Sure, Playdoh. Drill down as far as you like. Although the assigning of seats doesn't need to be based on inscrutable details--a few general insights could do the trick without a hitch--still I like to think the background is decently fleshed out.
Additional Notes
The RosterYou can assume that Luther sat down and began writing names on paper as the names came to him, in order of which children he knew best; and as a knight, he is more familiar with nobles and their children than cooks and theirs. Hammy is far down the list, but nearer to your own heart, perhaps.
Court Boys -- These boys come from the court, and tend to be very stiff and formal. Whereas most the common boys sometimes slip into familiarity and call you Ikey, or even ickle Ikey, these boys never forget your station and maintain a dignified reserve. They show a healthy interest in violent activities and military training, as befits young gentlemen of good family condition, but they dislike the infantry-based nature of the current drills.
Thomas Scales, a younger boy, excitable and prone to fits. He evades recorded demerits by being the son of the Lord Chancellor, a grave and serious man not to be trifled, and the fact that training is often too repetitive to hold his interest. Otherwise, you call him a young brat. Occasionally, he travels to his father's country estate, increasing his absences.
Wilfred Castelain, also young but more steady. Usually. He earned one demerit for throwing down his pike after a long training session and calling it a peasant's weapon, then calling Luther a peasant when Luther angrily corrected him. This surprised you, because Luther is beyond reproach as a gentleman of arms.
Armaut FitzJean, excessively fond of chivalric tales, over which you have bonded as a common obsession. While you take every occasion to hear the songs of bards, it is more often that Armaut sings them second-hand. His voice is melodious, but tinged with a strange accent. He is more than ready to engage in honourable combat, which sorts the coward from the brave, the base from the noble. He enjoys sad songs best, and weeps at the inevitable noble death of the hero.
Lewes Faukener, a boy of great insouciance; his father keeps the hawks, and this gives him status and privileges; when the drill is on, he will wander up out of boredom, practice a little and wander away again. On the other hand, he is the only courtly lad to feel at ease with the others, even Tom Bastard.Barracks Boys -- These boys were known even before you began to explore the social settings of the castle, because you watched their fathers at training. They're tall and big: their families were well-fed by fathers that are paid to sit around and look tough; and by a fluke, most of these boys are older than average. You would probably confess to some intimidation around them simply from their size, but they are aware of the social gulf. Still, they relax around you more than the court boys, and sometimes feel like older brothers of a fashion. They never miss a session, because their fathers are very proud of seeing their sons in your service and would whip them if they missed. Most follow Cadmon's lead into trouble, but have cut-off points lower than he does.
Cadmon Pike, in fine, a bully to those below him. Yet his size and strength give him few physical equals among boys his age, therefore he bows only to your social superiority and his father's disappoint. While capable of flashes of anger, most of his trouble seems to come from being bigger and more bored than the people around him. (His father is worthy of his own notes. Robard Pike is a man-at-arms, after many years in service to Lord Stone--he thrust a spear and survived to tell of it, when Lord Stone fought Ox and his bandits long ago. Robard is a vintener, a leader of twenty men.)
Brond Watkins, a close friend of Cadmon, and his check in extreme situations.
William Bernson, A bit simple, but not stupid. This manifests in unthinking participation in Cadmon's harassment, although his preference for who is leading him is not very particular. Phlegmatic and docile, so long as the brunt of the jest is on someone else. A big lad with big fists when the joke's on him.
Henry Higgs, a rotten kid, malicious and clever, apt to incite and hang back afterwards. Henry and Cadmon together alone can make a potent force for Chaos and destruction.
Hubert Higgs, Brother of Henry, often heard saying "Cut it out!" and "I'll tell ma!" while either witnessing or enduring the torments of the older boys.
Jacob Geralds, a distant follower of Cadmon, but not close. He hangs around the soldiers' boys because he and they share the same unusual background. His father is a local wit, and he shares that insightful nature, if not the skill of wrapping it up in clever bon mots. His father Gerald is the leader of the twenty-man archer squad, and often sneaks out to hunt in the woods. Jacob is delighted to accompany his father, and Gerald is likely to return with a dead animal, Jacob with a living one.
