Name: Jade
Race: Laguz
Sex: Female
Class: Gold Dragon
Bottom-Tier Level: 1
Weapon Experience: 31
Growth Type: Random
Asset: N/A
Flaw: N/A
Equipment: Herb and Breath (of the A rank)
Appearance: Jade is very pale, with dark brown hair and green eyes. She appears to be around 20 in Beorc years, but she's treated like a kid by other dragons, as she is the equivalent of a teenager to them. She does have markings on her face, which she covers with a cloak, along with her pointed ears. She makes sure to look and dress like a Beorc, which does fool some, but not others.
Personality: Jade is hot-headed and, as can be expected, stubborn. She is very idealistic and passionate, but lacks subtlety and doesn't have much of a filter. She is honest to a fault, and constantly jumps between extreme emotions. She does, however, have a way with animals and calming them down. She has a general distaste for Beorc, but she tolerates them.
Background: Despite her living for centuries, there isn't much to tell about Jade. She has very protective parents, and couldn't do anything without their supervision. She has heard that war is close at hand, and decided she wanted to become a member of the army that would stand against Hicaz. Her parents disapproved of this decision, so Jade very maturely ran away. Thinking they might be looking for her and that Beorc are generally biased against Laguz, anyway, she bought herself a cloak to cover her markings and ears.
Additional Information: She has not ever been in a legitimate battle before, and finds the prospect maybe a little too exciting.

The Sabaean peninsula was given its name by the now-nonexistent Morean Empire, which was destroyed during the Great Flood. It is inhabited by the Gold Dragon kingdoms of Gonder, Tihama, Yeha, Matara, and Asab, as well as the Northern Beorc kingdoms of Sandomir and Belzen. There have been tensions in the past, including wars, between the Dragon and Northern Beorc countries on the peninsula, but never anything especially destructive. Rather, the most destructive war on the peninsula was fought between the Beorc kingdoms of Sandomir and Belzen between 767 and 773, in which Sandomir invaded and annexed the Tarnovian Valley, now a Sandomir-controlled area between Belzen and Tihama.

In the past, the Sabaean peninsula was inhabited almost exclusively by Gold Dragon Laguz. Every now and then, a Western Beorc ruler would attempt to conquer part of it, but the effort was never successful. Before the Great Flood, Morea was the only country to pose an actual threat to the Dragons. Morea attempted to conquer the Sabaean peninsula several times over the centuries leading up to the Great Flood, but never managed to do anything more than seize some of the lowlands in what is now southern Sandomir.

Following the Great Flood, the Dragons were largely isolated; the Beorc-controlled lowlands, along with the lowland Dragon kingdoms of Adafa and Axum, had been almost completely purged of life. The survivors gradually rebuilt, but the slow rate at which Dragons reproduce limited how quickly the country could rebuild. In 371, Northern Beorc began building settlements in the lowlands of Adafa and Axum. Initially, the Dragons welcomed the Beorc on the condition that they swear fealty to the rulers of the lands they were settling. For a time, the settlers were willing to live under a Laguz king, but as their numbers swelled and more settlements were built, talk of independence began circulating among the Northern Beorc. With support from the Central Alliance, the Beorc of Adafa rebelled in 493. The rebellion expanded to include the Beorc of Axum. Ultimately, the two countries were destroyed by the rebels and the Central Alliance, surviving Dragons and Northern Beorc loyalists fleeing to the highlands. In 501, the kingdoms of Belzen and Sandomir were established on the lands seized from Adafa and Axum.

Following the destruction of Adafa and Axum, the remaining Dragon countries adopted a hostile policy toward Beorc, forbidding any Beorc to enter their lands and attacking anyone who tried to. This led to border skirmishes with the Beorc countries as they began settling closer to the border. Sometimes, these skirmishes led to actual wars in which small amounts of territory changed hands. Over time, Sandomir grew into a regional power, seizing land from Belzen, seizing land from Varad, Kars, Belzen, and even Hicaz in a number of wars (it’s worth pointing out that at the time, Hicaz wasn’t the superpower it is now). Sandomir’s aggression led to the Dragon countries forming a coalition against Sandomir, even relaxing their policy toward Beorc and allowing Belzen to join in 773 after the latter lost a war with Sandomir.

