CORE DEFINITION
Land and property are central sources of wealth, security, class, political authority, and conflict in Valeune.
Property may include land, homes, estates, farms, workshops, shops, ships, warehouses, mines, mills, tools, animals, business shares, water rights, fishing rights, roads, and legal claims.
Ownership creates rights.
It also creates duties, taxes, maintenance, labor relationships, and liability.
LAND OWNERSHIP
Land may belong to:
The Crown.
Regional rulers.
Dynastic houses.
Gentry families.
Merchants.
Temples.
Factions.
Cities.
Villages.
Private households.
Communal institutions.
Ownership may be individual, household, institutional, customary, or shared.
Do not assume every parcel belongs to a noble.
Do not assume unused land has no owner or customary user.
CROWN LAND
Crown land is held by the monarchy or royal institution.
It may include:
Royal residences.
Forests.
Strategic roads.
Mines.
Military land.
Administrative buildings.
Ceremonial sites.
Income-producing estates.
The sovereign administers Crown property but may not personally own every royal asset.
Some property belongs to the office and cannot be sold as private belongings.
REGIONAL AND CIVIC LAND
Regional governments and cities may own roads, walls, markets, ports, waterworks, public buildings, commons, and relief property.
Public ownership does not guarantee equal public access.
Officials may lease property, grant concessions, or restrict use.
Selling major civic property requires lawful authority and may provoke public opposition.
ESTATES
An estate combines land, buildings, income, tenants, workers, resource rights, and household authority.
Estates may produce grain, livestock, timber, wine, minerals, fish, rent, or tolls.
An estate does not operate itself.
It depends on managers, tenants, servants, Laborers, Artisans, records, roads, and markets.
A grand estate may be heavily indebted.
FARMS
A farm may be:
Owner-operated.
Tenant-operated.
Sharecropped.
Communal.
Estate-controlled.
Temple-controlled.
Merchant-owned.
Farm ownership affects who receives profit, pays tax, bears risk, and controls improvements.
A tenant may invest years of labor without gaining ownership.
BUSINESS PROPERTY
Business property includes:
Shops.
Workshops.
Warehouses.
Inns.
Manufactories.
Ships.
Docks.
Mills.
Offices.
Tools.
Inventory.
Ownership of a building is separate from ownership of the business operating inside it.
A Shopkeeper may rent a shop.
An Artisan may own tools but not the workshop.
A Merchant may own the warehouse while another company owns the goods inside.
HOUSEHOLD PROPERTY
Household property may be jointly owned, individually owned, inherited, held in trust, or controlled by a household head.
Marriage does not automatically merge all property.
Marriage settlements may define:
Separate property.
Shared property.
Inheritance.
Debt responsibility.
Residence.
Business ownership.
Gifts.
A spouse may control property independent of their partner.
PERSONAL PROPERTY
Personal property includes clothing, tools, jewelry, books, furniture, weapons, wages, gifts, and ordinary possessions.
Servants, prisoners, bonded workers, children, and spouses do not automatically lose all personal property.
An employer may provide uniforms or tools without owning every object the worker carries.
LAND TITLES
A land title records ownership or recognized right.
Titles may be stored in courts, archives, households, regional offices, or faction records.
A physical document supports the claim but is not always the entirety of ownership.
Witnesses, tax records, long possession, inheritance, and customary use may also matter.
A forged title can create years of conflict.
BOUNDARIES
Property boundaries may follow:
Roads.
Rivers.
Walls.
Hedgerows.
Survey markers.
Ridges.
Trees.
Canals.
Written measurements.
Natural boundaries change.
Rivers shift.
Markers are moved.
Maps contain errors.
Boundary disputes are common and need not conceal ancient magical secrets.
TENANCY
Tenancy allows a person or household to occupy and use property owned by another.
A tenancy agreement may define:
Rent.
Duration.
Repairs.
Crops.
Animals.
Subletting.
Inheritance.
Termination.
Access rights.
A tenant possesses lawful use without ownership.
A landlord may not have unrestricted access to private household space unless the agreement and law permit it.
RENT
Rent may be paid in:
Coin.
Produce.
Labor.
Services.
A share of profit.
A combination.
Rent can rise through lawful review or exploitation.
A failed harvest may make payment impossible.
Eviction for unpaid rent may be lawful while creating severe humanitarian harm.
SHARECROPPING
A Sharecropper provides labor in exchange for part of the harvest.
Disputes often involve measurement, expenses, seed, storage, transport, and spoilage.
The landowner may control the scales and records.
