The Society of Scholars

Once their own nation, they were placed in an unfortunate spot where foreign conquest whittled their territories down to a single city. To avoid being lost to time, they offered a deal to their two closest neighbors, The Compact, and the Protectorate. In exchange for being allowed to operate as an independent city-state, they would provide learned men on extended contracts as tribute to teach, build, and invent for their new protectors. This had such a heavy influence on the other two cultures that both languages were eventually reformed into something considered more elegant with a romantic twist from the past. All Scholars must swear and uphold a vow of pacifism in order to protect their homeland, even acts of self defense can be considered grounds for banishment or extradition.