Yalév
Yalévs are high ranking members of Umbar's Houses, considered second only to the house's matriarch. Like the matriarch, each house only ever has one yalév at a time.
Appointment
Near universally, a house's yalév is its eldest daughter and is typically a dragonborn. The only exception to either of these are if the existing yalév abdicates, as happened with Sister Ariadne upon her swearing vows to join the Church of Light, or if the heads of a house produce no daughters whatsoever.
In Ariadne's case, the title would typically go to a younger sister in the event of her abdication; however, her only sibling was her younger brother, Odysseus. Odysseus is also a half-elf, as Ariadne would have been had she not been born a dragonborn.
If the heads of a house were to fail in producing any daughters, the title would go to whichever of the matriarch's nieces would first be eligible by typical matrilineal descent: passing to a daughter of one the matriarch's sisters, and if there are none, then passing to a granddaughter of one of the matriarch's mother's sisters, and so forth.
In any such cases, the newly appointed yalév would most definitely not be dragonborn, as that is a gift exclusively bestowed to the matriarch's first born daughter, thought to be by magic residual of Vraisos over 1500 years after his departure from Umbar.
However, this does mean the new yalév would be capable of promotion to matriarch; yalévs born as dragonborn are also born sterile, and an appointment to matriarch requires that the heir has both wed and borne a child.
Duties
Yalévs manage any tasks and responsibilities appropriate for their house, as deemed and assigned by its matriarch. In all matters regarding their house, the yalév is treated with the same authority and respect as their matriarch, with the exception being if the matriarch deems it necessary to overrule one of the yalévs decisions or to assign a fair punishment for perceived wrongdoing.
Cultural Significance
Dragonborn yalévs have a unique role in Umbar's government, as upon the death of the Radiant, they may be awoken by the development of a tail--the main trait differentiating dragonborn from half-dragons--which leads to the decreeing by the Pythia of the Church of Light that the new Radiant has been found.
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