The coalition expanded to include Sandomir, however, after the Dorian victory over the Central Alliance at Morcovi in 814. It marked the first time since the Great Flood that the Sabaean peninsula was united against a common enemy. Joining forces with many of the nations that had not yet been conquered by Dor, the coalition played a key role in defeating Dor. Following Agdy’s death in 821, the coalition formally disbanded, though its existence helped calm tensions between the Dragons and Beorc, and there are now Dragons living in Sandomir and Belzen, as well as Beorc living in the Dragon countries.

In the time since then, border friction between Sandomir and its neighbors has led to additional conflicts over small bits of territory, though Belzen’s concern about Sandomir’s increasing power have led Belzen to pursue more peaceful resolutions of border disputes with its neighbors. Belzen has, in recent years, become a close ally and trade partner of Asab, its sole Dragon neighbor since the Tarnovian War. Though the idea ultimately fell through over succession disagreements, there was at one point even talk of arranging a marriage between members of the Belzenite and Asabian royal families.

In light of Hicaz’s recent rise to prominence as a regional power, as well as its aggression toward its neighbors, the countries of the Sabaean peninsula have discussed once again joining forces. Sandomir and Belzen hoped to gain the support of the Central Alliance against Hicaz, but due to Arwad’s conquests in the east, the Central Alliance is currently unwilling to commit to what is likely to become the most destructive war in the west since the Bear King’s Wars back in the 800s.

The highest class is, naturally, the nobility. Technically, one need only be in a noble family to be a noble, but not all families are created equal, and within those families, some hold more prestige than others. The most significant source of prestige for a noble is a landed title, with the size of the domain playing a key role in just how much respect he/she earns through the title. In theory, a noble who lacks a landed title will also lack any vassals, though there are isolated cases of people serving nobles who have been deprived of their lands. Also, though rare, there are isolated historical cases of nobles granting titles to especially respected and loyal commoners.

Landless nobles are a fairly diverse group. Some are relatives of landed nobles, but lack any claims of their own. Common examples of this variety of landless nobles include younger siblings of heirs, illegitimate children of nobles, and lowborn spouses of nobles. Others might be formerly landed nobles that were stripped of their titles and/or banished. Assuming they are not already from a noble family, knights are also considered nobles upon being knighted. Most landless nobles are members of landed nobles’ courts, usually relatives, though they are free to move to other courts and swear allegiance to a new liege. Reasons for moving vary, though the most common are marriage, a falling out with one’s current liege, or a desire to gain a title that one’s new liege is in a position to press one’s claim on.

Landed titles are typically passed down through the family, though the means by which the titles are passed down varies. The most common policy is primogeniture, in which the eldest living child (or grandchild) inherits all titles held by his/her predecessor. Unsurprisingly, younger siblings may seek to make themselves the eldest living heir under such a policy. In order to avert this, some nobles instead divide their titles evenly among their heirs, though this is ultimately a short-term solution, as dividing one’s lands diminishes their size over each generation. There’s also the possibility of one of the heirs attempting to increase his/her share. Other rulers personally choose their heirs, though there tends to be significant pressure on them to choose close relatives.

Regardless of the policy, it is common in most countries for male heirs to hold priority over female heirs; a female heir would become second in line, for example, once a younger brother is born. In some cultures, women are excluded from the line of succession completely, though this is an increasingly rare policy save for in Egir, Budin, Kanije, and the kingdoms on Cape Uyvar. Some lesser nobles elsewhere might also have such a policy, but such behavior tends to be frowned upon outside of the aforementioned lands. The five Dragon Laguz kingdoms give women equal priority in inheritance, and some lesser nobles in Beorc countries have adopted the same policy.

Because of the importance of inheritance and keeping lands and titles in the family, marriages between nobles are usually arranged. Typically, the bride and groom have some say in the matter, but there tends to be a great deal of pressure on them from the family to consent to the marriage, and refusing is often viewed as disrespectful toward the family. Because of the practice of men holding priority over women in most cases when it comes to inheritance, matrilineal marriages are rare outside of Dragon lands, and children born of a marriage will inherit their father’s family name. Typically, the groom’s family will only agree to a matrilineal marriage if the bride is of significantly higher status than the groom, such as the bride holding a landed title and the groom being landless and without any strong claims on a title.

