New name for my "Inquisition"

[Albions_Angel]

Hi all,

So I need a new name for an organisation in my world. Elite (level 7-12 mages, level 10-15 martials) warriors who simultaneously act as body guards for the High Jarl, peacekeepers between rival Jarls, and traveling judges and arbitrators for local communities. There arnt many of them, but they are powerful, and largely benevolent, honoring truth and justice. Lots of paladins, clerics, rangers, a few wizards, duskblades, rogues (yes, rogues), fighters, marshals, etc. In my Viking/Anglosaxon/Celtic/Gaelic region.

Why do I need a new name? Because I named them the "Inquisition" because I thought we could all be adult about this. 3 years later and I am god damn sick of the jokes.

So, can anyone help? Something catchy, but preferably not tied to a meme. I toyed with Sheriffs for a while (the term has its origin as the Shire Protectors so its very fitting) but its just not right, and taking back to older pronunciation is just painful.

[Palanan]

I would suggest Jaegers, since that has the old meaning of "hunter," and seems to fit reasonably well with a Scandinavian/Anglo-Saxon culture.

[Deadline]

You could try "Margraves". Palanan has a good suggestion with Jaegers as well.

You could also just go with Arbiters.

[Maat Mons]

Well, I just tried to find a historical Scandinavian term for "arbiter," but that was a bust.

I mean, I found a term, but it was "Thing." With the highest authority of the land being "the Althing." That isn't going to lessen the jokes.

[Albions_Angel]

I like Jaeger. That makes a lot of sense. Especially as thats actually how they started, a cross-county bounty hunting force. Now I just need to refrain from calling the leader the Jaegermeister...

Margraves is cool, and even though it doesnt fit the naming conventions, honestly, I am the only one that ever seems to care that my world meshes and makes sense down to the last hamlet.

Yeah, I encountered "thing" when looking at what to call the meetings of all my Jarls. I went with Moot in the end. Thats the problem with using Norse and Old English roots for things. Half the words are recognizable or just the modern word. Mixing in the Irish Gaelic helps a bit, but then I struggle to pronounce my own words. Id love to mix in welsh, but it really, really doesnt mesh well with the other languages. Hasnt stopped me ripping a whole bunch of myths though ;)

[Grim Reader]

Einherjar.

[Duke of Urrel]

This link (http://www.bosworthtoller.com/finder/3/officer) gives a list of some Anglo-Saxon words that mean something like "officer."

[Grim Reader]

Birkebeiner. Varangian. Hird or Hirdmann. Skutelsvein. Tegn.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Albions_Angel
I like Jaeger.

Thanks. I've always liked the lean, predatory sound of it.


Originally Posted by Albions_Angel
Id love to mix in welsh, but it really, really doesnt mesh well with the other languages. Hasnt stopped me ripping a whole bunch of myths though ;)

Which myths in particular have you borrowed? Do you have a sourcebook that you’re drawing from? I don't know much about Welsh mythology, and I'd be glad of a good reference or two.

[ShurikVch]

It may be a bit too southern, but how about the Lictors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lictor)? Or, maybe, Praetorians (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praetorian_Guard)?

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Albions_Angel
Elite warriors who simultaneously act as body guards for the High Jarl, peacekeepers between rival Jarls, and traveling judges and arbitrators for local communities. There arnt many of them, but they are powerful, and largely benevolent, honoring truth and justice.

I have to say, my very first thought was “Jedi.” :smalltongue:

[hamishspence]

I have to say, my very first thought was “Jedi.” :smalltongue:

I thought of "Heralds of Valdemar". But there's quite a few variants of the trope in fiction.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CircuitJudge

[Albions_Angel]

Which myths in particular have you borrowed? Do you have a sourcebook that you’re drawing from? I don't know much about Welsh mythology, and I'd be glad of a good reference or two.

Lots and varied. Some half remembered, some from books. First stop is to grab yourself a translation of the Mabinogion, which is the oldest collection of prose stories from the UK, written in Welsh in the late 1300s/early 1400s. They are pretty much the earliest prose stories of Arthurian legend, and a few other stories. My Dads family is Welsh/Irish, and while the Irish connection isnt really there, the Welsh one was always strong. My dads parents retired to North Wales so I used to holiday in the wild mountains of Snowdonia. Up there, you get classic tales like "Gelert's Grave" (which I think near enough every culture has).

As for myself, I grew up in the West Country (Wiltshire, Somerset, not quite Devon and Cornwall which are the "South West"). I was 12 minutes from Stonehenge and the Avebury Stones, in a landscape dotted with Bronzeage Barrows. The UK as a whole, but the West Country and South Wales boast a very unusual set of folklore myths. Many countries have spectral wolves and wild hunts. But we are nearly unique in the shear ubiquituousness of our spectral Black Dogs. Church Grims that gave JK Rowling the idea for Harry Potter 3, stories that inspired the Hound of the Baskervilles (though thats Devon, not Somerset), other beings, both benign and malevolent. Mix with stories of Druids (very Welsh, but more recently, associated with Stonehenge), faries, the fact that Wilts is known as the "Land of White Horses" due to the hill carvings (some very old), and you have a very "Celtic" mythos.

I know my Norse myths pretty well, and while not totally accurate, I have ripped a lot of "the Iron Druid Chronicles" for the Irish roots, and keep improving it. A recent infatuation with Scottish lore, and Skye folk music in particular, led me to recently add a group of islands off the coast of Jarlheim, which is the country where all this is used.

I try my hardest to stay well away from anything Norman or French or generically "knights in shining armour" as I reserve that for my "generic Grayhawk country" which I have developed, but dont run in. Its there for people who dont want to care about my homebrew setting and just want to play from the books. They can build a character "from Ivernia" and simply have them step off a boat in Jarlheim or one of my other countries.