Fleet Hierarchy, Morrigi
From SOTS
Morrigi fleets are tribal meritocracies based on ability and achieved status. The "Qu'aan" of any given gathering of Morrigi is established by right of his accomplishments, not least in leading fleet actions. "Qu'aan" is an all-purpose term based on the Morrigi verb "aaneia", "to lead".
Ranks other than qu'aan are not necessary among the Ascended; in any given group there is a qu'aan and then there are those who listen and follow. The only major rank differentiation that can be gleaned from their language is a prefix which distinguishes the Morru Qu'aan from other qu'aanigi--the Morru Qu'aan leads all the people, at all times, whereas a "zo'qu'aan" leads the people who are present at the time, provisionally, because he is the worthiest among them. Roughly translated, "zo'qu'aan" might be taken as "king-for-a-day", as the prefix "zo" indicates the present time, like the English word "now".
Hierarchy is so inherently understood within Morrigi ascendants that any time there is more than one Morrigi male in a given locality, it is understood where the two of them stand in the scheme of things--for example, if there were three Morrigi in a group, it would be automatically understood which was the present leader and who, if the present leader was to be killed, would replace him as the responsible party. There is not any specific word for "rank" among the Morrigi; the closest they can come to this concept as applied to their own people is "aanigi'dha", "worthiness-to-lead-people".
Rather than a multitude of ranks, the Morrigi have many terms for accomplishment, with any given male able to acquire and accumulate these accomplishments over the course of a lifetime. Those males who are most accomplished tend to be those closest to the qu'aan, if not directly in line to lead themselves, and they represent a pool of knowledge and ideas which the qu'aan will freely access when he so desires.
While the natural Morrigi lifespan varies from 200-400 years, the rule of one tribal group over others can last considerably longer, so long as all Morrigi involved feel their interests are best served by the arrangement. Qu'aanigi of any individual tribe come and go. It is understood and accepted that the qu'aan of any tribe is the greatest among them, and the one who has the greatest "aanigi'dha". There may be a direct genetic relationship between one passing qu'aan and his successor, i.e. father to son--but more often the relationship is indirect, and the former qu'aan would be genetically a grandfather or an uncle at best, if the two are directly related at all.