Regardless of whether or not one family’s contribution to a union is in a position to inherit anything, the marriage is also treated as an alliance. For example, the Prince of Paphlagonia is currently betrothed to the Queen of Hellas. Once they are wed, Hellas will be expected to answer any call to arms by Paphlagonia, and vice versa. Refusing such a call to arms tends to bode ill for a family’s future marriage prospects, especially with families that don’t stand to gain anything other than an alliance.

Strictly speaking, commoners and nobles alike may join the clergy, though a disproportionately large number of bishops are nobles. That said, birth and wealth are not valued by the church, and a focus on such things is frowned upon on the grounds that it leads people away from the Goddess. Within the ranks of the clergy, service to the Goddess is valued above all else. In part to emphasize this, anyone who joins the clergy renounces any and all claims he/she has on landed titles and is disqualified from any and all noble lines of succession. Younger siblings of heirs are sometimes encouraged to join the clergy in order to prevent succession disputes.

Officially, members of the clergy serve the Goddess above all else, but in practice, many members of the clergy feel a degree of loyalty toward the de jure liege of the land they carry out their duties on. Bishops (and, on rare occasions, regular priests) may possess sufficient wealth to actually own the land their church is on, though even then, the land is officially part of a higher-ranking noble’s domain and thus subject to his/her laws, even though the bishop may enjoy a greater degree of autonomy due to actually owning the land. This tacit oath of fealty has been known to contribute to disagreements over ecclesiastical practices in the past, with some priests potentially basing their decisions on what is likely to gain them favor with their de jure liege rather than on what they believe the Goddess would want.

Due to its role, the clergy are granted special legal status in their respective countries, among them special exemption from certain taxes and the right to collect a tithe from the faithful. Education is also often tied to the Church, and many schools and universities are run by or at least partially funded by local bishops, not to mention young nobles are often tutored by monastics or a local priest—albeit for a price. Ideally, much of what the church collects in tithes and payment for services to the nobility goes back to the people as a whole as an act of charity, though it is not unheard of for some priests and bishops to become greedy and instead spend the money on selfish pursuits.

Commoners, in the broadest sense of the term, are people who aren’t of noble birth, though there is far more diversity among the commoners than among the nobility. The lack of a family name is a sure sign of low birth, though that does not necessarily mean anyone with a family name is a noble; some commoners create names for their families, usually stemming from the job, home, or name of the “founder,” leading to such names as Smith, Shoemaker, Tiller, Johnson, Roberts, Field, and Woods.

Typically, commoners are divided into two categories: burghers and peasants. Burghers live in actual cities, usually with a formal government and the presence of multiple trade guilds. Some examples of burghers would be merchants, craftspeople, and barbers. Generally, burghers are considered the “upper class” of commoners, as cities often enjoy a degree of autonomy that villages and other small settlements do not. Some particularly large and/or wealthy cities may be “free cities,” essentially independent of a local lord’s influence and only subject to the laws of the country’s ruler.

Among burghers, merchants are sometimes regarded as a pseudo-noble class, as particularly wealthy families often have enough money and influence to control trade in multiple cities. Merchant guilds often control trade in a city; outsiders can only trade in a city if they adhere to the rules of the local guild. It is also quite common for a guild’s spokesperson to be the mayor of a city, effectively making a merchant’s guild the de facto government of any city it controls. Particularly wealthy merchant guilds may also employ mercenaries as a personal army of sorts to help enforce guild policies and exert political pressure on the local lord as a means of ensuring the city’s autonomy.

Craftspeople tend to also form guilds in large enough cities, though these guilds tend not to have the same influence as merchants’ guilds and are rarely wealthy enough to be able to finance a personal army. In addition, many such guilds are subsidiaries of merchants’ guilds. Cooperation helps ensure guildsmen stay in business even in the presence of misfortune, such as illness or injury. A more sinister aspect of guilds, however, is their enforcement of an oligopoly; guildsmen will collude in order to force outsiders out of business if they do not join the local guild. While this does protect local business, it also has the potential to hinder innovation.

Peasants, sometimes called serfs, live in the countryside and directly serve their local liege in exchange for protection and the right to work some land for the sake of subsistence. Peasants are considered part of the land they live on. As such, if the land is ceded or sold to another liege, the peasants serve that new liege rather than move to land still held by the previous liege. In addition, a peasant may not move to another liege’s land without the consent of both his/her current liege and his/her prospective liege. A peasant’s role can vary; though peasants are typically associated with agriculture, they may instead be tasked with mining, cutting wood, hunting, or any manner of other tasks involving the working of their liege’s land.

