H Is For Hierarchy...

We're one week into the A to Z challenge! Good on you all for keeping up the posts. Thanks to all who have dropped by and commented.

Also, a quick thanks to all who came by and got their free copy of my book over the weekend. It was sort of spur of the moment, but I shall do it again someday, so keep an eye out.

My theme for the challenge is world building from a to z. Feel free to leave me comments. And now that I have my link figured out, I make sure to leave it there when I comment on your blogs.

We're talking the pecking order of things here. Who rules the roost? Who does the grunt work? Who really holds the power in society?

When you are thinking of the hierarchy of any given state or kingdom, you can follow the traditional rules or make your own.

There are Kings and Queen, Princes and Princesses, Dukes and Duchesses, Earls, Counts and Countesses, Marquis, Marquesses... oh the list goes on! Lots of research if you are so inclined.

If you have a king and queen, who inherits the throne? Eldest son or eldest daughter? Or just eldest child no matter the gender? Perhaps the family is given lands and titles upon the King's passing and a new one is voted in by the commonwealth. Perhaps there is a huge festival during which Knights compete for the crown.

Of course, there is always the old favorite of starting a war and invading a kingdom to take over. Doesn't always work out so well for your soldiers, though.

These are things to think about when structuring a society in fantasy world building. Do you have a matriarchal or patriarchal society? What's the difference? Matriarchal is run by women, patriarchal is run by men. If you have more than one kingdom and each society is different, how do they maintain the peace? Do they look down on each other for their ways of doing things?

Only you can answer these questions. You'll know who holds the true power in your world!