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I have a player in my campaign who's playing the son of a noble in hiding. His name is Aiden Farwatcher, but the last name has clearly been changed from the original to protect him and his parents from their enemies. It's getting to the point in the campaign where I'd like to involve that subplot. There's one small problem, however... I can't come up with a last name for their noble family.
I'm looking for something that sounds good following the name 'Aiden'. It has to be something 'cool', since I'm springing this on the player without any consultation. Normally I'd have him choose it, but I intend to have other characters use the name beforehand without him knowing who they're talking about.
I may also be using the family name to name their home town. If you can come up with a name that would work well for a noble family and a town, that's a huge bonus. The town is a mid-size town on a lake who receives ore from the dwarves and sends it downriver.
__________________ 4th Ed Chars Fallen:
Spoiler:
Gavin Ward - Male Human Warlord 1 - The party started a bar fight. The fellow who escaped brought his bandit buddies back and they killed Gavin (and nearly three other party members). He bled out while lying on the floor.
4th Ed Kills:
Spoiler:
Cornell Butterworth - Male Human Wizard 1 - Knocked unconscious by a kobold dragonshield the fighter ignored, then done in by the kobold wyrmpriest's acid breath.
Lithia - Female Elven Ranger 11 - Contracted mummy rot, which eventually did her in.
Brendan Stetlan - Male Human Fighter 4 - Knocked unconscious in combat, then thrown to the wolves.
Vindicator Mindartis Valenae - Eladrin Paladin 5 - Dropped by a githzerai monk (L6 elite), and killed when the rogue threw him off the balcony to try and get his body to safety.
Vongar - Male Dwarf Paladin 1 - Fell in battle after defeating Irontooth, but not his bodyguard.
Straef - Male Elf Ranger 1 - Fell in battle to Irontooth's Wyrmpriest.
Well noble names in real world often follow the same pattern with linguistic differencies. They usually consist of "Of" and a name of place or some form of distinguisher. Example Joan of Arc, or Jeanne D'Arc as it's in french. Jeanne from Arc (though this whole name is actually a misstranslation). Or "von" in germany.
The use of these can make it sound noble. To distinguish it as fantasy name it could incorporate fantastic elements.
For example, a german sounding noble name could be "von Trollhofen" which means "from Trollcourt" approximately.
Then making a french sounding noble name "d'Argent". Using the d' from french and adding Argent which means silver in latin . This could, with little imagination be translated as Silvery or some such .
If you give more specific what you'd like from the name I could come up with more.
For example, a german sounding noble name could be "von Trollhofen" which means "from Trollcourt" approximately.
We have a 'Brandon Von Redding' PC in our other game (run by the player in question, actually), so 'von' would certainly be appropriate. Any other prefix would work quite well.
More specifically, I'm looking for a name that sounds glorious and powerful, old and regal, lordly and sage. I'm looking for a name that my player will take to when he discovers that it is his birthright.
__________________ 4th Ed Chars Fallen:
Spoiler:
Gavin Ward - Male Human Warlord 1 - The party started a bar fight. The fellow who escaped brought his bandit buddies back and they killed Gavin (and nearly three other party members). He bled out while lying on the floor.
4th Ed Kills:
Spoiler:
Cornell Butterworth - Male Human Wizard 1 - Knocked unconscious by a kobold dragonshield the fighter ignored, then done in by the kobold wyrmpriest's acid breath.
Lithia - Female Elven Ranger 11 - Contracted mummy rot, which eventually did her in.
Brendan Stetlan - Male Human Fighter 4 - Knocked unconscious in combat, then thrown to the wolves.
Vindicator Mindartis Valenae - Eladrin Paladin 5 - Dropped by a githzerai monk (L6 elite), and killed when the rogue threw him off the balcony to try and get his body to safety.
Vongar - Male Dwarf Paladin 1 - Fell in battle after defeating Irontooth, but not his bodyguard.
Straef - Male Elf Ranger 1 - Fell in battle to Irontooth's Wyrmpriest.
We have a 'Brandon Von Redding' PC in our other game (run by the player in question, actually), so 'von' would certainly be appropriate. Any other prefix would work quite well.
More specifically, I'm looking for a name that sounds glorious and powerful, old and regal, lordly and sage. I'm looking for a name that my player will take to when he discovers that it is his birthright.
