Coats of Arms

Heraldry, of which a coat of arms is a part, has a very deep, rich history associated with it. If you've studied heraldry at all, you may be somewhat confused by the colors and symbols I've chosen below (what's up with the Kingdom of Mejasta?).

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, colors and symbols chosen for a coat of arms represent various characteristics of the person, family, or organization the coat of arms represents. For instance, the color (or "tincture") blue (aka "azure") is associated with truth and loyalty; that works out well for the Kingdoms of Mareten and the Elves, the Church, and the Wall Guards; however, green (aka "vert") means "Hope, joy, and loyalty in love," which sounds great, but doesn't belong with the Assassin's Guild. Or any of the Zaharan cities, for that matter. Symbols matter, too; crossed keys (such as on the Thieves' Guild arms) is the symbol of St. Peter, and represent the keys to the gates of heaven. The lion, like on the Kingdom of Mareten's coat of arms, means courage, which works well enough. The sythe on the Assassin's Guild coat of arms usually means hope, as in hope of a good harvest; again, not particularly fitting. Then again, not all heraldry was entirely truthful; when it came down to it, I'm sure a great number of coats of arms had little to do with the actions of their bearer...

However, for your enlightenment and my pleasure, I've added a key at the bottom of this page, to explain the meanings of the various colors and images. Please note that these are not the historical meanings from our world, but from the world of Mor-Thir.

From kingdom to peasant family, every organization has a crest. Here are a few that I've come up with:

Kingdom of Mareten	Kingdom of Mejasta	Kingdom of the Elves
Mage College	Assassin's Guild	Thieves's Guild
Church of Mareten	Bladedancers
Wall Guards	Mountain Watch
Mountain Dwarves	Hill Dwarves	Deep Dwarves
Cehennem Limani	Kanca Sehir	Korcu Baskenti
Winter Court	Summer Court

Color meanings:

Warrior	Truthful	Majestic	Unblemished/Spotless
Stealthy/Hidden	Self-Sufficient	Just	Steadfast

Image meanings:

Axe		Strength/Military
Castle		Defender/Fortitude
Cock		Courageous/Heroic
Crescent		Honored
Crossed Keys		Access
Hammer		Honor
Hands (prayerful)		Devout
Horn		Battle-Ready
Horse		Fast/Readied
Hourglass		Mortality
Lion		Courageous/Royal
Lightning		Quickness/Power (also a symbol of Thor)
Lock		Mystery/Security
Portal		Magic
Scythe		Harvester/Reaper
Serpent		Wisdom/Craftiness (also a symbol of various chaotic deities)
Snowflake		Winter/Perfection
Star (Estoile)		Nobility/Excellence
Sword/Swords		Strength/Military
Tower		Defender/Fortitude
Tree		Strength/Age