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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6014060" data-attributes="member: 4937">Court traditions vary widely in time and place, but are generally all concerned with upholding the dignity, security and sacredness of the monarchy.  Exactly to what extent this is required depends on the social stratification of the society.  England and Rome, being to one extent or another Republics in name or fact, emphasis greater levels of familiarity and approachability than would say Egypt, India, Persia, China, or even France.  But, they are still miles away from the level of familiarity and approachability we in the modern USA are used to.   Keep in mind that in most monarchies, the person and body of the monarch are considered literally sacred and sancrosect. As far as introductions go, you are brought into the hall in an order of precedence and introduced to the court by your title.  The reverse is not true.  The court is not introduced to you.  It's up to the individual members of the court to decide if you are worth being introduced to.  Generally, there are circles and people who control social access, so if you want to be introduced to someone you have to first gain the attention of the access broker - a secretary or functionary of some sort who is already inside the circle.  That person, the courtier as you call him, then says, "My lord, may I introduce to you <the PC>.  <PC>, My lord the Swazi of X."  You do not have the right to introduce yourself - infringe upon their time - to a social/legal superior at the court.  If you want to know who you are looking at when you walk in the court, you need Knowlege (Heraldry and Nobility).  Often you'll have a retainer who serves as your social gatekeeper, and it's his job to keep track of who is who, guide you through the complex social waters, arrange introductions with the other lords courtiers, and provide protocol tips to you if your diplomacy skill isn't perhaps what it should be.   If there is some fear that you'll make a muck of it, at a royal court there is probably staff on hand who will quietly guide you through the protocols required to get in and out of the room without commiting inadvertant treason and getting yourself killed.  The protocols of the court are generally reduced in a pragmatic way when the monarch is in a less formal situation.  The fewer people that are watching, the more the monarch can relax some of his or her normal dignity - though woe be to the one that gets so relaxed he forgets who he is talking to.</blockquote>

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