Over the centuries, certain practices and patterns of inheritance have developed the authority of tradition, but it is still the succession council that selects a new clanhead as the heir of a deceased titleholder.
When a clanhead dies or is removed from office, a succession council of clan adults will be convened to choose a new clanhead. Most often the eldest son of the deceased is chosen, but councils have been known to ignore such traditions.
CGI's H�rnPlayer (4201)
Negotiations are underway for the bethrothal of Scina, the heir apparent of the Dariunes, to Cheselyne (the younger) of clan Elendsa who has a strong claim to the throne. Its basis is that if the succession is passed to the oldest offspring, a common method, she and her mother have the best claim traced through Miginath's dead elder brother Haldan. The mother was passed over once in favour of Miginath...
CGI's Kaldor Module (5006)
As Martis [Baron Afaelin of Aereben] has no son, his heir is likely to be Winnisea, the eldest of his five daughters.
CGI's 1st edition Chybisa Module (5007)
(note: text of the 2nd edition differs.)
The uncertainty of any succession council's ultimate decision offers the GM plenty of opportunities for developing plots that deal with lines-of-succession to a title. As a start point, though, it is wise to have an understanding of what will pass for standard practices and traditions in your version of H�rn. Here are mine.
Direct Line: If one cannot draw a direct line from one's self back to an ancestor that held the title, one is not in the line of succession. Titles are inherited from one's parent or grand-parent, sometimes several generations removed, but never from one's sibling, uncle or cousin; nor does one become eligible to inherit a title by marriage. In the illustration below, for example, Person Z2 can trace a direct line of succession from a holder of the title and, therefore, is eligible to inherit the title in the absence of another heir with a stronger claim. But Person B, noble member of the same clan, cannot trace a direct line to an ancestor that held the title. Even if there are no other heirs, Person B has no claim to the title once held by his brother, Person C. Generally, the potential heir with the most direct line to the most recent holder of the title has the strongest claim as heir to the title.
First Born First, Then the Heirs of His Body: Preference is given to the eldest son and, even if he should pre-decease the titleholder, his children will take precedence over his siblings. In the illustration below, for example, in the event Person I dies before Person G, Persons M and N take precedence over Person J. And, in this case, Person M takes precedence over Person N because he is the elder.
Male Heirs Take Precedence: This is less an issue of gender bias than it is one of seeking to keep the title within a family line. Though they are still members of the clan, a titled woman's children are born into their father's family line, not hers. As a result, the heirs with strongest claims to her title (under the principle of "first born first") will not be members of her family, but will be members of another, usually lesser, family branch within the clan. To avoid this, clan succession councils are generally reluctant to grant the succession to a woman if there are any eligible male heirs of the clan in the titled family's line of succession.
Co-Parcener: While precedence among sons is to the eldest, precedence among daughters is not based on age and, prior to the death of a titleholder, all daughters are co-equal in their status as heirs-apparent. If a titleholder dies with only daughters as his heirs, the succession council chooses one from among them to inherit the title without regard for the order of their birth. While there are a number of factors to consider, clan relationships through marital ties and the personalities and abilities of the daughters have the most bearing on the decision.
Nobility: Succession councils tend to select noble heirs in preference to common-born heirs, even if tradition gives precedence of position (by birth-order or directness of line-of-succession) to the common-born heir. This practice makes most potential heirs keen to secure nobility for themselves and their offspring, either through knighthood or marriage.
Legitimacy: Unless adopted during the titleholder's lifetime, illegitimate children are not recognized as heirs under Chybisan succession laws.
Will of the Deceased: In his lifetime, a titleholder may designate an heir-apparent. This often takes the form of adoption and is typically used to name an illegitimate child as an heir, or to give precedence to a younger though more capable child of the deceased. The succession council is not obligated to comply with this statement of will and intent, but such designations usually are decisive.
Natural Leaders: Some people are just destined to be rulers. A claimant with exceptional charisma or a particularly strong personality will often be selected over other candidates with stronger claims to the title.
Applying these general principles to the male heirs of a typical great clan, illustrated above, the claims to the title of 4th Baron on the death of the 3rd Baron (Person G), from strongest to weakest, are:
I - M - N - J - O - P - H - K - Q - R - L - S - T - F - U - W - W1 - W2 - X - X1 - X2 - V - Y - Y1 - Y2 - Z - Z1 - Z2
In theory, being named as heir and inheriting the writ elevates the heir (and his spouse and own offspring) to nobility. Succession councils, however, will usually skip over common-born heirs in preference to noble heirs, potentially changing the order portrayed above.
As an illustration of the co-parcener system: suppose Person I pre-deceases his daughters, Person M and Person N. His daughters (grand-daughters of the 3rd Baron) would then equally share the strongest claim to the throne. Note that other kingdoms do not apply the co-parcener principle and extend the principle of "first born first" to include female heirs.
If none of these heirs is able to inherit the title, the writ reverts to the crown and the fief returns to the royal domain. The king can, if he chooses, create a new writ and bestow the title and the fief on a member of a different family (either another branch of the original clan, or a totally different and unconnected family).
You're perfectly correct. Cheselyne Hosath the Elder is Torastra's eldest grandchild by his eldest male child, Crown Prince Haldan...but she's a gurlll!
Miginath was chosen in favour of her because:
(a) Miginath was seen as weak, and likely to bow before the will of the Barons, and
(b) She's a gurlll. The barons didn't want another queen just now, thanks.If you read carefully between the lines, the barons lost a lot of power when Chelebin III (Torastra's mother) was on the throne. And while Torastra may have been a bit of a wastrel in his younger days, when he finally came to power in his own right, his mother had taught him well. So when Haldan died before his father, it left a bit of hole. In fact, I think Torastra may have decided his grand-daughter was a bit too ambitious.
Peter Leitch, writing on H�rnForum
Under Chybisan clan law, the succession council is composed of all adults who are members of the clan. Whether noble or common-born; each member has only one vote. Though guided by tradition as expressed in the general guidelines presented above, the succession council may choose any member of the clan as its head and it is not unusual for an heir with a weaker claim to the title to inherit over stronger claimants.
Succession to Chybisa's throne is governed by the same traditional practices and clan laws, with the royal succession council composed of the clan succession council and the deceased sovereign's Privy Council. Should the absence of an eligible heir cause the throne to become vacant, it is the Privy Council alone that elects a new sovereign. In this case, the Privy Council's choice is constrained only by the requirement that the new sovereign be a noble of legitimate birth. Their choice becomes the stirps for a new royal clan.