@The Common Scale may become relevant where fair measure or market access is disputed.
COMMON LAND
Communities may possess customary rights to:
Pasture.
Forest.
Water.
Fishing.
Reeds.
Fuel.
Seasonal fields.
Roads.
Common rights may exist without individual ownership.
Enclosing or selling commons can impoverish many families while appearing lawful on paper.
Customary use should be treated as a real interest.
WATER RIGHTS
Water rights determine access to wells, rivers, canals, springs, wetlands, and irrigation.
Water may be public, private, communal, or regulated.
Diverting water can enrich one estate and destroy another community.
Ownership of land beside a river does not always grant control of the entire flow.
Wetland and western regions may possess especially complex water customs.
RESOURCE RIGHTS
Ownership of surface land may be separate from rights to:
Minerals.
Timber.
Hunting.
Fishing.
Grazing.
Salt.
Stone.
Road tolls.
A noble may own the estate while a village possesses customary grazing rights.
A merchant may lease a mine while the Crown retains mineral rights.
Conflicting rights create legal disputes.
TAXATION
Taxes fund:
Government.
Courts.
Roads.
Military defense.
Guards.
Ports.
Public works.
Archives.
Emergency relief.
Royal ceremony.
Taxes may be collected by the Crown, region, city, estate, or authorized institution.
Several authorities may tax the same household in different ways.
LAND TAX
Land tax may depend on size, productivity, title, use, or estimated value.
A fertile estate may owe more than a rocky holding.
Corrupt assessors may favor powerful owners.
Poor records may preserve outdated assessments.
Tax does not automatically adjust after disaster.
TRADE AND MARKET TAXES
Goods may be taxed at:
City gates.
Ports.
Bridges.
Markets.
Regional borders.
Warehouses.
Taxes increase prices and encourage smuggling.
A merchant may support public roads while opposing the toll funding them.
TOLLS
Tolls charge for use of roads, bridges, ferries, ports, passes, or protected routes.
Tolls may fund maintenance or enrich private holders.
Repeated tolls can make trade unprofitable.
Illegal tolls imposed by bandits or corrupt officials imitate lawful authority.
HOUSEHOLD TAXES
Households may owe taxes based on residence, hearths, workers, business, production, or legal status.
Tax burden affects classes unequally.
A fixed tax may be trivial to a noble and ruinous to a laboring family.
TAX COLLECTION
Taxes may be collected by officials, contractors, estate agents, factions, or local authorities.
Collection creates opportunities for:
Fraud.
Bribery.
Violence.
False totals.
Seizure.
Favoritism.
A collector may be blamed for policies set by distant rulers.
TAX DEBT
Unpaid taxes may lead to:
Penalty.
Property seizure.
Loss of license.
Debt.
Forced sale.
Imprisonment.
Loss of tenancy.
Tax debt can push households into dispossession.
Officials may grant delay after disaster or refuse relief for political reasons.
INHERITANCE
Inheritance transfers property, title, debt, tools, business, rights, and obligations after death.
Inheritance law varies by class, region, property type, marriage settlement, adoption, and testament.
Do not assume the eldest son always inherits.
Do not assume property divides equally.
Exact wills and legal customs determine the result.
WILLS
A will states the deceased person’s intended distribution of property.
A valid will may require witnesses, a Scribe, seal, legal capacity, and proper storage.
A later will may replace an earlier one.
Wills can be forged, destroyed, hidden, or challenged.
A surprising will should arise from character relationships rather than random plot convenience.
INTESTACY
Intestacy occurs when a person dies without a valid will.
Law determines inheritance through spouse, children, adopted children, parents, siblings, household, creditors, Crown, or another recognized order.
When the exact order is unknown, do not invent it casually.
ADOPTED CHILDREN
Adopted children may inherit when adoption law or the will recognizes them.
Adoption creates real family.
Biological relatives do not automatically outrank adopted children unless exact law says so.
Any discriminatory law should be portrayed as a legal rule, not proof that adoptive kinship is lesser.
CHILDREN AND SURNAMES
Children connected to a main character retain the main character’s surname unless explicit canon states otherwise.
Race inheritance does not determine surname or inheritance automatically.
A child inheriting the other parent’s @RACE may still inherit Kannorten, estate, workshop, or household property according to law.
DEBT AND INHERITANCE
An estate may contain debt.
Heirs may inherit property subject to mortgages, taxes, contracts, or obligations.
Law may limit whether personal debt passes to heirs.
Creditors may claim assets before distribution.
Inheritance can make a character responsible for a failing business or damaged estate rather than instantly wealthy.