WIP: Cyrodiilic Ancestor Cloth (Patreon)

I'd love it if people gave this a try with their own families, or just let me know if there's a familiar link that they think should be included that I've missed. 

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After last week's theory-heavy class, I thought a more hands-on lesson would be a nice change of pace. You'll see on your desk a stylus and palimpsest, which we will use to create a family tree in the style of the Cyrodiilic ancestor cloth.

Historically, there were dozens of different types of ancestor cloth, and dozens of styles in which to make them. These days there are primarily two: the incunabula (swaddling cloth) and the marriage shawl.

The incunabula is usually made by the mother's family (or on their behalf) from a low maintenance material such as cotton or linen. The child is first swaddled in it during the presentation ceremony, and it continues to be used for birthdays and similar occasions. Such cloths focus on lineage and extended family more so than close relatives, and it's not uncommon for their charting to go back hundreds of years.

The marriage shawl, by contrast, is given to the bride and groom by both their families. It tends to be much more elaborate and expensive affair, with silks, complex embroidery, and beading being fairly common. The shawl is used in the bread-breaking ceremony that unites the couple and their families, and, after the wedding, many display it above the mantle or the marriage bed. The charting on them focuses more on immediate family rather than distant genealogy.

Let's cover some of the most common features of Cyrodiilic charting. Using these, you should be able to create your own family tree.


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This form depicts a woman (right) and her mother (left). Traditional charts trace inheritance through the female line. While this is still the most common way, many genealogies now also make note of particularly important male lines. Should a mother have more than one child, additional lines radiate from the semicircle.

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Male children are most often given dots (or dots in circles) rather than circles.

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The double line indicates adoption of the spiritual or physical nature. In the past, it was not uncommon for couples to give away a child to be raised by a close friend or family member, and most children to this day have a "god parent" who, despite lacking a blood connection, is tasked with the assisting in the child's upbringing. This form usually only shows up in the parent or grandparent generations, but may also appear if a particularly important ancestor was adopted or did the adopting.

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Most commonly found in birth cloths, this design skips generations (the small circles) in order to quickly get to an important ancestor without bothering to chart all the unimportant ones in between.

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Two interlocking circles is the standard symbol for a marriage. This is the largest and most embellished symbol on the marriage shawl, but appears rarely on the birth cloth. Overlapping more than two circles indicates polygamy or remarriage.

All of these symbols are often accompanied by the initials, monograms, or crests of the individuals they refer to. The space surrounding them is sometimes filled important imagery from their lives or even small stories about their accomplishments.