Is there any particular meaning you'd like for the name. I could just germanise it . And for a glorious german noble name, one could also add another prefix. Using that previous example to show what I mean. It could become von Trollhofen zur Teufelwald. Which roughly translates as "From Trollcourt in the Devil's Forest".
A former member of our group had a Torg character from Horrorsh, a vampire and ghost hunter called "Van Wirsing".
A name from the German Sesame Street was "von Bödefeld".
I think "van" is the Dutch version of the German "von" or the irish (?) "o' ".
"von und zu" is also used in German.
If you go with Blackrats suggestion:
Maybe "Farwatcher" gives some hint to his noble title?
Maybe he is actually an "Aiden von Fernschau"? Or "Aiden de Loinvue"?
Thoughts of the Arch Chancellor - My weblog on EN World - containing game related material, like: house rules, design theories, reviews, play reports, adventure ideas
Secret Member of <Think we would just hide our secret with a spoiler tag, eh?>
Good suggestions, guys, but I think I'll take a step back from the overly german stuff. I do like the idea of making it a three part name, perhaps with Van in there (since the noble with Von is from the opposite side of the continent). Aiden Van... something. Or maybe Aiden Val something.
__________________ 4th Ed Chars Fallen:
Spoiler:
Gavin Ward - Male Human Warlord 1 - The party started a bar fight. The fellow who escaped brought his bandit buddies back and they killed Gavin (and nearly three other party members). He bled out while lying on the floor.
4th Ed Kills:
Spoiler:
Cornell Butterworth - Male Human Wizard 1 - Knocked unconscious by a kobold dragonshield the fighter ignored, then done in by the kobold wyrmpriest's acid breath.
Lithia - Female Elven Ranger 11 - Contracted mummy rot, which eventually did her in.
Brendan Stetlan - Male Human Fighter 4 - Knocked unconscious in combat, then thrown to the wolves.
Vindicator Mindartis Valenae - Eladrin Paladin 5 - Dropped by a githzerai monk (L6 elite), and killed when the rogue threw him off the balcony to try and get his body to safety.
Vongar - Male Dwarf Paladin 1 - Fell in battle after defeating Irontooth, but not his bodyguard.
Straef - Male Elf Ranger 1 - Fell in battle to Irontooth's Wyrmpriest.
Good suggestions, guys, but I think I'll take a step back from the overly german stuff. I do like the idea of making it a three part name, perhaps with Van in there (since the noble with Von is from the opposite side of the continent). Aiden Van... something. Or maybe Aiden Val something.
Well, you could use another nations aristocracy. Hungary has a fascinating mix of Germanic, Italian, Magyar and other names such as:
CLERICI
VER COPONS
CSÁKY-PALLAVICINI
HAMILTON
ESPAGNOL
METTERNICH-SÁNDOR
Then there's Polish, Danish, Spanish or Italian aristocrats. And if they sound right there's plenty more from round the world.
Good suggestions, guys, but I think I'll take a step back from the overly german stuff. I do like the idea of making it a three part name, perhaps with Van in there (since the noble with Von is from the opposite side of the continent). Aiden Van... something. Or maybe Aiden Val something.
Aiden Van Shining Tower.
A reference to the light house of the families town, that was build by the "founding member" of the Shining Tower family. It is no longer in use after the land has been expanded with dikes (like at the northern German and Dutch coast-lines), and the tower is no longer at the coast, but instead in the center of a small town, with a canal or river leading through.
Thoughts of the Arch Chancellor - My weblog on EN World - containing game related material, like: house rules, design theories, reviews, play reports, adventure ideas
Secret Member of <Think we would just hide our secret with a spoiler tag, eh?>
Last edited by Mustrum_Ridcully; 1st September 2008 at 04:54 PM..
Aiden d'Argenteuil (~dar-jan-toy)
Aiden de Bellevue (~bell-view)
Aiden de Châteaubriand (~shaw-tow-bree-unh)
Aiden de Dompierre (~don (as in don't without the t)-pee-air)
AR
__________________
maturity consists in having rediscovered the seriousness one had as a child at play - Nietszche Ask any man what they’d do in the event of a zombie plague and their face will light up. They’ll go on and on about how they’d drive around in their pickup truck lopping off zombies’ heads with a samurai sword. - Jedidiah "Jed" Kirchner, Something Awful
I was fond of the Realms noble family name Bellabrante. It sounded like the nice version of Malebranche, either of which would work as a last name or a town name.
