> A Farmer's Lot in Life
[...]
> The Farmer knows that he can rely upon the Knights for protection.
> (From my admittedly limited understanding of Medieval Europe, the
> peasantry often had cause to wish for protection FROM the knights).
> Likewise, he knows he can rely on the Wizards for spiritual (and moral)
> guidance, healing, plow blessings, etc.
These services need not coincide with the farmer's needs, though, so there is still raw material for conflicts.
> Why Are the Farmers So Well Teated?
> -----------------------------------
> Every Loskalmi king since the adoption of Hrestoli Idealism has risen
> from peasant parentage.
I kind of doubt that. King Siglat was the son of Snodal, and after his death there were not many kings. Gundreken of Walsburg may well be the direct successor of Siglat, the sources are quite silent about this. Gundreken's main fame as a youth was to be Siglat's squire, a position a peasant wouldn't occupy that easily even in the most egalitarian society.
> One must first rise to the Knightly caste. Members of this caste are
> fully expected to fight and to lay down their lives to defend the
> Kingdom. Advancement past this caste involves becoming a weapons master,
> as well as a master of other battle skills. This usually means actual
> combat experience.
Maybe since the Thaw, although Loskalm has seen no major battle since then. Most "actual combat experience" the Loskalmi knighthood could gain was either as occupational force on Ygg's Isles, harmless raids into Oranor, staged battles against (numerically) hopelessly inferior Junora, or grand maneuver battles (the only form of combat experience throughout the Ban besides tournaments to prove individual combat prowess).
> The risks to life and limb presented by this caste
> keep many Farmers on their farms.
Rather the meaningless existance during the Ban, I suppose. I find it surprising that Loskalm did emerge from the Ban with a that numerous knight caste (20,000 plus 2000 of the Grand Battle) and army (another 33,000 non-productive soldier _not_ ranking as knights) at all...
Also, has anybody calculated how much metal these 22,000 knights need for their armours and barding? According to RQ3 a full suit of Plate weighs 25 kg for an average-sized man, and the Loskalmi armour is mentioned to be the best in the West, likely having plate over chain. Horse barding as depicted on p.11 of Genertela Book weighs about as much again, so we get over 1,000 tons of bronze or iron tied up in Loskalmi armour alone. How many storm gods' bones do you need for this?
> Rising from the Farmer Caste, into the Knight Caste, does not make
> one an actual Knight. Instead, one is a soldier. Becoming a Knight
> is not strictly a matter of having a certain level of skill. One
> becomes a Knight through deeds, piety, and yes, politics.
So you say that the 33,000 foot soldiers of the Loskalmi army rank as knight caste as well? I would have made these farmer caste, with the possible exception of the Noble Battle footsoldiers. Maybe they form some equivalent of English yeomanry - not peasants, but neither the low nobility knights.
But then Loskalmi "feudalism" isn't like any Western European feudalism I know of. Knights don't get fiefs, and nobles get offices rather than fiefs, as well.
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