The Vorin Citizenship Classes
History
The system of citizenship is a system of Ten Ranks, divided into two groups Dahn and Nahn. This system has been in effect for thousands of years, no one knows when it was first created, however some scholar have hypothesized that it was created around the end of the last desolation.
Execution
Dahn - The Nobles
1 King/High Lord & immediate family members 2 Vassals/High serving nobles to high lords 3 High General (military) / City Lord of big, non-capital cities 4 Captain (military)/ City lords of medium sized cities 5 City lords of small cities 6 Average nobles & rural lords (most lords are this level) 7 Vassal lords of city lords & most high born scribes 8 Working nobles, such as master servants and very low ranking officers low level nobles who work in the bureaucracy 9 Poor nobles (still have money but not a lot) 10 Rich people from the Nahn, lowly dahn members who live with nobles but have been stripped of lands or titles as a consequence or have had extremely bad luck. Often marry rich Nahn members for money since they're rarely dealt with by the upper levels of the Dahn.Nahn - citizens/peasants
1 Highest of citizens, often multinational merchants, sometimes can marry into the Dahn 2 High Merchants in the biggest cities, and specialized non-noble craftsman (such as surgeons, Big tvern owners, fine metal workers, citizen scholars etc.) 3 Average soldiers, Tavern owners merchants etc. This is the lowest Nahn which has the freedom of travel across the world. Anyone in lower Nahn's must have a signed writ of moving of writ of free travel from a lord, city lord, or high lord. 4 Simple craftsmen (masons, lower tavern owners carpenters, millers, bakers, etc) 5 Farmers 6 Skilled workers (bakers assistants, assistant chefs, miners, poor weavers, etc) 7 Simple laborers 8 Completely destitute peasants 9 The Unseen (those who have performed atrocious acts against the Vorin church) 10 Highest of slaves and indentured servants who are not bound into slavery Ardents and normal slaves are not part of this system. Ardents are seen as an entity similar to being slaves bound to specific lords to provide spirituality to the people, however they are free to travel and have normal rights as one of the mid level dahn. However, Ardents are not allowed to own property, thus anything in their "possession" belongs to the lord they serve. Slaves have neither rights nor constraints from the social class unless they prove themselves to be deserving of 10th Dahn status. As far as anyone is concerned, they are property, nothing more.Observance
Nations that worship the Vorin religion (Alethkar, Jah Kaved, Vadin, Kharbranth) all adhere to this system, and while it isn't a key part of Vorin life, it is nonetheless an important factor in how one is treated in social situations. The main determination of what level you start out is the level your parents are when you are born. Children who are born to parents of the second Nahn for example, become second Nahn and are granted second Nahn status, the right of free travel, and the ability to move up to first Nahn.
Moving up in the Vorin system is relatively easier than moving down, and is a much faster process than demotion. For moving up in the Nahn, a citizen must provide evidence that they fulfill the requirements of the next level up, like having the necessary money and resources, demonstrate knowledge of high craftsmanship, certification of completion of an apprenticeship etc. The process for changing to the next level is simple for a citizen, all they need is for the local lord to sign new citizenship papers (after providing evidence and receiving approval) and it will be official. However, moving into.moving up the Dahn levels is much slower. There are two major ways to move up in the dahn: acquire money, lands, and/or titles, or marriage. Marrying a higher member of the Dahn will allow you to rise in Dahn to the same level. As for lands, money, or titles, these can be earned through work, investing, and building connections, or can be granted by higher dahn members (1st-5th level) should they feel it an appropriate reward.
It is almost impossible to move down in the ranking system, there are a number of ways to move down, almost all of which involve being reprimanded for committing crimes. Often, if a citizen has committed a major non-execution required crime, they can be punished by having their Nahn lowered by their local lord. While their occupation may remain the same in these cases, often it will be more difficult to deal with and maintain relationships or customers of now higher rank. For people of the Dahn, often if a lord is caught bribing officials, guards etc they ould be demoted to a lower Dahn, and in extreme cases be stripped of lands and/or titles. This is done swiftly, as is the case in the Nahn part with one key exception. In the case of lower Nahn's falling into extreme poverty, the family name will not be demoted for two generations. For example, if someone of 7th Nahn falls into poverty, they will not be demoted to 8th Nahn immediately. However if their great grandchildren are born and the family name still lives in poverty, then they will they will be demoted to 8th Nahn.
Related Ethnicities
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