Forms of Address

Hi there.

What are some of the usual forms address in the Sirdabi Caliphate?

I'm especially interested in ways of addressing people in different registers - formal/informal, polite/casual, intimates/strangers, insulting, slang, or specialized terms, as well as any information on how these might differ among the various regions of the Caliphate.

Thanks.

The most common polite form of address throughout the caliphate would be "sayyid/sayyida", or the translated equivalents, "master/mistress" -- either version of these would be fine to use in-game. This would be polite to use with anybody, except one vastly higher up the social ladder than yourself (such as a leading court functionary or the bey himself). Sayyid/a can be used before a person's name, e.g., Sayyid Rufsahni, Sayyida umm Massinet; or by itself where it functions like saying "sir" or "ma'am".

Sometimes you might address an elder as "grandmother" or "grandfather", whether or not they're related to you. This is seen as a sign of respect, especially among people with tribal roots who tend to have a strong respect for the aged. Again, you wouldn't address someone much higher ranking than you in this way (unless you had no idea who they were, or were trying to be borderline insulting). True kin often do use kinship terms like "Brother", "Cousin", or "Aunt" when addressing one another, instead of or in addition to their names.

For the most part there aren't any strict rules or extensive systems of address already laid out; we expect such things may develop as people play. We feel like having a few terms like "sayyid/a" is nice to create a certain cultural flavor, but we don't really want to arrive at a point where people feel like they have to learn Arabic or some other real-world language in order to speak to one another in their character's native language, or to understand what other people are saying to them.

For some Avaria-specific slang and oaths, you can check out the Colorful Language page on the wiki. This obviously isn't exhaustive, but it may give you a little more flavor to work with.

Hope this helps a little!