The Myth of Caste Mobility II
Not everything is as good as the missionaries say.
Outsiders.
As always, Lords dictate what caste will a convert be. All henotheists keep a tradition of meriting your right caste, which comes from Arkat himself, a known Caste hopper ("Knight" to Wizard to Lord). Also, a Lord can always reverse the dictamen of another (or him-herself). Another difference is that many henotheists (depending on the region) have no difference between men and women. This equality is quite widespread, and more frequent as you travel East. A lady may receive and keep Power, and also is a part in many Saint-God cults.
Another great difference, brought about by the differences in worship in the different levels of society, is that Caste is differenced more in who you worship and what magic you have that in the rigid strictures used by Brithini, rokari or loskalmi. So a Farmer may very well have a sword, and even know how to use it in Otkorion, without risk of being cut down by the first passing knight or cursed by the church. However he cannot worship St. Talor, or St. Gerlant or St. Humakt, and the secrets he may know of St. Orland are more concerned with plowing that fencing.
So instead of a general situation, we have to see the particular cases of each city-state, and we will see the particular cases of each Caste:
Farmer:
To become a farmer is easy, and in many henotheist lands it is nothing to be ashamed of. The increasing power of the urban middle class, farmer caste all, and their control of money gives them a strong leverage against the church and the lords. In most henotheist lands the farmer caste is allowed weapons, and in Otkorion they may even own a sword (traditionally reserved to knights).
In the fields, of course, things are different, and farmers go on their usual life, as centuries before. Here remain many old cults, rests of the hsunchen heritage in half forgotten myths and rituals, and corrupted forms of the philosophical worship found in cities.
The son or daughter of a farmer is automatically a farmer, but may rise easily to knight (acceptance in a knightly cult, or service with a lord) or even a Wizard (apprenticeship with the parish priest, or talented students sent to the Temple schools). Most of the rural priests are themselves of rural stock, and represent the more theistic aspects of henotheist philosophy.
An exception is in many of the western states, where a strong rokari presence (a tribute to the rokari missionaries of the fifteenth century and to St. Rokar's blessing) remains. As rokari farmers are usually more hard-working and less rebellious that any others, not many efforts of conversion are made, and seshnelan priests are sometimes sent as punishment to tend this estranged flock.
Knight:
Depending on the state, all professional warriors are knights, or only a small elite, supported by a farmer militia and mercenaries. Ship captains are usually of knight rank, even if most of the work is done by the farmer caste mates and pilot.
The sign of a knight is a full time warrior, following a saint or a god that may support this lifestyle: St. Humakt all around Ralios, Zorakarkat in Naskorion, Orlanth the Warrior in Otkorion, St. Gerlant in the west, St. Paslac in the East, and many Arkat variants anywhere.
Menial work is frowned upon, and usually it is direct cause for caste crime to engage in it, specially any moneymaking ventures. A knight is expected to serve his lord, or his mercenary company, or his cult, as a weapon, and nothing else. Some activities, taken as a hobby, can become quickly fashionable, such as gardening or jewelry.
Indeed, this is the caste which is easier to join and to leave. Any full time soldier will be, or consider herself a knight. You just have to find someone to give you the job. And you have just to take on a menial job to descend instantly to farmer. Rising to Lord or Wizard is harder. Some Cult officials may become ex officio Wizards (such as the Reforged Sword of Arkat, head of the humaktis in Estal) but usually they will be more comfortable with other knights than their "fellow" priests.
To become a Lord is usually the prize for a retiring mercenary chief, or some loyal henchman of a successful Lord. This is usually arranged with a fief of new creation (in pagan land, or the border) or if you are lucky by marriage with a heiress. However women are not as oppressed as in Tanisor, and many husbands have found that the real power remains with their wives, and they are only another weapon in her arsenal.
Although usually open equally to both sexes, there is a clear inequality in practice. As a reaction some all women mercenary bands, and Ladies supporting women have risen. The opposition of the Green Lady's cult hierarchy to warrior women is also a brake to women knights all around Eastern Ralios.
Wizards
The presence of both practicing sorcerers and deist priests muddles the image of the wizard caste, and even its composition. It is meant to include full time practicers of magic, as long as their religious views do not collide with the state. As this caste depends on divine favor and ability, it is the less hereditary of the four. Gender restrictions in some cults (the Green Lady and her husband cults, for instance) confuse the issue even further. However the divided cults mean that the Church has not the enormous power and prestige that it has in Rokari or Hrestoli lands. Here common cult affiliation clashes with the different churches. As an effect, urban Ralios is not pious at all, priests are seen as just any other magic user, and gods are called and left depending on the local needs. Whether it is the effect of Arkat's teachings or the Jrusteli meddling, it is not known, but this is possibly the place where it is easier to get magic for hire.
Even worse, the secret societies widespread presence makes possible that a washerwoman is really the High Hierarch of the Reknitted pieces of Arkat, with power to boot. The lack of a magic monopoly mines even further the power of the priests and wizards, making them subservient to their Lords.
As always in Ralios, there are exceptions, such as Otkorion, where Surantyr has unified the church as the first step to unify the country, that could not resist the new religious power, or Estal, where religious power is necessary for the mundane one.
Lords
Lords are the most conservative of the castes, as a natural effect of being on top. The division of the other castes makes a Lord's power stronger that in other Malkioni lands. However their position is also weaker, as they can be displaced by lack of public trust, or another Lord displaying more power, instead of staying through divine right. Almost anybody can rise to Lord with luck and ability. An exception is Galin, where you have to be a direct descendant of Ehilm to rule, and there is a clear hierarchy depending on birth, although limited to the Lord Caste.
In Naskorion Lords are nothing more than glorified knights, as all the land belongs to the duke. Their loyalty is less than firm, but the knowledge that they can be easily replaced stifles rebellions.
Finally, in Estal religious power is linked to political power, and marriages are arranged between lords and priestesses of the Green Lady. In this way most governing lords are male, but the cult keeps the real reins of power.
Powered by hypermail