Duke Stelmane...

[Jaeleth]

Thus one puzzles me. Shouldn't she be Duchess Stelmane? Why Duke?

[Flannastri]

Maybe she had penis B, who knows.
To be fair, it could be an implication what she is not a wife of a duke, but a duke herself.

[IRMcG]

Far as I can tell, the Council of Four are all referred to as Duke regardless of gender in Forgotten Realms lore. Ask WOTC.

[ULTRA]

Juke*

[Jaeleth]

Originally posted by Flannastri:

Maybe she had penis B, who knows.
To be fair, it could be an implication what she is not a wife of a duke, but a duke herself.

Thought of that too, but irl, that I know of, if the dutchess is the heir, she has the title, and she's called dutchess... Must be another political weird stuff...

[GriffinPilgrim]

"Duke" in Baldur's Gate isn't the same as the title used in our world or, for that matter, elsewhere in the Realms. In that city it refers to one of the city's joint rulers and is a gender neutral term.
There are other differences as well; in general usage in nobility a Dukedom is initially granted for military success and is usually hereditary (as in your child inherits the title). Neither is true of Baldur's Gate's Dukes, as they can get the title for various things, not just military endeavours, and they are elected.

[WuTaNiSt]

Presumably the title is simply used in a gender-neutral form and before the gammons get up in arms over wokery, there is real world precedent.

For example Queen Elizabeth II was styled "Lord of Mann" in her capacity as Manx head of state & hailed as "Duke of Normandy" in the channel islands. Interestingly wikipedia tells me that Queen Victoria (that renowned bastion of progressiveness...) did go by "Lady of Mann"

[Lane]

In Georgia we had King Tamar(a woman), title of King was used to emphasize that she was the ruler. Maybe its similar logic here.

[Lord Adorable]

Originally posted by Lane:

In Georgia we had King Tamar(a woman), title of King was used to emphasize that she was the ruler. Maybe its similar logic here.

There was also Jadwiga of Poland iirc. She was crowned king at the age of 10.

[DontMisunderstand]

Nobility care more about the appearance of power than the appearance of tiddies. Simple as that.

[seeker1]

Everybody says this has no connection to earlier BG games or BG stories. This is false ... all you players of earlier games seem to have bad memories. Everyone accuses Larian of this or that, but in fact, in the lore, those serving on the Council of Four, male or female, were always known as Duke. Nothing to do with so-called "wokeness".

She is not the first female Duke serving on the Council of Four, and in fact not even the first female duke in the BG game series. I guess if you played the original games, you forgot her.
Duke Liia Jannath was on the Council of Four in BG1.
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Liia_Jannath

I believe Lady Jannath in BG3, whose estate you may visit, would be her descendant.

Duke Thalamra serves along with her on the Council of Four as the game starts.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Thalamra_Vanthampur

BTW. Spoiler?

Duke Stellmane appears in Murder in Baldur's Gate (along with Duke Abdel Adrian), and this description is already present in that module.

"Sometime prior to the Year of the Ageless One, 1479 DR, Duke Stelmane suffered a debilitating stroke brought on by the assault of a mind flayer. She was left in a coma for several days while she and the aberration engaged in a psychic battle for control of her mind. Though she was able to conduct business for the Knights of the Shield for some time,[1] she continued to struggle to merely control her body and mind for over a decade, well into the Year of Three Ships Sailing, 1492 DR."

This detail was already present, before Larian crafted the story of the Emperor, who would have been the mind flayer mentioned in that earlier module. And, as described (or you can find out in the game), psychically dominated her and then later gave her a stroke, once she was no longer useful.

My point being: if you'd already seen Murder in Baldur's Gate, the jig would already be up on what kind of critter Emperor was.

[Martin]

Originally posted by Jaeleth:

Thus one puzzles me. Shouldn't she be Duchess Stelmane? Why Duke?

You're correct, it's the masculine sense of the word, probably just a typo. That said, the polish King.. was a woman irl.. so maybe it's interchangeable.. like everything these days.

[seeker1]

It's NOT a typo if you have have any familiarity with the lore. I love how people say this game doesn't follow in any way from previous lore or titles. It's the exact opposite, Larian is weaving in earlier narratives. From tabletop WotC FR lore AND the BG1-2 series.

"The Struggles of Stellmane"

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/295909/Baldurs-Gate-The-Struggles-of-Stelmane

Set within Baldur's Gate, Duke Belynne Stelmane wards off a mental illithid assault trying to claim control of her body. The pieces are falling into place.
[snip][end]

Looks like WotC released this short module in 2019.

[Hex]

In this context, Duke is the name of the office you hold, not an honorific. You don't call a female President Presidentess either.

[WuTaNiSt]

Originally posted by Martin:

Originally posted by Jaeleth:

Thus one puzzles me. Shouldn't she be Duchess Stelmane? Why Duke?

You're correct, it's the masculine sense of the word, probably just a typo. That said, the polish King.. was a woman irl.. so maybe it's interchangeable.. like everything these days.

The 14th century is "these days"?