Baron Mordenheim

[ewancummins]

Interesting. You know a lot about the Holy Roman Empire? I have only a passing knowledge of that hodge-podge confederation of feudal states, which was never quite an empire. A lacuna in my education, I see know.

I wouldn't say I know a whole lot about the HRE but I do like reading about it, yes. It's such a huge freakin' mess- not just 'feudal states' but stuff like prince-bishoprics, free cities, etc.

I had recalled reading something about how they ended up with so many nobles, so I looked it up online - didn't want to steer you wrong.

EDIT- Yes, Switzerland might be closer to Lamordia (except the sea-coast!), but of course some of the Swiss nobles derive their titles from the HRE.

[whalejudge]

What strikes me about Lamordia and nobility is that it's culture isn't medieval or feudal at all. Mordenheim might well be a baron, by inheritance, but it's fairly clear that such a title (and any duties) are of little concern to him. In the time period he seems to come from, "duties" are negligible and "lands" produce income but little else...he might not even be able to sell them. That his family happened to have a house in someone else's barony that he inherited, with the rest of the title and estate, where he prefered to live isn't surprising.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

The Mordenheim novel depicts Victor growing up as an only child on his father's estate, and he inherited those lands shortly before he started medical school. If his father had been a reigning baron, the title would've passed on to Victor at that time. However, the novel depicts Victor's dad as more "landed gentry" than hereditary nobility: he's seen running the family estate, but not governing a barony, passing judgements, etc. He never remarries, despite Victor's mother having died young, and you'd think a titled gentleman would've been considered too good of a catch to avoid that.

FWIW, Mordenheim never refers to Victor or his father as "Baron". This doesn't prove he isn't one, as he's quite proud to call himself "Doctor", and never says his parents' given names.

[Mortavius]

I've always thought that Mordenheim owned the land around his estate for some distance, but that was it. I figured that maybe he technically had the title of Baron, but only the old-timers would remember it, as previously mentioned, he would rather refer to himself as a doctor than a political figure.

Also, didn't Victor come from another place? I think I remember something about Lamordia not being his native lands... Like the estate was transferred there, but not anything else. In that case, Victor may well be a Baron where he came from.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

So, is there any reference to him being a baron before LotB?

[Scipion_Emilien]

Indeed. Well Dementlieu was given a sort of reworking as 'the Mad Lands' , but I'm not convinced that it sounds good in French. Of course, my French is pretty terrible. Like a cave-man! We should ask a fluent speaker, preferably a native.

I think my french is pretty good (since it's my first language).

So Dementlieu would be:

Dement = Dément, self-explanatory, a crazy person

Lieu is either the word "place" or can be a unit of measurement of distance (like a yard)

So Dementlieu would be literally "The place of the Dement"

Richemulot is the most funniest:

Riche = Rich
Mulot is a field mouse

Richemulot is literally the country of the rich field mouse

I still wonder how my players didn't see it.


As for the nobility system, I studied middle age and modern age Europe during half a school year, and it really stuck me that nobility is what we could call in game-design as an exception base system. While nobility originally came from a land, it pretty fast became a whole system in itself.

People want to name their friends noble or want to get cash by giving noble title. It doesn't seem to mess that up the system until you think that you do that over more than 1000 years. Exceptions pile up on exceptions to produce ridiculous result. I remeber doing a research on the Paris parliament under Louis XIV, and one of the main fonction of the body was to employ a ridiculous amount of lawyers to sort out who is noble and who isn't (so that the king could tax a maximum of people since nobles don't pay tax). Add to that that the nobles who fear losing their titles were too employing lawyer, and you got the reason of the rise of the importance of lawyers in the society.

The english noble system tie strongly to the land was the exception rather than the norm in Europe. The HRE had its exceptions, the french system was too liberal for his own good and pretty byzantine, heck the byzantine system was byzantine...

So it's not impossible that by some hazard of history, Mordenheim is a Baron like the ruler of the land while having no lands itself. This is furthermore possible by the fact that the CL lvl of Lamordia make it more likely that the system has already evolute out of the strictly classic land-based feodality.

[DocBeard]

'Country of the Rich Field Mouse' sort of sounds vaguely like a rural french-speaking province, I think. I kind of like the name of the place more, now.

I picked up on the dementielu thing the first time I saw the domain name. I thought it was kind of neat then, personally.

[ewancummins]

'Country of the Rich Field Mouse' sort of sounds vaguely like a rural french-speaking province, I think. I kind of like the name of the place more, now.

I picked up on the dementielu thing the first time I saw the domain name. I thought it was kind of neat then, personally.

I like the way the 3E sourcebooks explained Dementlieu's name- it was a 'Mad Place' at one time, with chaotic bandits and crazies roaming the countryside. Even though my own version of Dementlieu has a different history than what you see in the Gaz, I did incorporate that bit.

[DeepShadow of FoS]

Should I take that as a "no?" It appears LotB gave the Dr. an accidental honorarium?

How does everyone feel about that? Should he be a Baron?

[DocBeard]

Well it explains why he has a formal estate. Also Horg can go, "Der Baron...is displeased..." in a wheezy voice.

[ewancummins]

Should I take that as a "no?" It appears LotB gave the Dr. an accidental honorarium?

How does everyone feel about that? Should he be a Baron?

Sure, let him be a baron.

[Mangrum]

I personally wouldn't make Mordenheim a baron, primarily because it makes the defining line between him and Victor Frankenstein even more vanishingly thin, but that's just a personal judgment call. That said, it's clear that Mordenheim comes from landed gentry of some sort or another.

[DocBeard]

Here's a thought: what if the "Baron" title is one Mordenheim uses as a pseudonym for the less than legal activities he undertakes in his quest to resurrect his wife? He keeps the mob out of his castle by insisting that 'The Baron' has nothing to do with the Mordenheim family and any rumors to the contrary are just plain nonsense.

Alternatively, maybe his wife's family had a title, which'd explain the ties to titled nobility and why he probably wouldn't use the Baron title publicly.

Either way, I think one thing Lamordia needs is an influx of population. The place barely has small villages, how is it providing this much cultural and political influence into the Core? A moderate sized costal or island city and maybe a mountain-based medical academy would be simple additions that would help balance that out.

[cure]

Well give it textile mills and import some labour to sweat in them since no Lamordian is going to be caught dead using undead for such.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Either way, I think one thing Lamordia needs is an influx of population. The place barely has small villages, how is it providing this much cultural and political influence into the Core?

How do the 5000 people of Port-a-Lucine support an opera house? None of Ravenloft's canon population numbers make sense when you consider the social structures they are supposed to support. It's just one of those things.