If the Dwarven connection is played up, the town could be named Stormhammer or Brightflame or Darkforge or something.
Flemish speakers use Van Der (of the) as a prefix which is a little less germanic
I used to work with a Lucas Van Der Schalk (lit. of the chalk) which i've always wanted to use in a game....
Or maybe turn it around, if the family name is Crane (for example), the city could be Cranton, or Cranham, or Cranville, etc
in this case the name is only lordly when you consider the town. might make for a delayed joke as the PC originally thinks it means his from the town, rather than a member of the founding family!
__________________ I GM Rose Empire - Thousand Candles - 18 years old House D&D setting, 5th campaign Pathfinder Beta Playtest - Pirates!, Arr I play Ryci, a Shifter Ranger in an Eberron Campaign run by Deadman Fylo Gamblebush, a Halfling Conjurer in Cauldron Gord aka The Golden Fox, an Aasimar rogue cleric in 'the ring organisation', a homebrew run by ArchonBlue
FWIW i've tried 4e, and think its a slick combat system. However its not the right flavour for me.
del'Cerga (del'Sairgah) sound any good? That is what I came up with off of the top of my head...
__________________ -Kaodi
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
-Iago, Shakespeare's Othello, Act III. Scene III. Lines 180-186.
There are some great ideas in this thread. It seems many posters have done a lot of research into noble names of the European tradition, all of which has given me a number of good ideas. For Aiden, I'm currently leaning towards Aiden Van Tallow, but I'm still trying to come up with something a little more magnificent. Something similar to "Von Redding"...
I like your suggestion, Kaodi, but not for Aiden. I'm going to be adapting that name for the family that ousted my PC's family... they'll be the Del'Sere family (del'sarah).
Set, I'm definitely considering 'Stormhammer' too... Lord Stormhammer has such a ring to it.
__________________ 4th Ed Chars Fallen:
Spoiler:
Gavin Ward - Male Human Warlord 1 - The party started a bar fight. The fellow who escaped brought his bandit buddies back and they killed Gavin (and nearly three other party members). He bled out while lying on the floor.
4th Ed Kills:
Spoiler:
Cornell Butterworth - Male Human Wizard 1 - Knocked unconscious by a kobold dragonshield the fighter ignored, then done in by the kobold wyrmpriest's acid breath.
Lithia - Female Elven Ranger 11 - Contracted mummy rot, which eventually did her in.
Brendan Stetlan - Male Human Fighter 4 - Knocked unconscious in combat, then thrown to the wolves.
Vindicator Mindartis Valenae - Eladrin Paladin 5 - Dropped by a githzerai monk (L6 elite), and killed when the rogue threw him off the balcony to try and get his body to safety.
Vongar - Male Dwarf Paladin 1 - Fell in battle after defeating Irontooth, but not his bodyguard.
Straef - Male Elf Ranger 1 - Fell in battle to Irontooth's Wyrmpriest.
I have a player in my campaign who's playing the son of a noble in hiding. His name is Aiden Farwatcher, but the last name has clearly been changed from the original to protect him and his parents from their enemies. It's getting to the point in the campaign where I'd like to involve that subplot. There's one small problem, however... I can't come up with a last name for their noble family.
I'm looking for something that sounds good following the name 'Aiden'. It has to be something 'cool', since I'm springing this on the player without any consultation. Normally I'd have him choose it, but I intend to have other characters use the name beforehand without him knowing who they're talking about.
I may also be using the family name to name their home town. If you can come up with a name that would work well for a noble family and a town, that's a huge bonus. The town is a mid-size town on a lake who receives ore from the dwarves and sends it downriver.
. . .
Quote:
More specifically, I'm looking for a name that sounds glorious and powerful, old and regal, lordly and sage. I'm looking for a name that my player will take to when he discovers that it is his birthright.
erk. Does "Bourbon" sound like that (glorious and powerful, old and regal, lordly and sage)? How about "Romanov"? "Tudor"? They all were ("old and regal," at least). . . .
How about:
Moresby
Bellamore
von Aachen
Tollhaus-Lautrec (as in chocolate-chip cookies)
Carillon (but probably not Carolingian)
Vigilmorte
Pergentian
or maybe "Villiers" (and may Alexei Panshin forgive me)
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. This could, with little imagination be translated as Silvery or some such 
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