#hailstar

Succession: 

In the four kingdoms things like “bloodlines”or “birthrights”are considered to be of great importance and you cannot be adopted into a given bloodline. ((*this isn’t a concept I agree with, but is standard in medieval settings and would be actively challenged within the au)) These laws are also mostly only applicable to the higher classes of noble families. Families of common-born folk (such as Firestar’s birth family) are “nameless”having no surname, house or lands to pass on.

I’m trying to make the rules of inheritance/succession in this au dependent mainly on birth order regardless of gender which would've been typical in most medieval settings. This makes things slightly convoluted, but bear with me lmao. 

Across all four kingdoms it’s standard for the first born to inherit/pass on the titles of their house while the second born adopts the titles of whomever they marry and cannot inherit a lordship. The third and further born can only pass on titles if they marry someone of a “lesser”family, or with a weaker connection to their bloodline (such as being second born or later in the birth order). However if the first or second born dies they instead adopt their responsibilities meaning they can potentially become heirs/lords, unlike second borns. It’s typically preferred to have at least three children for this reason; with two there’s a greater risk of the house’s name dying.

Having a child out of wedlock is incredibly taboo and in certain contexts (largely depending on the current ruler) can result in exile, forfeiting all names and titles. It’s not technically illegal to have a relationship across kingdom borders; but these relationships will very rarely be ordained by a legitimate priest/cleric, especially in times of conflict. Children can be born through surrogacy in the case of same-sex marriage, but the surrogate must be from the same house as the second parent for them to have inheritance rights (although there are ways to hide illegitimate children under this rule)

House Chell

Stewards and Heirs of the King River Chell

River’s Kingdom considers the River Chell to be their rightful king, possessing the spirit of King Riverstar and his “truest” descendants act only as his stewards to carry out his will. Stewards (or Highlords as they are titled) essentially have the same rights and rulings as the kings of the other three kingdoms however. They also still wear crowns, because I like to draw them (although they would not inherit the original founder's crown as the other rulers typically do, instead having unique crowns per ruler)

Typically Highlord’s will choose their own heirs, ideally their firstborns as they can pass on their titles (the “strongest”line of succession always follows the first born), however they can also choose from any descendant that inherits the Chell name. If they die without naming a successor it’s the duty of the lords to decide the next Highlord communally from this pool of descendants.

In this au Misty, Stone and Moss are bio kits of CrookedBlue, raised by GreyOak. Crookedstar named them Stonepath and Mistywood in reference to his past meetings with Bluefur, hidden in the woods near the Sunningrock Ruins.

(this also changes Stormfur's name to Stormpath, as I always hcced is Warrior name as being in honour of his mentor)

((also GreyOak are probably in more of a QPR type relationship, the romantic label is an over-simplification))

Crookedstar had named Silverstream as his heir and failed to name a new successor after her death. At the time Mistywood and Stonepath were considered ineligible as the children of the late second born Oakheart Chell. Leopardfur had inherited the Chell name through her mother Brightsky, a third born daughter of Hailstar and was chosen by the lords over Silverstreams’s kits, although she had to accept Storm as an heir until she had alternate choices.

Leopardstar technically had a weaker claim to the throne than Storm and Feather and a much weaker claim than Mistywood and Stonepath, once they were exposed as Crookedstar’s bio kits. This was a motivating factor for her joining forces with Tigerstar and she campaigned against all four, declaring them invalid as heirs due to their mixed heritages, stripping their knighthoods and titles and forcing Stone to fight to regain his in a bloody execution. 

She married Tigerstar in a political move (she didn’t love him; they were using each other), and Hawk and Moth were born to this marriage, Hawk named as heir.

Public opinion of this was mixed at the time and tides turned against her after Tigerstar’s death, eventually leading to her being usurped and disposed of, with Mistywood inheriting her title. Hawk, Moth, Storm, Feather and Reed grew up alongside each other as potential heirs. Hawkfrost grew to become a political pawn of a faction of nobles who still held support for Leopardstar, resenting that Mistystar eventually chose her son Reedwhisker to succeed her despite initially preparing Hawk for the role.

Much much later on a succession crisis occurs after Mistystar and Reedwhisker both die, leaving a large pool of descendants that carry the Chell name (Curlfeather and her kits, Splashtail and others who were potentially born to Feather, Storm or Hawk, I’m not sure yet)

I'd love to have a look at the other Kingdom's and their royal families at some point, I already have a good idea of how the Kingdom of Thunder's works. It's worth stating that in all Kingdoms it's required for the ruler to directly inherit the blood of a founder to have the "right"to rule, which is eventually challenged when Bluestar makes Fireheart her heir, leading to conflict and political change.