College of Arms

From Wessexwiki

Question: What about the College of Heralds and the Church ? Will they still be useful after launch ? Answer: So long as Darkfall provides clan crests that can be recognized and can be used, Heralds will be important. As for the church, the church is the one entity in all of Hyperion that doesn’t have a specific in-game purpose, other than healing and that kind of thing. The church was created specifically for atmosphere, and the one duty the church has is to create that atmosphere for everyone else, to maintain Hyperion culture and to maintain that lore immersion. So long as all of its members keep that in mind of constantly being in character and supporting us through these kinds of performances that immerse us all, they will do the one thing that is more important than anybody else toward keeping that kingdom feel, beyond whatever the mechanics of the game support.

Question: In traditional heraldry, each country has its own style of doing things. Do you think, as the game evolves and arms become more common, will we be adopting a template as such or do we keep the artistic freedom we currently have ? Answer: We have some standards in place already in terms of heraldry. We’ve tried to make it not too detailed and not too esoteric, but familiar things that we do incorporate are, for example: the type of helm, for helping to identify the person’s rank. We use, for example, animal supports for secular Lords and we use the tassels for Bishops. The medals that you earn can be displayed hanging from the necks of your supporters. Also, the coronet goes on top of the helm. If you’re a baron you have a different coronet than you do if you’re a duke. So these things we pay attention to. We don’t want to go into too much detail where it becomes over the top.

The Church and the heralds are the only divisions in all Hyperion where roleplaying is mandatory. So, expect both of them to create atmosphere and immersion for us by praying aloud in public, saying masses before battles, adhering to dress codes, motivating us to pursue our racial enemies, addressing all with proper and unique forms of address, and reminding us that we are a human kingdom with old traditions.