The Astral Empire: Nobility, Part 1

(Disclaimer: the Abh are ultimately the work of Hiroyuki Morioka. This adaptation to the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons deviates significantly from the original.)

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As in the source material, Abh is both a biological and a legal classification: it may mean either "a member of the Abh race" or "a member of the nobility of the Abh Empire." All biological Abh are automatically considered nobles; however, members of other races may occasionally be ennobled.

The rank of an Abh is dependent on the state of their demesne (if any). In general, if a demesne improves, the noble's rank rises accordingly. The ranks are described below, matched with a description of the relevant class of demesne.

• Knight (reucec): No demesne. A Knight typically resides within another Abh's demesne, but is nonetheless formally a noble and a citizen of the Empire, and has (among other things) certain rights of access and appeal to Imperial courts. A Knight may only rise in rank by being awarded a demesne, either by inheritance or Imperial grant. Non-Abh may become Knights through service (usually military service).
  
• Baron (lymh): A worldless demesne, or one that cannot be made inhabitable by a large population. Most asteroidal demesnes grant a Baroncy; crystal spheres without worlds would also do so, but these are rarely handed out, generally being barren. Asteroidal baronies often have rich mineral rights. Typically a Baron may also only rise in rank by grant, although it has occasionally happened that a Baron has improved their baroncy to an earldom.
  
• Viscount (bœrh): A demesne with habitable territory, but that is as yet uninhabited. Attracting new citizens is sometimes surprisingly difficult for a viscountcy.
  
• Earl (dreuc): An inhabited demesne, meaning one with at least 500 permanent residents other than the members of the Earl's household and those directly serving them.
  
• Marquess (lœbec): An inhabited demesne with at least one city of 10,000 permanent residents. Asteroidal demesnes of this class are rare, although many astral domains can support cities of this size.
  
• Duke (laicerh): An inhabited demesne with at least one city of 100,000 permanent inhabitants.
• Grand Duke (nimh): An inhabited demesne with at least one city of 1,000,000 permanent inhabitants.
  

There is at least one Grand Duke, that of Lacmhacarh; the number of Grand Dukes in the Empire (along with the original figures for its size and number of contained crystal spheres), or the requirements for the size can be adjusted up or down to suit the campaign (see page XX for details).