Bonus Chapter: Lore on how the Identity Tokens are read
Every noble in the Brancotte Empire is required to carry an identity badge on them.
The imperial family has their badge made from diamond.
The royal families of the subordinate countries have golden badges. The Dukedoms in Brancotte proper also have golden badges.
The dukedoms of the subordinate kingdoms have silver badges. The Counts in Brancotte proper also have silver badges.
All other nobles have badges made from copper.
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[A/N: Image of Plandri's Identity Badge in Comment]
There are 3 parts to the badge. At the top is the Clan's emblem. This emblem is required to show up on all seals, signet rings, carriages, houses, and identity badges
Right below the emblem is the holder's name.
Right below the holder's name, in the bottom left corner, is an encoded symbol called "the Clan Status". It symbolizes the holder's relationship to the clan head. (More on that later.)
In the bottom right corner is an encoded symbol called "the Family Status". This symbol describes your place in your immediate family. Are you the fourth son? The 5th daughter? Are you the firstborn? (More on this later.)
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[A/N: Chart of Clan Status symbols in Comment.]
In the Vanteri's case, Duke Vanteri has no Clan Status symbol, and the bottom left corner of his badge is blank.
The Duke's children all have a single vertical slash (I) for their Clan Status, indicating that they're one generation down from him.
The Duke's grandchildren have 2 vertical slashes (I I), meaning that they're TWO generations down from him. His great grandchildren have 3 vertical slashes (I I I) for the 3 generations apart, and so on.
Since Palandri has 7 vertical slashes (I I I I I I I), it means that he's Duke Vanteri's great-great-great-great-great-grandson. The reason why he's treated as the duke's son, despite being such a far off descendant, is because he's a mage, and he's going to live a long time.
Since becoming a mage has nothing to do with bloodline, mages almost always outlive their children, and their grandchildren, etc.
Because of this, a person is usually adopted by their direct ancestors when they become a mage (given that your ancestors are nobles, of course.) This happened with Palandri. A few hundred years ago, he became a mage. He was then contacted by the duke, and the papers were submitted.
Apart from all that, it's more than just direct descendants that belong to the Vanteri Family.
Going back to the Duke, who has no marking on his Clan Status… If he were to ever retire and hand his position off to one of his children, he'd immediately get a horizontal slash on his token, indicating that he's one generation ABOVE the current duke.
Basically, the Duke's father has one horizontal slash (-), his grandfather has two horizontal slashes (- -), and his great-grandfather has three (- - -).
Because of this, if Palandri were to ever somehow be crowned the new Duke, then his predecessor would get 7 horizontal slashes, to show that he's 7 generations above Palandri.
Now, as for the direct lines of the Duke's brother, cousins, 2nd cousins, (etc.), you combine horizontal and vertical slashes.
For example, the Duke's brother as a single horizontal and a single vertical slash (- I), showing that he's his father's (-) son (I). His nephew would have an additional vertical slash (I) to show that he's his brother's (- I) son (I). It would look like this: (- I I).
The uncles (- - I), cousins (- - I I), and their descendants (- - I I I) have two horizontal slashes to show that they share a grandfather with the Duke.
The granduncle (- - - I) and his descendants (- - - I I) all have 3 horizontal slashes to show that they share a great-grandfather with the Duke.
After all that, the pattern repeats itself.
Finally, to make things easier to read, the slashes are clumped in groups of three, then staggered. If you look at Palandri's token, you'll find that his 7 slashes are like this (III III I). This staggering really has no meaning other than making it visually easier to read at a glance.
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Now, this pattern of tracking your relatives can get pretty convoluted, since you could have people with dozens or hundreds of slashes on their token. This is never going to happen, though, since there really comes a point where it's no longer worth it to care about your distant relatives.
I mean, the only reason these nobles care about keeping the relatives in the family is so that they can always have a clan full of mages.
