Titles and Nobility

Knights and Dames
All players begin as ordinary citizens of the King and can build settlements to produce raw materials, buy and sell goods on the market, and explore their area in search of treasure and other citizens and barbarians (NPCs).

When a citizen accumulates 3,000 gold they can choose to purchase a Knighthood from the King for their current Area. The Knight's title will indicate which area the Knighthood has been granted for (ie, "Knight of Toronto"). The elevation to Knight allows the player to begin construction of a Castle within the area which serves as the Knight's headquarters for that area.

''Dame is the female title and honorific for a Knight and is bestowed upon female players. For the purposes of simplicity use of the term "Knight" on this page implies Dames as well.''

Castles
A Knight title confers no other special benefits other than the title itself and the ability to construct a Castle. Construction of a Castle requires an additional and significant investment of resources beyond the gold required to purchase the title: 120 bricks, 60 food, 60 metal, 60 lumber, 8 luxury goods, 8 household goods, 8 cultural goods and 8 weapons.

Once construction of a Castle has begun the Knight can also begin to construct Barracks with which to train an army and theatres to host cultural events which boost the Knight's cultural influence in nearby locations.

A Knight can have only a single Castle within an area. Barracks and theatres can be built at any settlement in the Knight's area.

With a castle, barracks and army, a Knight can attack other players' settlements, including settlements belonging to other Knights. A Knight cannot attack a Castle belonging to another Knight. Successfully attacking a settlement and stationing a garrison of at least one troop there will add that settlement's population to the Knight's score and they will collect a small daily allegiance from the settlement based on its population and the presence of other gold-earning buildings on that settlement like pubs, taverns and inns.

Paladins
Knights may go on to purchase a Paladin title for 25,000 gold to allow them to attack Castles and claim allegiance from a Knight's entire kingdom in the area. A Paladin title has a more immediate effect than a Knighthood and does not enable or require any additional structures to exercise its powers.

Paladins gain the ability to see a list of and directions to all of the castles in the current area and can use this to locate and attack Knight's castles. Unlike attacking a settlement, Paladins can attack a Knight's castle from a distance of approximately 0.5 km rather than having to visit the Castle's settlement directly.

Conquering a castle makes that Knight's entire kingdom a vassal to the Paladin. The Knight's entire population within their area will be added to the Paladin's population score and they will earn a larger allegiance based on the Knight's entire kingdom size (all of their settlements) and the allegiance that the Knight is in turn collecting from all of the settlements they have conquered.

A Paladin title applies to an entire Region, which makes up several areas. The Paladin's title will indicate the Region for which the title has been granted (ie, "Paladin of Ontario") and can be viewed from the "Nobility" section within the game.

Special Titles


The King may also from time to time choose to bestow special titles upon His most powerful Nobles. The most powerful Noble is determined by their population compared to other Knights or Paladins within the same Area, Region or Country. The following special titles apply:


 * Count -- The Knight with the most population in their Area will be recognized as the Count of that area. Note that only the Knight's population from settlements within that specific Area is taken into consideration, not the overall population of the Knight's Kingdom.


 * Duke - The Paladin with the most population in their Region will be recognized as the Duke of that Region. Like a Countship, only the population within the specific Region is taken into consideration.


 * Prince - The Duke with the most population in their Country will be recognized as the Prince of that Country.

These titles are conferred by the King and cannot be purchased or petitioned for directly by Knights and Paladins. Titles are also not conferred immediately, presumably to prevent frequent titular changes resulting from sudden shifts in population as a result of settlements and castles changing hands.

Note that there are no minimum population thresholds required to be granted a special title. Generally, the first Knight in an Area will automatically become a Count of that Area and the first Paladin in a Region will automatically become the Duke of that Region until they are surpassed by another Knight or Paladin with a larger population.

The players holding titles in each Area, Region or Country can be viewed from the "Nobility" section on the "Kingdom" screen in the game. Players with more than one title can also view their list of titles and choose which title under which they wish to be known by selecting it from the "Titles" section on the "Kingdom" screen.