The "patent of nobility" is a legal decree issued by a sovereign or ruling authority that grants noble status to an individual. It typically confers specific rights, privileges, lands and titles, elevating the recipient and their descendants into the nobility.
The earliest patents exist as simple brass plates attached to a torc with an inscription written in Vyrum.* All modern patents now come in an ivory case, along with a shield (painted with the sigil of their house), a signet ring and a ceremonial key (to the court of their leige lord -- representing their access to justice.)
*There are 22 noble houses with the ancient brass plates as their patents of nobility. Sometimes called the "Two-score and two" they are not necessarily the richest or most powerful, but these houses nonetheless retain the prestige that comes with their long standing.
Some scholars of Vyrum have maintained that the brass plates can be translated to read "Hold me, lest I elope, and you will have gold." It is a mysterious phrase that is taken by these families to mean that their nobility is the ticket to wealth and prosperity for their vassals.
The earliest patents exist as simple brass plates attached to a torc with an inscription written in Vyrum.* All modern patents now come in an ivory case, along with a shield (painted with the sigil of their house), a signet ring and a ceremonial key (to the court of their leige lord -- representing their access to justice.)
*There are 22 noble houses with the ancient brass plates as their patents of nobility. Sometimes called the "Two-score and two" they are not necessarily the richest or most powerful, but these houses nonetheless retain the prestige that comes with their long standing.
Some scholars of Vyrum have maintained that the brass plates can be translated to read "Hold me, lest I elope, and you will have gold." It is a mysterious phrase that is taken by these families to mean that their nobility is the ticket to wealth and prosperity for their vassals.
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