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FASA Games, Inc. • Al-Malik Names
Page 1 of 1

Al-Malik Names

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:16 am
by Leviathan of Maddoc
So I have to admit I struggle with Middle Eastern culture. As a resident of one of the Western Devil countries it tend to struggle getting to know folks from the Middle East and it's culture and anthropology aren't simple to understand from my position. Most of the names I know are from Disney movies or worse. So what names do you use? Male or Female. Not simply nobles but common characters from Al-Malik worlds as well.

Re: Al-Malik Names

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:44 am
by Bertjammin
When GMing I take a leaf out of Stan Lee's book - he used to make characters names alliterative so he'd remember them - I use a similar mnemonic in that I name NPCs (and PCs I create) after historic or fictional characters. It's also a clue to astute players as they might get a note of foreshadowing if they pick up on the references.
So how does that apply to Al-Malik? Well I use Google (or more often than not Wikipedia) and find arab/middle eastern/Persian historic or legendary characters who fit the role or personality of the character I'm naming and slap Al-Malik at the end....It's not big or clever but it's worked so far, helps me to recall them in play, sounds relatively convincing and while the name may not be perfect, language changes and so any differences or errors are just the development in names in the intervening 3000 years.

Re: Al-Malik Names

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:48 am
by Angelman
I agree that House al-Malik is hard to grasp for Westeners. My go to inspirations for all things al-Malik is the Persian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Iranian Shah-dom/Shah-nate (or whatever one calls that) up to the revolution of 1979. Like Bertjammin, I often just wikipedia up some names, although I always take the trouble to check etymologies and backgrounds for names to give them a poetic relevance or just coolness to tha character. (This is something that my players will never put together, but I like to do that for myself). In FSR I introduced place name prepositions for al-Malik characters, typically expressed as the name of the planet the come from + the -iyy/iyyah suffix (male/female), which means "from" or "of". To complicate the matter, the Planet names+suffix indicates not so much which planet a character comes from, as which branch of the al-Malik s/he belongs to. This is discussed at length in Criticorum Discord or an out-take piece that we'll put out in some way or other.

So, the Prince of House al-Malik's full name and titles are:
Duke-of-dukes Hakim Istakhriyy al-Malik - Eagle of Istakhr, which indicates that the belongs to the ruling Istakhriyy branch of House al-Malik.
Optimally, he should also have a patronymic or matronymic middle name ("ibn/bint" + name; "son of/daughter of"), but I can't remember his parents having been named in canon yet. Still, let us imagine for a second that he took his mother's name as a middle name identifior, and his mother was named Fatima, then Hakim's full name would be:
Duke-of-dukes Hakim ibn Fatima Istakhriyy al-Malik - Eagle of Istakhr


(I might add that for House Keddah I tend to use lesser known biblical names [any Semittic name will do here]).

Re: Al-Malik Names

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:27 am
by Angelman
Here’s a preview of things to come, an overview of House al-Malik branches. (Remember that House al-Malik is a divided faction, not as badly as the Hazat, but their internal rivalries are fierce and has been so for centuries. Reading House al-Malik history with the below in mind will greatly enrich the experience :) ).

Istakhriyy = The Ruling branch, descended from Lufti ibn Munir, son of House al-Malik ancestor Munir ibn Tarif by his second wife Donya of Istakhr. The Istakhriyy branch claims the purest bloodline, as Lufti was the steward of Munir’s visions and genius.

Criticorumiyy = The most powerful opposition branch, descended from Fatima bint Munir Criticorumiyy, daughter of House al-Malik ancestor Munir ibn Tarif by his first wife, Roxana of Acheon. The Criticorumiyy branch claims the oldest bloodline and the original royal claim through the constitutional royalty awarded Munir on Criticorum. They lost the power over House al-Malik in 4827 when al-Abbasha Claudia Istakhriyyah al-Malik came out of exile and conquered Criticorum through a seven months civil war.

Shaprutiyy = This lesser branch was created through the marriage of Princess Sakuntala Ramakrishna of Shaprut and Prince Tahir Criticorumiyy al-Malik in 3502. They are loyal to the Criticorumiyy.

Ayloniyy = This branch was in turn spawned by the Shaprutiyy branch, when Rahimat Shaprutiyy al-Malik conquered Aylon in 4438, his nobles intermarrying with the Ayloniyy branch of House Keddah. They prefer neutrality in the Istakhriyy-Criticorumiyy power struggles, sometimes allying with the Kordethiyy to form a third al-Malik power-block.

Kordethiyy = Another offshoot from the Criticorumiyy branch, the Kordethiyy bloodline is heavily diluted through intermarrying with influential guilders. They prefer neutrality in the Istakhriyy-Criticorumiyy power struggles, sometimes allying with the Ayloniyy to form a third al-Malik power-block.

Shiraziyy = A marginalized branch of House al-Malik that as risen to some prominence since they evacuated their homelands on Stigmata (formerly Shariz) in 4900 and settled in Acheon. There, in the capital city of Criticorum and the heart of the Criticorumiyy branch, the Shiraziyy are dedicated allies of the ruling Istakhriyy branch of the house. Regarded as a bastard bloodline through much of the house’s history, the Shiraziyy’s claim of descent from Dalir ibn Munir Istakhriyy, ancestral Munir ibn Tarif’s second son by his second wife (i.e. Dalir was the younger brother of Lufti), is now accepted by the Istakhriyy branch.

If this all sounds complicate, take comfort in the fact that it is complicated for House al-Malik scions as well. Much in-house politics is waged between these branches, and the leadership of the house has changed between the Criticorumiyy, the Istakhriyy, and the Shaprutiyy throughout history.

Re: Al-Malik Names

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:34 am
by Angelman
Finally, it should be noted that since all branches have intermarried with every other branch through the centuries, any given al-Malik noble is likelly to have ancestors in several or all branches. The choice of which branch one identifies with can sometimes be a political maneuver, and one should perhaps think of House al-Malik branches as political parties (strongly grounded in individual planetary cultures and family traditions) rather than "bloodlines" as such.

Re: Al-Malik Names

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:45 am
by Amlost
Angleman; What about the al-Malik families of Zujan of Midian or Cadavus?

Also when looking for middle eastern concept fodder a copy of "One Thousand and One Nights" is a great reference.

Re: Al-Malik Names

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:49 am
by Angelman
I haven't considered those yet. Actually, I can't remember them just now. Are they separate branches of House al-Malik, or simply settlers from one of the 6 branches listed above?

Update: I couldn't find any information on where the Midian al-Malik came from, so I have no idea. They could belong to virtually any of the branches. As for the Cadavus al-Malik, they are said (FSR GMG p.277) to herald from the Second Republic times when "Cadavus came under the control of the Criticorum-based Bashshar Corporation". This seems to indicate that the Cadavus al-Malik belongs to the Criticorumiyy branch, although it would not be impossible that some or all of them heralded from other branches that struck deals with the then ruling Criticorumiyy branch to settle Cadavus under Bashshar Corp. rulership. In short, we do not know to which House al-Malik branches these fiefs/families belong.