Beyond that, there just comes a point when a new generation of descendants from a distant family line just aren't given identity badges anymore.
Basically, if you're given a badge at birth, then you're acknowledged as part of the noble family line. If the Duke chooses to not give you one, then he considers you too distantly related to him for him to care about you. This officially makes you a commoner.
Of course, the Duke also has the right to confiscate the badges of anyone who bears the Vanteri emblem, except for his direct ancestors (father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc.). The closer you're related to him, the more serious it generally is. For the distant relatives, however, it's usually not a big deal.
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[A/N: Chart of Family Status symbol in Comment]
Now, as for the other symbol… the "Family Status" symbol, it was called.
This one is much more straightforward. There are only 2 symbols on this – a 4-pointed star (*), and a circle (o). The stars (*) are for males, and the circles (o) are for females. These stars and circles are called "marks".
If the star (*) or circle (o) is large, it's called the "major mark". The major mark represents YOU.
If the mark is smaller, it's called a "minor mark". The minor marks represent your older siblings.
Having a star major-mark without any minor-marks means that you're a son, and that you are the eldest child of your line (no minor marks meaning that you have no older siblings). Having a single circle means that you're a daughter, and that you're also the eldest child.
Regardless of what gender you are, if you have a single minor-mark to the top left of your own major-mark, then that means you have 1 older sibling. If you have two minor-marks, then you have two older siblings, etc.
In Palandri's case, he has a star as his major mark (obviously, because he's a boy). He has two stars and a circle for his minor-marks, meaning that he has 2 elder brothers and an elder sister.
The order that the minor-marks are arranged also matters. They read from left to right in the order that they were born.
In Palandri's case, this family order goes like this; son, son, daughter, son.
In the case that your parents have more children after you, this isn't reflected on your Family Status symbol at all. There won't be any marks for younger siblings.
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In the case that two siblings only share 1 parent (half siblings), there's a very simple rule to follow. In short, you only count the parent that is a direct descendant of the Clan Head (AKA, the Duke).
For example, if you live in a family where both of your parents have been divorced or widowed before, and your parents both have children from their previous marriages, then you're going to have a few half-siblings and a few stepsiblings.
For obvious reasons, the stepsiblings aren't counted at all, and they aren't given any Identity badges. They don't come from a royal lineage, after all.
Your half-siblings, however, are a little more complicated.
From your father's perspective, you may be his 3rd child, but you could also be your mothers 1st (or the other way around). So, how many marks are you going to have on your Family Status symbol – 1 or 3?
If your father is the direct blood descendant of the Clan Head, then his children will obviously be counted, and you'll have 3 marks on your badge. You'd be considered the 3rd child.
If your mother is the descendent, while your father is the in-law, then only her children are counted, and you'll only have 1 mark. You'd be considered the 1st child, while your stepsiblings technically don't exist…
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Finally, the backside has all of the Clan Status and Family Status symbols of all the people who stand between you and the Clan Head.
In Palandri's case, he's the 3rd son, of the 1st son, of the 1st daughter, of the 1st daughter, of the 2nd son, of the 3rd daughter, of the 1st son, of the Duke.
In the case where both of your parents are from different noble families, then you'll have 2 separate Identity badges – 1 for each clan.
In the case where both of your parents are direct descendants of the same Clan head, then only only have 1 badge, and you'll take after the parent who has a closer connection to the Clan Head.
For example, if your father is the Duke's grandson, but your mother is your 5th cousin twice removed, then your badge will ignore your mother's lineage, since she's more distantly related to the Duke. Instead, you'll just be treated as the Duke's grandson – not his 5th cousin thrice removed.
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Ultimately, the purpose of this token is to show the emperor who you are exactly. In a world where mages usually occupy the seats of power, it becomes very important to have quick and easy ways to identify your exact place in the family, seeing as how a mage can have thousands of descendants or more, if he lives long enough and sees enough generations.
Well, that wraps up the explanation on the identity badges.