Rights: Eligible to inherit higher titles should senior siblings die without issue.
Heraldic Augmentation: May quarter or canton the Silver Steed (royal viscounts) or the primary charge of their ducal house (ducal viscounts) on their personal arms.
Juridical Immunity: Tried only by the Royal Bench or a panel of three dukes.
Hospitality: Guaranteed forty nights’ accommodation each year in any royal or ducal palace; may claim three nights’ maintenance from any baronial seat while travelling.
Wardships & Fees: Eligible to foster heirs of lesser nobility, collecting associated incomes.
Succession Rights: Eligible to inherit higher titles should senior siblings die without issue.
Accoutrements & Equipment
Because viscounts are cadets of specific ruling lines, their colours, badges and livery always mirror those of their parent ducal or royal house. The items below therefore describe format and protocol; tinctures and charges vary.
Regalia & Court Dress: Cadet Coronet – Plain silver circlet ornamented with four visible strawberry leaves alternating with four pearls. Leaf and pearl colours are enameled in the principal metal and colour of the parent house (e.g., blue enamel for House Quent, green for House Elbra). Mantle – Velvet in the dominant house colour, lined with fur (ermine for royal cadets, vair for ducal cadets) and edged with narrow contrasting piping. Badge of Office – Small silver brooch combining the house’s totem animal with a key (universal symbol of viscountal stewardship).
Military Gear: Half-Plate Harness – Steel etched or painted with house devices on the breast and pauldrons; surcoat, sash or jupon in house colours. Viscount’s Sword – Arming sword whose cross-guard is forged in the shape of a warded key; pommel inset with a semiprecious stone in the primary house colour. Field Standard – Square banner (⅔ m side) displaying the house arms defaced by a silver or white key in dexter chief, marking cadet command authority.
Household & Staff: Household Knights – Up to eight retainers in the house livery; shield devices are differenced with a small key. Pursuivant – Junior herald charged with maintaining genealogies and ensuring correct use of the combined house-and-viscount arms. Clerk-Sergeant – Oversees correspondence, accounting for the stipend, and archival custody of assize records.
Seals & Documents: Personal Seal – Always oval. Obverse: full house arms; reverse: house crest surmounting a key. Letters of Passage – Vellum writs bearing half the great seal of the issuing house, commanding toll-keepers and castellans to grant assistance for 24 hours; ribbon colour matches house livery.
Regalia & Court Dress: Cadet Coronet – Plain silver circlet ornamented with four visible strawberry leaves alternating with four pearls. Leaf and pearl colours are enameled in the principal metal and colour of the parent house (e.g., blue enamel for House Quent, green for House Elbra). Mantle – Velvet in the dominant house colour, lined with fur (ermine for royal cadets, vair for ducal cadets) and edged with narrow contrasting piping. Badge of Office – Small silver brooch combining the house’s totem animal with a key (universal symbol of viscountal stewardship).
Military Gear: Half-Plate Harness – Steel etched or painted with house devices on the breast and pauldrons; surcoat, sash or jupon in house colours. Viscount’s Sword – Arming sword whose cross-guard is forged in the shape of a warded key; pommel inset with a semiprecious stone in the primary house colour. Field Standard – Square banner (⅔ m side) displaying the house arms defaced by a silver or white key in dexter chief, marking cadet command authority.
Household & Staff: Household Knights – Up to eight retainers in the house livery; shield devices are differenced with a small key. Pursuivant – Junior herald charged with maintaining genealogies and ensuring correct use of the combined house-and-viscount arms. Clerk-Sergeant – Oversees correspondence, accounting for the stipend, and archival custody of assize records.
Seals & Documents: Personal Seal – Always oval. Obverse: full house arms; reverse: house crest surmounting a key. Letters of Passage – Vellum writs bearing half the great seal of the issuing house, commanding toll-keepers and castellans to grant assistance for 24 hours; ribbon colour matches house livery.
Type
Nobility, Honorific / Ceremonial
Form of Address
Direct: “Your Lordship / Your Ladyship” or “My Lord / My Lady Viscount”
Written: The Most Honourable N. N., Viscount/Viscountess [Territory or of Akerlan]
Third person: “The Viscount / Viscountess”
Written: The Most Honourable N. N., Viscount/Viscountess [Territory or of Akerlan]
Third person: “The Viscount / Viscountess”
Related Organizations
Comments