Some peasants live on a city’s land rather than that of a provincial landholder. Such peasants are not bound to the land the way their provincial brethren are, but this position carries with it the lack of protection a provincial noble can offer. In addition, the land they work is often more expensive than the land they work in a provincial estate. Because of this, the majority of peasants work for a provincial landholder.

Peasant settlements, usually called villages, tend to be fairly poor, especially compared to cities, though the lack of crowding hinders the spread of disease and mitigates the damage done by the kinds of epidemics that sometimes gut major cities. Villages usually have a small church, typically headed by a lone priest, which typically doubles as a gathering place. In addition, while the villagers are all technically subordinate to the local lord, most villages have an unofficial government in the form of a mayor (though the title holds no legal significance in this case) appointed by the villagers. Some lords may appoint magistrates to oversee the villages instead if they are concerned about rebellion.

Legally, there are only three ways to become a slave: one can be born to a mother who is herself a slave, one can be captured as a prisoner of war, or one can sell oneself into slavery, usually as a means of paying off a debt. Though slaves are, for all intents and purposes, the owner’s property, almost all countries have laws protecting the rights of slaves, some stricter than others. Most countries forbid owners to kill their slaves without a legal justification, and many among those countries also have clear laws dictating the circumstances under which physically harming a slave is legal.

The Church has played a key role in changing people’s general attitude toward slavery. Mother Sogolon of Manden (long since canonized as Saint Sogolon the Liberator) was the first bishop to formally condemn slavery, doing so in 467. Since then, the Church’s opinion of slavery has become increasingly negative, with Patriarch Dankaran of Gao condemning slavery in 632, Matriarch Zoë of Nauplia following suit in 731, and Patriarch Jarilo of Smyrna being the most recent in 998.

Though the Church has not completely condemned slavery as a whole, the enslavement of war prisoners was condemned in 776 during the Seventeenth Council of Nauplia. Though technically still legal in most countries, it is very rare for war prisoners to be enslaved except in the case of major naval powers, whose large fleets require more rowers than can be acquired through hired labor alone. It is, however, an increasingly common practice for bandits and pirates to kidnap people and sell them as slaves, though they typically do so through middlemen (usually merchants’ guilds), as selling free people as slaves is punishable by death in most countries.

In response to pressure from the Church, many countries in the east have laws restricting slavery. Achaea is currently the only country that has completely banned the practice, though many others have begun to phase out the practice by making it harder to make someone a slave and making it easier for a slave to free himself/herself. King Peter II of Seleucia is said to have started this process in 843 by declaring all citizens born free, effectively ensuring that no one may be born into slavery. His successor, King Methodius IV, took the law further in 854 by making it a crime to enslave prisoners of war. Such policies are more widespread in the east than in the west, likely a result of greater and more common contact between Beorc and Laguz in the east.

Many slave owners have been known to set older or injured slaves free due to their inability to work as efficiently as younger, healthier slaves. In addition, there are ample cases of owners freeing their favorite slaves in their wills, usually as a reward for devoted service or as an acknowledgement of friendship—or love. There are also cases of slaves being paid small wages for their work (by law in some countries) so that they may, in theory, save up to purchase their freedom.

In the past, with the large influx of war prisoners from the Great Laguz Wars, the majority of slaves in Beorc-ruled countries were Laguz or Marked, while the majority of slaves in Laguz-ruled countries were Beorc or Marked. The changing attitudes toward the idea of enslaving war prisoners, however, have led to changes in the composition of slave populations. Nowadays, most slaves are of the same race as their masters or are at least partially descended from said race.

Typically, slaves play the same roles as peasants, albeit with a direct connection to their masters rather than to the land they live on. A sizable portion of the slave population serves as domestic servants, though, and it is not unheard of for wealthy merchants or nobles to own a few slaves as servants. Generally, servants are the best off among slaves and the most likely to be given their freedom as opposed to having to purchase it. Finally, though the practice is extremely rare outside of naval fleets, some slaves (usually only those too violent or otherwise dangerous to be trusted as servants or laborers) serve as rowers on galleys.