rights?
Ascension rights are needed to upgrade residences to the next civilization level. Without ascension rights, a residence cannot be upgraded. This means that they are a very important factor in the game and something you have to take in account. Ascension rights are generated automatically depending on the number of residences that are in your settlement/town (Each island is counted independently).
In detail that means that:
your total number of all residences defines the number of vassal rights you have;
your numbers of vassal, merchant and noblemen houses added up define the number of merchant rights you have;
your numbers of merchant and noblemen houses added up define the number of noblemen rights you have.
Another important point to know is that houses consume the rights when they are upgraded. If you upgrade a pioneer house to a vassal residence, one vassal right will be bound to this house and you cannot use it for other residences unless you demolish it. That means that a Noblemen residence binds one vassal right, one merchant right and one noblemen right. But even if you demolish some of your residences, the absolute number of ascension rights you had before will not be removed.