Game news:Bastard Children

Bastard children are a thing that can happen in Atharia, though, they are not a common occurrence (they will be limited to 5 bastard children total, NPC and PC). The children are treated with the respect the of their station in life, depending on what it is. It is the parents that are scorned for their actions. A child is not a bastard child if the parent is a spouse, Consort (+news consorts), or Supporter (+news supporters). Assuring unwanted pregnancy does not happen is flawless, everyone learns how to prevent it (+news sexuality) almost before they can walk so to have a bastard child is a choice that the parents made. They are the failures, not the child; who was not given a choice.

A bastard child is easily accepted by the family that takes them in, usually it is one of the parents. Which parent takes them in dictates how they are treated. If a commoner and a noble have a bastard child and the noble accepts the child as theirs, the child is treated as any other noble. If it is the commoner parent that takes the child in, the child is treated as a commoner with the appropriate respect.

The scandal and disrespect placed on the parents who make the decision to have a bastard child could have quite the consequences to them. Not only do they become social pariahs they run the risk of being disowned by their family. Titled people who make this choice have a very high risk of losing their title, though, this is typically only done should the person be a 'repeat offender'. A titled person repeatedly deciding to have a bastard child is considered to be someone who lacks the ability to be a leader.