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Ever since I revived that damned RPG project, I cannot help but think about a proper setting, and while I enjoy the venerable old Drakar och Demoner for many of its rules, many of its races and selection of monsters, and most especially its magic system, still the chief campaign setting (Ereb Altor) is an unacceptable patchwork of unrelated adventure settings all tossed onto one big map, and many details are altogether missing, so my campaign setting will be my own. And this is what happens when I start thinking down those lines.
Surnames
Surnames come in two chief forms: Familial and geographic.
Familial surnames
Familiar surnames fall into the categories of patronyms and patrilineal. Patronyms imply taking one’s father’s name; patrilineal names are maintained within a family. Commoners most often use patronyms, whereas established noble houses use patrilineal names. However, individuals may change this in order to show closer associations, so the son of a famous man might change to a patronym to associate his name with the famous father, or a prominent family -- be it a noble house or merely a local notable such as a particularly wealthy farmer in a rural district -- may change to a patrilineal name to be associated with the well-known line.
Patronyms
The most common form of surnames, especially among the common classes, is to simply adopt one’s father’s name as a surname: “Son of such-and-such”. This is denoted by the prefix Al-, hence common patronymic surnames include Alterric, Alper, Allanner, and so on.
Patrilineals
Patrilineal names are formed with the suffix Ban-, meaning “descendant of” or “heir of”, but since they are often older, they tend to suffer more changes and corruption, so Ben-, Dan-, Den-, and Than- are common variations (too, the original patronym tends to be altered). Examples include the noble houses of Banerat, Banpheron, Denoren, and Thanliet (descended from men called Erat, Pheron, Loren, and Aliet).
Geographic surnames
Geographic surnames, on the them “of” or “from”, are common, but tend to disappear after a few generations and rarely grow old in families. If someone moves from Moras to Merantha it may make sense to refer to them as one “from Moras”, but their grandchildren will probably be regarded as locals.
Proximity tends to affect specificity. Thus our traveller from Moras may move to Merantha and take or receive the name Demoras, but a native of Merantha is unlikely to be called Demerantha -- more likely, if they have a geographical name, they’ll be named after a city district, such as Demenos or Dechalnor (Menos and Halnor being well-known districts of Merantha, the former being the harbour and the latter, a mercantile area). Someone with local knowledge, then, can infer a good deal about a person’s social standing from the surname, for which reason people are particularly prone to change them when they move up in the world. People in poorer districts, though, often stick to their names as a badge of solidarity, thus though the harbour district Menos is rather rough-hewn, there are a great many people in Merantha who call themselves Demenos (or Damenos, Bemenos, Themenos…).
Major cities, famous districts, and common classes of people associated with them include
- Merantha, the capital
- Menos, the harbour district. Sailors, dockworkers, labourers.
- Halnor, a chief mercantile district. Merchants, clerks. (The “H” often becomes “ch” or “sh” in names: Dechalnor, Deshalnor, Beshalno.)
- Lanos, a mercantile district adjoining Menos, large in sea trade. Merchants, clerks, naval officers.
- Phedros, a prosperous district with mansions of wealthy merchants and nobles. Servants, courtiers, clerks. Note that nobles are highly unlikely to use geographic names, preferring patronyms or (often) patrilineals.
- Moras, the chief western seaport.
SHUT UP THESE THINGS ARE IMPORTANT FOR AN IMMERSIVE AND CONVINCING SETTING DON'T YOU JUDGE ME