4.11 FAMILY
Syntax
* FWHO (FAMILYWHO)
* FAMILY STATUS
* FAMILY RELATION <person>
* FAMILY RELATION <person1> <person2>
* FAMILY TREE <family|person>
* FAMILY CONSIDER <person> [INITIATE|APPROVE]
* FAMILY ACCEPT <person> AS SIBLING
* FAMILY REJECT <PARENTS|CHILD|FAMILY>
* FAMILY REJECT <person> AS SIBLING
* FAMILY ACKNOWLEDGE <family>
* FT <message> (Bannerhouses and Great Houses only)
* FOUND FAMILY <name>
ADOPTING AND ACKNOLWEDGING CHILDREN
-----------------------------------
Passing through the Portal of Fate forges the soul for greatness, but it also creates some very substantive obstacles, one of which is the fact that your memory may have many holes. Some people may face the challenge of finding the lost familial threads of their life. This is not an easy task as even your parents may not easily recognize you, perhaps because of actual physical alterations or perhaps because reality itself has slightly shifted as the Fates spun your destiny. Whatever the case, if you think you've found your parents, you must go through a period of time where you consider whether these people are indeed your parents, and where they consider if you indeed are their lost child.
The parents you find may be your parents by blood or the ones who raised you. They could be couples of different races or even a same sex couple, or a single parent. That is for you to discover. Once the consideration period has passed, which takes about one Lusternian year, whoever you select will forever be your parent - so use this time to consider wisely.
Keep in mind that this decision may cut off a variety of avenues in the future. You might not be able to marry someone in the future if you share a close family relation, you also won't be able to be adopted by someone else (including not being able to find your second parent if you are adopted by a single parent), and finally, you will not be able to bloodbond to found a new family (you will be able to do so through marriage though).
The consideration process is begun by a parent doing FAMILY CONSIDER <child> INITIATE. If the initiating parent is single or their spouse is considered dormant, no further action is required. If there is an active second parent, they will need to FAMILY CONSIDER <child> APPROVE to approve the start of the process. If the parent is single, the other parent will be considered unknown.
During this period, either the parent(s) or the child may FAMILY REJECT <PARENTS|CHILD> to break off the consideration.
The following limitations apply to the FAMILY CONSIDER process:
- There must be at least a 13 year span between the child and any parents.
- Parents must be either single or married; you cannot consider children
whilst you are engaged.
- The child must have spent at least 75 hours in Lusternia.
BLOODBONDING
------------
If you are the progenitor of a family, you may BLOODBOND WITH <person> to bring new siblings into the family as progenitors. During the next 24 Lusternian months, any of the other progenitors may FAMILY REJECT <person> AS SIBLING to break the bloodbond. After the period has ended, another progenitor must FAMILY ACCEPT <person> AS SIBLING to bring them fully into the family as a sibling. This can only be done for the progenitor generation, and all others must be considered through parents (siblings with parents do not get to pick their family, after all).
MARRIAGE LIMITATIONS
--------------------
Marriages cannot occur if there is a close family relationship between a couple (for example, brother and sister). If only one of the couple has a family name, marriage will bring the spouse into that family. If both couples have family names, the person who proposes will be the primary spouse and the secondary spouse will take their partner's family name. If the couple divorces, the spouse will return to their birth family name. Couples may be of any race or any gender combination.
FOUNDING A FAMILY
-----------------
You and your spouse or bloodbonded sibling may FOUND FAMILY <name> at the Hall of Records for a fee of 25,000 gold. Only a couple with a family name may find their children. Your children will take on your family name. You can use the CONFIG FULLNAME command to always show your family name.
***REMEMBER TO CAPITALISE YOUR FAMILY NAME WHEN FOUNDING A FAMILY***
OTHER SYNTAXES
--------------
FAMILY STATUS will show the status of your close family.
FAMILY RELATION <person> will show your relationship with another, if it exists, up to such distant relations as a second cousin or great aunt or uncle.
FAMILY RELATION <person1> <person2> will show the relationship between the two people.
FAMILY TREE <family|person> will show the family tree by generation for families or the family status of another.
FAMILY REJECT FAMILY will stop you from being actively associated with your birth family. You might wish to do this for a number of reasons: perhaps you no longer wish to be associated with your family, or you might wish to marry and start a new family of your own. It will not remove you from the family tree in question - you will simply be marked as inactive. Once you have found your birth parents or bloodbonded with a sibling, the pure fact of that cannot be changed. You can reject your family, and refuse to recognise your sibling or your parents, but this does not change your blood relation to them. After all, the Fates would never have let you bloodbond in the first place if you weren't related.
FAMILY ACKNOWLEDGE <family> will return you to a family. It costs 10,000 gold to acknowledge a family and you must do so at the Hall of Records. Note that if your spouse is active in a family, you may not acknowledge a family that is different from his or her active family, and that if your spouse is not active in a family, acknowledging a family will also bring your spouse into that family (and require their presence during the acknowledging). In other words, it isn't possible for you and your spouse to be in different families. If you are currently recognised as active in a family, you must first reject your ties to that one before you can acknowledge another.
GROWING YOUR FAMILY
-------------------
If a family grows to 7 or more active members, then that family will be considered a "Bannerhouse" or Lesser House, which confers upon them a news section and family aetherwave. Lesser Houses may also elect a family head and gain limited honour. The most notable feature of Lesser Houses are that they may pledge to other Lesser Houses or Great Houses, and 1/4th of their active family members will count towards the total of their pledge House for determining whether that family is a Great House or not.
If a family grows to over 30 active members (that is, 30 people can use their family name), then that family will be considered a "Great House". Great Houses are able to keep a family bank account, and participate in the family honour system. If a family drops below 30 active members, it will lose its status of a Great House and the privileges associated with it. Great Houses compete against one another for honour and esteem, vying to become the most influential House in the Basin of Life.
HELP FAMILY HONOUR details this aspect of the family system in more detail.
HISTORICAL FAMILY APPLICATIONS
------------------------------
Established family names that exist in the histories or that can be found in areas can be used for player family names. However, historical family names will only be given to EXISTING families upon application. The families must have Banner House status to apply and one not gained through bonuses but actual numbers. If the application is approved, then the existing family name is changed to the historical name. RP-wise, the old family has "discovered" their roots. Before the application is approved, the family should not outwardly claim the name and associated benefits, if any, of that standing. The application must include why you want the family name, how it will be roleplayed, and a brief history that provides the foundation for taking the name. Please ensure that your history contains both a more meta-level, matter of fact account of this history in addition to any IC documents. The application should be submitted to the relevant organisational pantheon by emailing <orgname>@lusternia.com (e.g. celest@lusternia.com).
