Medieval Thought
This article is still being completed. Please feel free to read what is here.
The world of Dark Age II is both like and unlike medieval society. On the one hand, it is a feudal society, with rigid social structures, harsh laws, and paramount honor and fealty. On the other hand, with the existence of magic, of other races, and of the demonstruck adventurers, social mobility is far more likely and accepted, thus lessening the strict bounds of appropriate behavior between different classes.
The greatest change between the world of DA and our current world is the importance of being. In today’s society, a person is what they need to be, and their needs vary and change. That is not so in a medieval society... there, a person is what he is. Changing one’s behavior is considered being deceitful, as is lying in any way. Breaking one’s word is absolutely unacceptable, and sworn enemies or friends are enemies or friends forever. There is no changing of one’s mind, for that would open up a path to being untrustworthy, and that is simply unacceptable for any real member of society. One’s word is one’s greatest asset, and devaluing it by losing honor is a great price to pay... one that most people are unwilling to pay except for the greatest of prizes.
As one’s honor is so important, oaths of fealty and service are taken seriously. A nobleman is expected to be loyal to one’s liege in all situations, and guards to be loyal to the death. Not all manage to follow such a strict code, but it is certainly far more expected than could be imagined today.
Social classes interact a lot more in DA than in medieval times. The crafter down the street may be demonstruck, thus lending him some importance that may allow him to speak directly to a noble. And unless you’re demonstruck yourself, you never know. Adventurers are especially prone to this existence outside of the boundaries of class distinction, and as long as they manage normal politeness, scraping obedience is rarely demanded even by the most arrogant of nobles. Yet this is not to say that one cannot overstep one’s bounds, nor that punishment is not apt to be strict and severe. It is not often that one is cut down for one’s insulting behavior to one’s betters, but neither is it unheard of.
In medieval society, one’s name often described fairly accurately what one did... a person named Michael Cooper was generally a cooper, or the son of one. And if he was the son of one, likely he would inherit the family business and thus eventually be a cooper himself. On DA, that may not necessarily be true... Michael Cooper may turn out to be demonstruck and turn to adventuring as a more profitable lifestyle, or may turn out to be a mage and change his profession, or perhaps even both. Thus names are not as accurate in Dark Age as they were in medieval times... but that is not to say that they should be ignored. Michael Cooper is definitely not a noble born person... if he were, he would have a different name. Nor is he a bastard, unless he is the founder of a new family as some town’s cooper... or he would not have that name, either.
Xerxes Shadowborn... what noble family would name their family as “Shadowborn”? And what occupation would name one “Shadowborn”? This is likely some name that is a description, and who would carry that if they could avoid it? Even if a child were named Shadowborn due to some calamity or something, wouldn’t they grow angry at being labelled by something that occurred before they did anything, and choose to change or at least not use it? Be very careful in choosing names, and be sure that you think of how the person would have gotten that name. Is it a family name? Is it a description that they chose themselves? Is it a description given to them at birth, or by others? Conan Strongarm is a name given to a warrior named Conan by others, and entirely reasonable. Conan Thunderer could be a name taken or given, and probably used by the person. Conan Smallwit, well, who would carry that name? It might be a nickname that you can’t shake, but would you really introduce yourself as that? Think carefully before determining your character’s name, as it says a lot about their history, and perhaps abilities and personality.
