Imperial Order BI-1: Renewal of Titles

[Kaiser B'caw I]

IMPERIAL ORDER BI-1: RENEWAL OF TITLES
DONE ON 5 BITERNIONSMOON, 3990 ASC, AT SHIREKEEP

My esteemed predecessor saw fit to grant a number of individuals nobility under the new classification system for the duration of his reign. At the moment of his death, the title granted fell into abeyance; therefore, to be continued, they must be renewed. Therefore, I hereby renew the non-hereditary Noble Civitas status (the exact nomenclature of which shall depend on the closing of a certain bill) for the following:

-Ardashir Osmani of House Kalir
-Falkner van der Sluijs of House Kildare
-Jacobus Loki of House Kildare
-Jonas Windsor of House Kildare
-Malliki Tosha of House Mortis
-Shyriath Bukolos of House Mortis

As before, all of these non-hereditary titles shall expire at the end of my reign.

Two such titles have not been renewed. The one is that of Harvey Steffke of House Mortis, who at the time of the original grant had wished to decline the honor; assuming this is still in accordance with his wishes, his title is now permitted to lapse. The other is that of Ari Rahikkala, formerly of House Tessier-Ashpool, who is sadly no longer a citizen. Note that neither of these individuals have lost their title through dishonor; and should either desire to be reinstated, and if circumstances permit it, I will be be inclined to look favorably upon such a request.

Let it also be confirmed that with the disbanding of House Tessier-Ashpool and the emigration of ICEBREAKER, his hereditary Noble Equestrian status is no longer in effect. For the moment, as the situation of House Annexis is somewhat more complicated, the status of Greg Russell shall remain unchanged.

(Edited to correct which day of Biternionsmoon it was.)

[Kaiser B'caw I]

(Once the necessary changes in modship go through, I'll update the list of titles to reflect this.)

[Scott of Hyperborea]

I humbly petition the Kaiser for a noble title. I didn't see fit to grant myself one before because of my close relationship to the Kaiser, but with his death I think the Hyperborean people should have a Landsraad voice.

[Erik Mortis]

And I like that Avatar Scott...

[CJ Miller]

I humbly petition Your Niftiness for a noble title, seeing as Greg Russell, the only other member of House Annexis, is nowhere to be found.

[Kaiser B'caw I]

I will issue another Order for new grants of titles... I probably should have done that in this one, but I was concerned enough that I'd forget to renew the titles already granted that the issue of new ones slipped my mind.

I have no problem with Scott's request; and to CJ, I must say this: because you are currently the only active member of House Annexis, its level of activity is going to depend rather heavily on you unless and until Greg is able to return. At the time of this post, Annexis has seen the least recent activity of the Houses, and I do not want to have to consider Annexis to be utterly dead, as Tessier-Ashpool has become. I am considering granting your petition for a title as well, but if I do, I want to know that you will earn it by helping to develop Annexis.

[Malliki Tosha]

I thought that noble titles would be reserved for people that have actually contributed to the nation? Just because CJ is a member of an inactive House doesn't mean he needs a title.

[Kaiser B'caw I]

No, but if it results in CJ helping make it active, I'm willing to give it a try. If no results are forthcoming, the title can be removed.

[Malliki Tosha]

That seems a bit backward. Are you going to give a title that was supposed to be for good service before the good service is done? I for one don't want CJ in the Landsraad, and I don't think he should be given a noble title. He hasn't done anything here yet. Unless you count acting like a retard on #micronations, in which case he should be made a Duke...

[Kaiser B'caw I]

No comment on the #micronations thing. Nonetheless, you may have a point there about titles being reserved as rewards rather than pre-emptive encouragement.

[Erik Mortis]

I would agree with Mike on the reward vs encouragement thing.

[Kaiser B'caw I]

Best not to set a precedent on the matter, I guess. Later today I'll grant Scott's, but I will suspend judgment on CJ's petition until after I see some development in Annexis.

[Malliki Tosha]

FYI, CJ's minority period hasn't ended yet. Anandja gave that to the Arbiter to handle, but it hasn't been ended yet.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Keep in mind that there are two different types of titles, hereditary and non-hereditary. Non-hereditary are given for being a generally nifty guy, hereditary are given for being the leader of a House.

Malliki's arguments are all against CJ deserving a non-hereditary title, but CJ's request, as I interpret it, is for a hereditary title as acting Head of House Annexis. Whether he gets it has no relationship to how much Malliki or anyone else likes him, only to whether Annexis is indeed a real house and CJ is indeed its leader.

This matter needs to be decided by the Kaiser and Arbiter based on House law, not on opinion of CJ.

[Kaiser B'caw I]

Hmmm. I shall go to the Imperial Judex, and ask the honorable Arbiter for a few legal opinions.

[Malliki Tosha]

There is no written law on this. Also, a House can be a commoner House, that is, ruled by a commoner. House Mortis was that before merging with Tosha-Straylight.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

My interpretation has always been that a house of four or more people gets a Duke (if the Kaiser is feeling generous) and one of two to three people a Baron (again, if the Kaiser wills it).

Annexis was already granted Minor House status, so it does get a Baron. That should be Greg, but he's on LoA. The question before the Kaiser is whether to transfer that title to CJ. I'm leaning to "no", because if we treat long-term LoA as equivalent to being gone, then Annexis is effectively a one-person house, but if we treat it as not equivalent, then there's no justification for taking away Greg's title. The best solution would be for Greg to name CJ an emissary.

[CJ Miller]

Can Baron of House Annexis and Anarch of Yardistan be held by two different people?

[Kaiser B'caw I]

If one of the latest versions of the bill gets into the Landsraad and is passed, then yes, it is possible for them to be held by two separate people. But the Anarch of Yardistan, as with the other titles of its kind, has to be the head of one of the Houses, whether it is Annexis or not, and the House that gets it has to effectively control the area defined as Yardistan.

At the moment, using the criteria in my version of the bill, no House currently meets that definition of effective control in Yardistan. If it became law today, there would be no Anarch yet.