Kitchen Boys -- These boys are the second-best known to you, but perhaps closest to your heart. They clap you affectionately like brothers at one moment, and then show you an odd veneration the next. A potent and heady mixture of inclusion and yet elevation among them. You charged Hammy with gathering recruits, and the kitchen boys were his first turn, followed by other unattached children. This group tends to be the least socially respectable, ranging from solid bourgeois families to fatherless bastards.
Hammy Cook, fat boy, big, gregarious, socially-attuned, capable of good-natured mischief. His father is common but not a menial. Cooks are skilled and respectable.
Rick Scullion, small kid, friend of Hammy, and often a willing cat's paw for the mischief that Hammy wants to do without getting caught holding the bag. His father is a menial servant in the kitchen.
Tom Bastard, tall and spare, morose demeanor, hang-dog expression, quiet but dutiful. A bastard born in shame to a low woman. Never misses a practice. Often he hangs around the training field alone, because it tantalises him with a dream of acceptance in a group.
Huck Laurison, a big kid with sandy hair and a square jaw, a Cadmon without the air of bored menace and need to lead others, he got strong from unloading his father's carts at the castle gates.
Norribert Kitchener, an ambitious young boy, sharp and in control like his father, who ably harnesses the frantic bedlam of the Kitchens to produce meals admired throughout the Duchy. His father has ascended to the highest stations permitted of a commoner, and indeed, the kitchens are supervised by minor noblemen in some large and distinguished households. It is not without some reason, then, that his father has sold him the belief that he will attain a title of nobility in his lifetime. The word is that his father has been accruing wealth by fair means and foul throughout his tenure. Gold is the grease squeezes you into a peerage.
Jakes Anyman, a dark-complected boy with fiery red hair, already athletic, the son of a mild-mannered man both pale and slight who, rumour has it, did not sire him. Thus his father is called a wittol, and he himself lives with a stigma near to bastardy. He is passionate in nature, with swings in enthusiasms; he already has discovered girls, albeit they have not discovered him. He used to run with Harry Noughting and his sly gang, until he noted the swoon of Queenie around men of good manners and bearing, and he is fascinated with acquiring that outward show of gentility. The roster is well worth a peek if you are interested in medieval naming customs. It is not a load of gibberish like so many lists of fantasy names. This list was filled out over a month. There's a certain amount of historical depth if one is of the mind to dig. Luther's last name, Muchel, for example, means in the vernacular of middle english the Big Guy. Some names are descriptive like this, others are occupational, and quite a few are patronyms of their fathers. A few surnames are becoming hereditary, but not most of them.
However, the terms I use in the list often can't be found online, or even have the
wrong definitions, which adds to the confusion. I would recommend the full version of the Oxford English Dictionary, which retains entries for words that long ago became obscure and disused. This is particularly a problem with the guardsmans' ranks.
I have used a rank called
vintener, which modern online dictionaries will tell you meant wine-maker once. That shows how superficial the internet sources that claim to be authorities really are. In fact, a vintener is a soldier who commands twenty other soldiers, which are known as a vintaine of troops. Here are the OED entries.
† vintaine Obs. rare.
Also 5 vintayne.
[a. OF. vintaine, -eine, -ene, (also mod.F.) vingtaine (= Pr. and Pg. vintena, Sp. veintena), f. vingt twenty.]
A company of twenty soldiers, etc.
13‥ Sir Beues (A.) 3367 Make we þre vintaine, Þat be gode and certaine! Þe ferste ich wile me self out lede. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 114 Þai er wele arayd and ordaynd by thowsands, hundreths and vintaynes.
† vintener Obs. rare.
[ad. OF. vintenier (vingt-), f. vintene vintaine.]
c 1450 Contin. Brut 541 The nombre of þe retenue‥, that is to say, of erles,‥Constables, Centeners, capteyns, vynteners, Archers on horsbak [etc.]. 1533 [see next].
As you can see, an officer of one hundred men is called a centener. The retained soldiers of this particular County do not number high enough to warrant a retainer of centener rank, but whatever the size of a body of men, whether 50 or 500 men, there is always a captain or two in overall command of its parts, because every body needs a head (Latin
caput).
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Topic: Heirship: A Suggestion Game (Read 30446 times)